About BA sponsored Pilot training

[Chriss23]

From the BA site:

"The Scheme lasts approximately 18 months, during which time we meet the full cost of your training, including board and lodging. If you are offered employment by British Airways on completion of the Scheme, a proportion of these costs will be deducted from your salary over the following five years."

Because I am thinking of applying I would like to ask if fail during the course or you if you are not offered employment by BA whay is happening about the money they paid?

Thx in Advance

[landedoutagain]

i have heard that if there is no job at the end then you can walk away with a licence and nothing to pay back. Others correct me if im wrong!

dont know what happens if you fail anything though

[Final Destination]

Hi Guys, don't think I am being cocky however from what I have heard of successful candidates is that if you make it through BA's selection process you should be OK in the flight training.As I have said they are not my words but somone elses.(So I apologise if anyone has been there done that and failed it)
Cheers FD

[BigTimeWannabe]

I think if there are no pilots jobs when you qualify, you can walk away without paying for anything and have pilots qualifications.

But there is a catch! Because this only applies if they don't offer you employment in 18 months. Note: it says employment, but theres nothing that says it's a pilots job! And if they offer you a job as a toilet cleaner within 18 months, you have to take it!!!

Now let me explain why I've come to this conclusion. On the BA recruitment website in the trainee pilot section they have a section on pilots who have been through the scheme. If you go to Graeme he talks about how he had to be a flight attendent for some time after qualifying because no pilot jobs were available due to the gulf war. My theory is BA offered him a job as cabin crew a year after he qualified, which he had to take because of the 18 month employment rule. He was a cabin crew for 2 years. So 3 years after he qualified he finally got a job as a pilot with BA. Pretty tricky by BA if you ask me.

This wouldn't be much of a problem had the Americans not voted for George W. Bush, cos his policy is to bomb the hell out of Iraq! Therefore a potential Gulf War, and not good news for BA Trainees desprate to work in the cockpit rather than the galley.

These are my own theories, so don't take it as entirely true, but if you follow what I said you would see the logic.

I also wellcome feedback on this statement!

BTW

[Hob78]

Of course, the first job MIGHT not be as a pilot, but the vast majority will be - otherwise, surely its a pretty expensive way for BA of hiring cabin crew (or cleaners)?

[Airbus_319]

If BA do decide to drop you at some stage of your training, you are not required to pay back any of the course fees. It is however a different matter if at some stage of your training you decide to leave. Both of these occurences are very rare, mainly due to the BA selection process.
In addition, if at any stage on the course you are struggling, BA are very supportive, as long as you are putting in the work.

[Pandora]

Firstly, breathe a sigh of releif because BA contract in cleaners, so there is no chance they will take you on in that department. However on 2 notable occasions in the past cadets have been given jobs which are not flying jobs. The one everyone knows of is the Gulf War, the other is the 70's oil crisis. At the moment they can't get enough pilots so you should be OK on that score.
I do know of pilots who didn't make it to the end. Usually in mysterious circumstances. Nuff said on that one.

Final Destination - hi, how are things? Got yourself a part time job yet? Let me know how its going.

[Lucifer]

Absolute rubbish BigTimeWannabe: some joined as flight attendants, and others became cruise pilots in Cathay or got other flying jobs, or did something entirely different. It was just convenient for some to do this.

The problem was not the Gulf War, but a slowdown in the whole economy of the time caused by the overspending of Reagan and the trough in the business cycle. Look at Serbian bombing for example, which took up a lot of the airspace over Europe last year: this alone did not stop the airlines recruiting.

BA hire you as a pilot, and if there are no jobs available at the time, you can go where you want, and come back if there are vacancies later.

[eeper]

I had a very careful read of my cadet training contract when I got it and came away with the conclusion that, according to the contract, BA could force you to pay back the full costs (thats £60000!!) if the training was terminated. This is irrespective of whether the training was terminated by BA or the trainee. Basically the contract covers BA for all eventualities.

The only event in which BA cannot recover the costs from you is if they do not offer you a job within 36 months. As to the comments relating to offers of employment as a cleaner, they are correct in claiming that the contract refers only to an "offer of employment", although it does refer elsewhere in the contract to "employment as a pilot". Six of one, half a dozen of the other. I think that you could argue that the offer of employment is implied by the nature of the contract to be an offer of employment as a pilot and if that is not the case then the contract should explicitly say so.

Away from all this legal chicanery and back in the real world, the situation is this: BA are well within their rights to ask for the costs back if you leave the course or even if you are chopped. In practice this does not happen. One guy was chopped after leaving Oxford and walked away with a frozen ATPL and no debt. Another cadet decided quite early on that BA and piloting was not for them and left. Again, no debt.

I think as long as you are honest with BA and try your hardest then you needn't worry about a £60000 debt. It's not in BA's interest to have people working for them who don't want to be there and there is little point in chasing a student for £60000.

Failure rates are extremely low due to the selection procedure and the determination of almost all the trainees so thankfully this is a debate that rarely has any practical application.