27/09

They deserve more than the odd bottle or two of wine and from what I hear more than a couple of them have been very happy to move to greener pastures recently.

kingofkabul

Hi guys/gals

Does anyone know what the hourly Flexi-crew rate is for F/Os at easyJet? I understand it starts at about £50/sbh (after the 8 months at £1,200 net per month) and rises at increments determined by flight hours with easy. Anyone have a breakdown of this? I've searched on here but to no avail....

I'm trying to build a simple spreadsheet to see how poor I will be after loan repayments in the first couple of years if I go down this route... will be budgeting it on flying 700 hours per year. Are there any other forms of income from easy/CTC e.g. pay for standby days, LOL, or does one just go into flexi-easy-CTC with a large pot of vaseline?

Cheers, kofk

Grass strip basher

alpha.charlie you can't be serious?
Who does the decision lie with on this one? The aircraft commander or is this handed down from the great ivory towers??
Is this an easy company policy?

gbotley

Hello,

I've finally found a good forum community related to piloting... thanks for this!!

Anyway, first post...

Is the CTC Wings program any good in terms of employment? - I notice a bond is necessary but no hints are made as to how much this actually is? - Anyone found out from experience..

Airline world is a bit catch 22 at the moment. Modular pilots aren't favoured unless directly entered into airlines with lots of hours and Integrated trained pilots are taken by companies only where jobs arise.. and guessing by the interest in CTC or FTEJerez the queues for employment must be crazily long.

Any advice on a route to take guys?

From UK by the way.

giggitygiggity

How are the cadet groups made up at CTC?

As I understand, a new course starts every 7 weeks or so and each course has something like 12-15 students. These groups are called CP70, CP71 etc. On one course, is there a mix of Wings cadets and iCP students or are they all separate? I ask because I have heard that there are around 150 wings cadets each year, but I am sure I have read that they train around 1200-1900 pilots a year and I cant see how this really fits together. Don't quote me on any of those figures, they are simply what I have read recently in my research.

Thank you please

One9iner

Between 10 and 20 cadets join a new CP every 2 months. This is a mixture of Wings Cadets and iCP cadets. Currently I think CP86 / 87 is the newest CP. I could be wrong though.

The total figure of pilots trained per year by CTC also includes Jetstar cadets, NZ cadets, Japanese degree cadets, and Vietnamese cadets. As well as cadets, CTC will also type rate ATP cadets and other experienced pilots.

So the total number of UK cadets (wings and icp) will be around 120 per year. But that figure is much higher when taking all other areas of CTC's business into account.

SkyHighSonar

Hi chaps,

I'm not looking to invite a slaughter, but was just interested to know what the general consensus is for beginning flight training within the next few months in context of the last year or two (which I do of course realise have been quite clearly hurrendous).

I ask because I am provisionally booked in to start training with CTC in April, and frankly the decision of whether to go ahead with it is one of the most categorically difficult I have faced in my life to date. I am all too aware of the abysmal T's & C's for new pilots, but with hints of things improving (which, with even BA recruiting, surely must be true to some extent) it will chip away at me for years if I know I had the chance and didn't have the guts to take it.

That said I'm not about to commit financial suicide if I genuinely believe it is a real likelihood, however I can only base it on what information I have. CTC say their hold pool is only in the 20's (take from that what you will), and decreasing still. For those of us with huge aspirations and no benefit of hindsight, it's very difficult to pass up this sort of opportunity, even if it means slumming it as EasyJet's rent boy for a few years.

Comments always appreciated.

BlackandBrown

Only you can decide. Taking advice on here from anyone, be it positive or negative should be worthless to you. You know what you stand to lose if it goes wrong and you know how much you want to do it. Your decision will flow through the point of least resistance.

kingofkabul

SkyHighSonar,

I'm pretty much in same boat as you. over recent years I think CTC has proven to be the best of all the schools for getting a job - but again I'm going to hold out for a few months to see if anything more interesting comes along e.g. mentored schemes from FTE Jerez.

A few of my mates went into flight schools in 2008 after university. I decided it was a bad time for it, but of those people ALL who went to CTC got jobs, and NONE who went to Jerez/OAA got jobs. For me that says a lot.

Good luck with your decision.

DooblerChina

SkyHighSonar

I joined CTC in 2003, I was on CP less than 5, I borrowed £65000. I have been paying that off for the last 6 years and will continue to pay that off for 1 more. It costs me 1500/month but fortunately I get paid reasonably.

It now seems the course is more expensive and you will need to factor in a type rating (20K?)

So you will be paying off 1500/month for more like 10 years.

Then you should consider what you will get paid when you get your shiny jet contract. 1200/month? That means you will be losing 300/month before you factor in the fact that you will need to eat & drink & live!

Now I can't pretend to be privvy to the exact figures, I am estimating from some good friends who currently work for the Orange brigade but Im sorry, anyone considering a career in aviation right now need their heads read.

Good luck with your decision.

pipersam

Just out of interest, why are you paying off £1500 a month? I've calculated that borrowing £69,000 from BBVA over a 10 year period equates to around £600-£700 a month based on the current interest rate of 3% and includes the initial 25% reduction on repayments. Did you borrow more from elsewhere or is your interest rate much higher than what BBVA currently offer?

giggitygiggity

The 25% discount from BBVA is only valid for 24 months if i remember correctly. I am sure you could repay the loan faster if you can afford it. You could realistically have a chance of making captain by now if you started in 2003 (i think?!?) so could likely afford to pay more off and get the loan settled ASAP!

@SkyHighSonar I am provisionally booked on the April course so let us know whatever you do! I am in a fortunate enough position to not require any loans, so with a lot of professional advice, I feel the timing is right so I am prepared to take the gamble as it's a massive amount of cash!

pipersam

If there are any CP89'ers it would be great to hear from you. Please PM me!

Mohit_C

Hello everyone!

I just got an invitation for Phase 2 at Dibden. Searching through the forums there are at least 5 threads with averagely 200 pages and post counts reaching to 4000+. I've begun reading them...which will take a while, however some of the information dates back to 2006. Is there any update on what really to expect or is it pretty much the same since then? Also regarding the aptitude test is there any programmes to practice with (like the SkyTest software for DLR) or do we have to face it there on the day?

Cheers.

pipersam

Having passed the selection day back in December, I can tell you that the pages of information on here should give you enough preperation for the day. The PILAPT tests are designed to test your natural ability, and even though you can technically practise for them using some software of the net, it may not improve your skills for the big test on the day. I did not practise for them, but I have been flying Microsoft Flight Simulator for well over 10 years on my PC.

Good Luck with the selection day!

DooblerChina

regarding loan repayments, something most people don't factor in is training time. My 65k ish loan in 2003 turned into 85k by 2005 when I started to pay it back. My repayments were on a base + 2% level. Over this time the repayment needed to finish in 7 years varied from 1000 - 1200. I now pay 1500 to finish about 6 months early.

The BBVA loan (again Im not privvy to the exact terms) does sound attractive, 3% in this current climate is exceptional however is that fixed? is in sterling? and is interest charged during your training period? Usually the best part of two years.

Just make sure you fully understand the terms.

regards

pipersam

Yeah the BBVA loan is very good. Its variable and stays at 2.5% + base rate. Interest is charged throughout the payment holiday. If you take a 25% reduction for the first 24 months based on a £80k loan over a 10 year period and at the current rate of 3% it works out as £697.74 for the first 24 months, followed by subsequent payments of £1011.49 until maturity. The set up fee is £1500, and yes it is in sterling. There are no early payment, lump sum payment or early cancellation fees.

DooblerChina

Yes, but what's the monthly repayment if interest rates are 5%. Far from inconceivable over the next 10 years, I should think 1500+ will be the norm.

I'm not trying to put anyone off, I have loved every minute, I just have experienced good friends in financial difficulty and even bankruptcies and I want people to be more aware of the risks. I wasn't but I was lucky.

cheers

markwalker92

Mohit - Ignore the 'search for it yourself' comments, I found it pretty hard to dig through all of these posts too! So hopefully I can give you the heads up..

I have just passed Phase 2 and 3 (If you are successful with Phase 2 in the morning, you stay for an interview in the afternoon...) and I can honestly say, there really is very little you can do to prepare for the PILAPT. To give you an idea of what to expect, read this post:

http://www.pprune.org/2733121-post950.html

As for the maths test, I would make sure that you are confident with your basic maths. I.e. currency conversion, long multiplication / division, etc.

The groupwork is fairly easy - just make sure you get your voice heard, but don't come across as overpowering (they want a team player!); make sure you listen as much as you contribute, and agree / disagree with people but back it up with reason. Take a look at some 'Balloon debates' (google it..) - fairly bog standard team building stuff.

Just relax and enjoy the day - the assessors are great and really make you feel at ease (And the food is brilliant, which is a bonus because I like eating). Good Luck!



On another note.....

I have a question for anyone who has previously been successful on the Cadet scheme, and followed it all the way through to placement - How / when exactly is the security bond repayed to you? The information from CTC is about as clear as mud when it comes to YOUR money.

Also, has anyone else opted for the 'secure the loan against your parent's property' approach with BBVA? How have you found this worked for you? (I am not looking for anyone's opinion on whether this is morally wrong or not, just an answer from somebody who has shared my position)

Cadet scheme or no cadet scheme, the prospect of £95,000 debt after 2 years of interest build up scares me sh*tless

Moises

Hi there,

Sorry to bother you but I've seen you know quit a lot about tests and interviews.
Actually, I'm going to join FTE Jerez within a few weeks but I need to pass a Verbal Reasoning and a Numerical Reasoning test first.

I did many many exercises but not the kind of exercises they give us during the tests in FTE where you need to calculate the altitude, speed, quantity of fuel, distances etc...

So, do you know where I can find this kind of exercises ? If you do, please let me know because my tests is Feb 19th.

Thank you very much for your help ....

Best regards

Moises