BA Sponsorship Rumour?

[ElSupremo]

Hey, I've had a search on these forums but found nothing so I posted this here (mods feel free to move if I've missed something!)

I've read/heard recently of rumours that BA may/will be once again offering sponsorship sometime. Are these rumours reliable? Is the re-opening up of its sponsorship scheme realistic/likely? Finally, when is this rumoured to be happening?

Cheers

[nick14]

Interesting, with the opening of the NetJets sponsorship, and the substancial finacial contribution of the Flybe sponsorship with OAA, BA will now be losing maybe 10% of the Top candidates to these 2 airlines as they get selected pre training.

They will be forced to offer something in order to maintain the intake of high quality SSP's unless they can maintain that with the current guys going through the training, at OAA and the other ways.

Nick

[TopBunk]

So long as BA can recruit the required numbers from the qualified pilot pool, why would they start a sponsorship scheme?

Sorry to disappoint you all, but I doubt if it will happen anytime soon.

[The African Dude]

Just to add to what TopBunk has said, BA have also taken pilots from CTC when required.. if there are enough pre-selected cadets of the right standard then I can't see them setting up their own scheme either.

[RogerUK]

Netjet

Hi Nick,

Is there any link/website to the Netjet sponsorship info? I've tried googling it, no success

Thanks,

Roger

[pt_flyer]

Roger here it is:

http://www.oxfordaviation.net/netjets/nj_main.htm

[Artie Fufkin]

Admittedly this is somewhat out of date but I remember when I was passing through Oxford (about 3 or 4 years ago now!), BA turned up for a presentation and were asked about sponsorship schemes.

They said it was highly unlikely it would ever be brought back as it wasn't about getting "the best of the crop" but more about delivering a steady supply of low hours people.

With all the integrated schools full to bursting (one of our cabin crew said he wants to go to one of them but both the courses and even selection is booked out for months to come) it seems unlikely that the needs that drove sponsorship still exist.

The chap who did the BA presentation (who is still in charge of recruitment) described sponsorship as an outdated legacy of the days when BA was state run.

Still, anything is possible.

[poss]

Lets put it this way, a lot of pilots are prepared to pay for everything now adays. There are a few sponsorship programs out there to help those that would like to pay for everything but don't have the money nor assets however as stated previously BA recruit from Netjets, CTC and other intergrated courses in which a lot of cadets are passing through. There would be no need for them to take the risk of sponsoring people.
It's a sad truth.

[RogerUK]

Many thanks pt_flyer,

Roger

[student88]

Yes they will - I hear they're looking for about 80 cadets and they'll be training with FTE in Jerez.

There is also truth in a rumor that easyJet will be following BA at FTE.

S88

[Alin83]

A have a friend that works in BA and he told me about the scolarship, could happen end of 2008, beginning of 2009.

[ElSupremo]

That's awsome news!! However, what does FTE stand for? I'm new to this game...

[pt_flyer]

Why would Easyjet change from CTC to FTE?
Are they not happy with the quality of training that CTC provides?
If the BA rumour is true that is amazing! Would it only last for a few years, or would it be open every year to take a steady number of cadets into their fleet?

[Adios]

BA wouldn't necessarily have to offer scholarships and certainly not 100% funding. Nothing says they have to do it like they used to in order to meet their goals. If all they do is make job offers before training starts, they will still be swamped with applications. If they work in an unsecured loan option, they could have their cake and eat it too. They could get this at CTC already, unless their capacity is already spoken for. Perhaps they might want to spread it around a bit and do something with more than one FTO.

[nick14]

Sounds like an interesting rumour,

I think that the big problem BA will find is the required intake of high QUALITY candidates. Netjets, Flybe, Thomas Cook and Excel now get the pick of the best candidates through OAA, and through CTC the airlines associated with them get their pick, as with FTE.

With all the airlines wanting the best or a certain standard, the competition for the high end guys will be fierce, so if needs be, to attract a higher number of people to the industry that otherwise couldn't afford the training/otherwise put off, and therefore increase the chances of having enough people of the required standard, there may be a need for BA and other airlines to offer something.

Then again, being a legacy carrier they may not need to do the above as the airline is attractive enough, who knows, some people do, but the rest of us may only speculate.

Nick

[clanger32]

Whilst I totally agree with Nicks comments regarding BA perhaps not getting the very cream of the crop, as they used to and perhaps expect, due to the other sponsorship schemes out there, it's also worth remembering that not all of the "cream" are on mentored schemes...for example OAA currently have one student who is 7 exams in to the theoreticals and is sitting on a 100% average and loads moreon >95% averages...

As far as I, or any of my colleagues, are aware no-one else has EVER achieved 100% on all exams taken and 99% isn't exactly shabby either, so it would be fair to assume that at least one very worthy candidate is still unattached....

[FlightDeckDave]

Its all very well passing exams with 100% average but the big question is...Can he fly?!

[clanger32]

Personally, I don't know how good he is, but I do know he's got 100+ hours on his PPL, so - annoyingly - it looks like the answer is yes.

Besides, whilst I do agree that aceing the exams is no good if you can't pass the flying tests, you can only jump the hurdles placed in front of you at any given time.....all we can say so far is that he has a perfect training record, the rest remains to be seen, but it does seem a bit harsh to be questioning his flying capability just now, purely because he's got great results. The same ("can he fly") could be said about any other cadet, could it not.......

[MrHorgy]

I don't understand, if all the other airlines have pick of the "best" at OAA, why are so many going to Ryanair?

I'd be very surprised if airlines started some sort of full sponsorship soon (other than Atlantic) because there's a massive pool of fATPL's out there, if only airlines weren't so shortsighted as to realise there are more than 4 flightschools out there!

Horgy

[Pilot Pete]

I don't know how good he is, but I do know he's got 100+ hours on his PPL, so - annoyingly - it looks like the answer is yes.

Not sure how you come to that conclusion. Hours are hours, doesn't mean you are any good.

PP