Mango makes you pay?

[TheManPartOne]

I was informed today by a pilot who went for a Mango interview recently, that he was asked to pay R100 000 for his conversion. Does anyone know if this is an isolated event or the norm these days...

He was told that the guys just take the rating and duck and hence this new development?

[CJ750]

Did Vernon Bricknell not do the same. :cool:

[cavortingcheetah]

Do you mean pay or do you mean a bond?
If it were a paid conversion then what guarantee would the applicant have that, having finished the type rating, he'd get the job and thus the line flying?
Ducking with just a type rating and no type experience is not usually a very career advancing move. Anyone can, after all, buy a type rating on absolutely anything.

Didn't Bricknell run a Porsche hire car franchise at one stage?

[TheManPartOne]

Pay upfront for the rating... No bond... At least this is what the chap told me who went for the latest round of interviews. I agree with your statement. What happens in the event the guys / gals don't hack the line training. Or sim for that matter?

[Solid Rust Twotter]

Self inflicted. We as crew have been handing the operators our souls on a silver platter for years by paying for type ratings and rolling over to have our tummies tickled whenever the terms and conditions are screwed with a little more. I'm sure there are plenty of new CPL holders out there with financial backing who would be happy to pay for a type rating to play starboard lookout on a shiny new jet. Think how much they could save in salaries by paying them a pittance. Just a shame the captain then becomes a baby sitter in addition to his other duties. We've done this to ourselves.

[cavortingcheetah]

Agree absolutely.
Pilots are a disgrace when it comes to their own work ethics. This is no new situation and neither is it confined to any one particular country.
You cannot blame management if it makes the most of the opportunities provided by such a lack of true grit.

[Ghost Vector]

Right seat lookout is a begining. I know a 767 Captain that has never had a paying (flying) job in anything but a jet. He started 12 years ago in a Cessna "near jet" as lookout for a mere $900 (equiv) a week.

[cavortingcheetah]

Then perhaps he's a lucky chap and is both a good captain and well thought of by those pilots with whom he flies.

[Ghost Vector]

Perhaps. MBA didn't hurt I'm sure. Absolute sterling personality.