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Easyjet New Ab-initio scheme :)

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Old 30th Apr 2011, 19:30
  #141 (permalink)  
 
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A slight catch might be - and I can't be sure - that you need to unfreeze your ATPL in order to be released from the sponsoring-airline-only requirement of an MPL.

Unfreezing requires both 1,500 hours AND an LPC in the Sim. easyJet only conducts one sim a year in the LPC format. Every other sim is a Line Orientated Exercise. Therefore if at the end of your second year you passed your LPC sim but only had 1,499 hours you still wouldn't be able to unfreeze your ATPL. You'd have to wait another 12 months when you'd probably have 2,299hrs (another 800). I suspect that the only LPC that is allowed under MPL is one conducted by the training department of the sponsoring airline.

I don't KNOW if this is the case as this whole MPL thing is rather new territory.

But it would be wise to seek clarity in, say, an interview situation. You could potentially be bound by your MPL to the sponsoring airline where LOE sims are in use (presently just easyJet and BA I believe but probably becoming more widespread) for 3 years rather than 2 years of line flying.

3 years ain't that much different to 2 years but it would be worth checking this out.


At the end of a day its a job. My first flying job after I sat my ATPL's and passed my CPL paid me £8,500 in a year when I logged 960hrs of flying. Most commercial pilots worked an apprenticeship in some form or another.

Its always been difficult, expensive and risky.

It always will be.


WWW
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Old 30th Apr 2011, 19:49
  #142 (permalink)  
 
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Guys does anybody knows where I can find the flexi-crew terms and conditions?
Thank you in advance
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Old 30th Apr 2011, 21:06
  #143 (permalink)  
 
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Many thanks for the advice here guys. Teaches me to just look at figures on the flying school website, very naive. Maybe I will think twice about attending the assessment.

Fortunately I picked up German about 9 years ago and have a DLR test coming up soon which I am studying hard for with the possibility of Lufthansa, Cityline, Germanwings, Air Berlin and Austrian. I think it just sums up these integrated flying schools and the airlines that recruit from them that I have to pay £199 for an assessment and interview and will not know whether or not I'll be returning for a second day so can't really plan. Whereas with my DLR test in Germany I am having all my travel and accommodation expenses payed for me. Typical.
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Old 30th Apr 2011, 22:46
  #144 (permalink)  
 
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All the information posted is greatly appreciated, but I feel without knowing more details about the employment contract it's a bit early to make a fully informed decision (as others have requested) - hopefully more information will crop up soon and not just rumours/speculation
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Old 1st May 2011, 03:29
  #145 (permalink)  
 
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Thumbs down

well said study.

be ready to sleep in your car, or in a tent...
brush your teeth at the airport, eat sandwiches, and try to survive at the airport until you feel weak due to lack of protein/vitamins,....
Have fun when waking up at 0400 on the airport parking spot or live like a gypsie in a apartment filled with 3 another guys in your room.
maybe you can share your bed as well.When you are not in your bed, someone can use it. You will save money.

This is the life of a low cost pilot, then reach your 30 or 40 years old, come back to live with momy and dady and explain them how you can not find another job in aviation because you are too old, and you have not been able to save money.Then cry online, and complain why flight schools like oxford or CTC or ABC,... continue to hire students when there are thousand of unemployed pilots.Then it' s going your turn to look desperately for a job regardless of your few hundred hours on 319, which worth s...t !!!

welcome in aviation, son!!you have been sucked in a non return dream which will drive you to your end( maybe suicide!)

your duty time will be 11hours at least, you start at 5 am finish at 5 pm, or start at noon and finish around midnight.
6 legs a day, red eyes, tired everyday, next day you will hate your cockpit, being stuck in the front of the tube all day long, with **** food and **** toilet in the back.

When you fly the FMGC while waiting to push the knob at TOD, you will ask yourself why they don't pay you more, what would happen if you decide to leave.You will talk to your captain who don't give a **** about you, who will explain you it' s your problem...
Then you will "psychologically" resign and accept anything that come from management, even work for free. You will become miserable, and if you complain, management will tell you can leave if not happy with terms and conditions, (they don't care about you anyway).
They didn't invest in you. if you leave, they got 500 guys waiting for your seats, because in this profession your worth crap, my son!!!

Selections tests are there to make you believe you have been "selected"and you won't get another chance so you think it' s worth paying they amount they ask for. Be very careful, talk about it with real pilots, lawyer,... I bet 99% of people will tell you it' s crazy. when something sounds too nice, it's not true!

Last edited by captainsuperstorm; 1st May 2011 at 03:57.
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Old 1st May 2011, 07:59
  #146 (permalink)  
 
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Originally Posted by rssfed23
details about the employment contract


Here at easyJet we really thought that there was no space below the currently very low bottom rung into which we could nail yet another even lower rung. But here we are, for whatever reason.

What makes you think you will get an employment contract, when none of the current 500 entrants on the OAA or CTC schemes get one? You will be self employed, my friend, self employed. Even the banner on the OAA website says you will be able to fly "with" easyJet, not "for" easyJet. Snag is that your license will be useless anywhere other than easyJet. So if they half the rate, what can you do? As a contractor, you will have to take it or leave it. Except with this scheme, you simply have to take it.

Hope for something similar to the current OAA flexicrew pilots.
Expect something worse.
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Old 1st May 2011, 12:21
  #147 (permalink)  
 
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What makes you think you will get an employment contract, when none of the current 500 entrants on the OAA or CTC schemes get one? You will be self employed, my friend, self employed. Even the banner on the OAA website says you will be able to fly "with" easyJet, not "for" easyJet. Snag is that your license will be useless anywhere other than easyJet. So if they half the rate, what can you do? As a contractor, you will have to take it or leave it. Except with this scheme, you simply have to take it.
Bealzebub, lets see how you can spin this.
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Old 1st May 2011, 13:28
  #148 (permalink)  
 
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Spin?

Another one liner non-sequitur.

I haven't "spun" anything, I have explained at some length how the "cadet" situation has evolved, and also why airlines take on the candidates that they do for these programmes. In part this is to counter your rather strange argument that the "demise of the industry" is somehow the fault of "spineless" aspirant airline pilots.

Other people are making their own points on the attractiveness or lack of, of this particular programme. I expect some of them have a better knowledge of the specifics, which adds a lot to the value of this particular thread, and in turn helps those who have an interest in this particular scheme.

However good or bad the scheme may be, it isn't the only one out there.

I thought I had stated clearly at post number 114:
I am not selling you something. I am simply telling you something. If you don't want to hear it, or don't believe it, then that is fine.
That position hasn't changed, so why would you now think that I would want to put a "spin" on the attractiveness or otherwise of this particular scheme?
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Old 1st May 2011, 14:03
  #149 (permalink)  
 
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Having managed to get through to stage three of the recently run TCX cadet scheme which was run through FTE, I can safely say the conditions of this scheme are far worse. I was happy to take the risk if I had been offered a place on the TCX scheme, whereas I am sceptical about even attending the assessment for this one. Conditions for the TCX scheme were;You pay for you license during training you would be paid an allowance of £1000 PCM, once you finish your training you would be placed with flybe for two years before then going onto fly for TCX on a reasonable salary.This EZY scheme doesn't even come close; they are asking you to lay out 100k to be put on a contract which you can't walk away from as you can only fly for them due to the conditions of your MPL license. Personally I haven't got big enough pockets to take the risk, yes if it was a permanent contract being offered it would be a different story, but even then with the MPL license rather than the traditional APTL you are still taking risks. Sorry if I am pointing out the obvious or something that people have already touched on but this scheme is a scam, EZY and Oxford are screwing over wannabees that are desperate for a way into the industry.When I see conditions like this being imposed on pilots I struggle to see why anyone would lay out 100k.
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Old 1st May 2011, 15:20
  #150 (permalink)  
 
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WWW, yes you do require an LST to unfreeze/convert from MPL to ATPL, but no-one is there just yet. Thus should the winds change and your services are no longer required pre 1500 hours.......enjoy funding the CPL/IR conversion yourself.

Bealzebub is pretty spot on.

And yes your property is at risk if you do not keep up repayments, regardless of how low the pay and hours as a contractor are. You signed the dotted, it is your party.

Airline crew and aircraft requirments change day by day, trying to guess what the workload will be like on the line in 14 months time is impossible to predict.

I have an incling something 'bigger' may be on the horizon soon. Watch this space.
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Old 1st May 2011, 16:56
  #151 (permalink)  
 
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The method with which the airlines and the pilots accepting these types of scams continue to decry our profession, regardless of how much or little you think I know of the details, is simply ludicrous.
The profession we are discussing here is airline pilot.

Oh and as for your holy grail, I do not work for an airline, never claimed to...i fly where and when my private owner boss tells me to go and love every minute of it. As I have already stated ad nauseum, the airlines are not the pinnacle of the aviation world, they just make you think they are so they can pull **** like this and get a dozen new suckers every day and laugh all the way to the bank. Stick to what you know
I wonder if these quotes of yours made over the last month ring a bell?
With respect, it is not your profession, it is something you have an opinion on.

All you have done to this point is spin the "facts" and argue with pie in the sky numbers and results that the airlines want you to believe because for them its good business and pure profit! But you ignore the "real life" situations that so many others have described. Either you are too far removed from the executives that manage the scams, or you have drank their kool aid, or you have something to gain such as holding shares in the company.
I live in the real life situation, and it is from my actual (rather than perceived) experience of that, that the observations and comment come from. I am not sure what these "pie in the sky numbers" are that you refer to? There again I am not sure you do either? I don't hold shares in any company, but to be honest, arguing with you is becoming demonstrably pointless. Something that I am sure is not lost on the general readership of this thread.

Personally, I continue to believe that you have something personal to gain in this because there is no other way it could be justified or defended (better word) as bitterly as you seem to be doing.
Obviously you can believe what you like, but I cannot see a single example of where I said or defended something "bitterly"? However in this post of yours to somebody else previously...
Go around flapper...I don't live in this world to appease you. Perhaps you are bitter because deep down you know I am right, you are bitter because I make as much money as you to FLY an airplane instead of pushing buttons for a living, or perhaps you are bitter because I paid for a CPL-MIFR without any debt and have never paid a penny towards my post cpl flying life. Either way, I really dont give a damn what YOU think of my credibility!
It would seem that vacuous accusations of supposed "bitterness" are something of a recurring theme with you. On the basis of the written evidence, I think the "bitterness" for whatever reason lies a little closer to home, don't you?

Barely a week goes by where I don't fly with a pilot who has come through similar cadet schemes. Most of them have been with us for many years. Apart from this years new intake, all are on permanent contracts. Of those, all are now on the same seniority salary scales and terms and conditions as everybody else within that rank in the company. We have a significant number of captains (all of whom became captains at the requisite point of subsequent experience and seniority, bar none.) We also have four training captains, and one fleet manager who came from these cadet schemes.

I am more than happy to tell these people, that there is some bad tempered chap in Canada, who isn't an airline pilot, but feels well qualified to decry their background and choices with terms such as "douchebag" etc. However I don't think they will care, and I would completely understand why.

Whatever your paucity of personal airline experience, and granduer of opinion, there is no doubt that these schemes are not any guarantee of success, nor should anybody consider them without the most complete understanding and research. I have certainly made that point time and time again.

You may not like what I say, and you are completely at liberty to challenge it or ignore it, but to mask it with nonsense and suggestions of "personal gain" is on the basis of no evidence, no credibility and no point.

Meanwhile, back at the topic of the easyjet new ab-initio scheme.....
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Old 2nd May 2011, 00:32
  #152 (permalink)  
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Justagigolo77. As an avid watcher of this thread, and others, I have to agree with Bealzebub. Not once have I seen a post where he/she agrees with the situation, more that what he/she writes is of a realistic picture of the industry for 'wannabes' right now.

I do not agree with the situation at all, I get the impression (could be wrong) that Bealzebub doesn't care too much for it either, but that is the way it is at the moment.

Thank you Bealzebub for telling it like it is! Some of us will go all out to get in that position, others will pursue other interests. I think I will just build hours for fun for the time being....
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Old 2nd May 2011, 09:19
  #153 (permalink)  
 
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Originally Posted by Bealzebub
Barely a week goes by where I don't fly with a pilot who has come through similar cadet schemes. Most of them have been with us for many years. Apart from this years new intake, all are on permanent contracts. Of those, all are now on the same seniority salary scales and terms and conditions as everybody else within that rank in the company.
Bealzebub, just for the benefit of the wannabe reader, could you confirm that you are not referring to easyJet here, but instead to a rather well-respected career airline with at least a modicum of moral fibre to be found in the management structure.

At easyJet, we were told that the "flexicrew" contract pilots would be offered a permanent position within 6 months or so or getting on line. This never happened, and so the numbers built up to around the 500 mark now. Some have been on a self-employed contract for 3 years.

BALPA recently negotiated a lower "second officer" permanent payscale to encourage easyJet to offer our contract pilots permanent positions. The company said this was a great idea, but never took it up.

We have offered a small number of permanent positions very recently, but only because we needed more first officers in Paris and Milan, and employment laws in those countries do not permit companies to have self-employed full time workers on reduced rates.

At easyJet we too have a long history of cadet schemes, which have been generally successful. The numbers were small and the pilots carefully selected. But many realised that once they were 6 months in to the job at easyJet they were much better off going to BA, and they did. Even with the burden of paying off the debt to easyJet, it was a good financial move. Some stayed, and some are captains or even hold a senior position in the training department.

More recently, we have had the flexicrew cadet, who is self employed. These have been recruited in the hundreds and it appears that the selection process has been a little more broad. Again, many have already left for proper jobs.

Companies realise that there is a problem with cadets leaving after we spend a lot of time and effort line training. The cadets realise that the final job package is not as good as they anticipated and that there is much better available elsewhere. There is now no financial problem for the company when a cadet leaves, since the cadet carries the entire cost and more (£35k for a TR anyone?) but it is a serious waste of training resources (which are limited).

Cue... the MPL, where your licence won't allow you to leave. Genius really!

What next, the FPL which costs £200,000, and you must remain self employed with the associated airline on an invalid licence until you attain your command?
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Old 2nd May 2011, 12:03
  #154 (permalink)  
 
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A small number of UK permanent contracts have been given out in the last 6 months. There are 3 guys I know, sure there is more, although not sure how many. It is mainly for European contracts as your right, their employment law does not allow for flexicrew. In France, even for a temporary basing, they have even been on a fixed rosters. It is quite obvious to see this is the next stage in the evolution of flexicrew, first you had to pay if you wanted to leave, now it is physically impossible to leave. It is amazing how much things have changed since I joined CTC in 2007, not sure I could honestly recommend a friend doing the same thing now.
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Old 2nd May 2011, 14:43
  #155 (permalink)  
 
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There has been a lot of talk on this thread about the MPL and it's supposed disadvantages compared to the traditional route. This seems to focus on the inability to move company away from you original sponsoring (mentoring) airline, in this case EZY.

From my own research I can only find information stating that the MPL does not restrict you to one airline or type. You are qualified to fly any aircraft, (subject to correct supervising captain) as long as you have to appropriate TR.

I can understand if there is a tie in your contract then moving may be impossible because of the financial implications but has there actually been a mention of this on this course.

As far a I can see there is no mention of a tie to EZY if there is please can someone let me know where this is.
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Old 2nd May 2011, 15:35
  #156 (permalink)  
 
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Hundredpercentplease,

Yes, you are are absolutely right regarding the point of clarification. That might raise the question in certain quarters as to why mention another companies terms and conditions when they are not relevant to this subject? The answer would be, in response to the assertion that these schemes (either from the training school perspective or the airlines persepective) are "scams".

It won't have been lost on many people just how bad things have been across a whole range of industries over at least the last two years. As it concerns the subject matter here, these cadet programmes that have been quite successful historically, have had their end user customers shut the door until their own trading situation improves.

In an attempt to keep at the very least a trickle flow going, at least one (and possibly more) of them has sourced placements on far less secure, much more costly, and generally much less desirable terms than might have been the case 3 years ago. They would no doubt argue, that something, indeed anything is better than nothing? That same argument would hold true with many would be unemployed pilots who have taken significant personal compromises in some of their own lives.

Should training schools shut down recruitment as a result? To do so would undoubtably terminate their business. Should airlines shut down as a consequence of the recession? Some have been forced to. The survivors, survive by careful management, upbeat projections, increasing yields as creatively as they can, reducing costs across the board, drawing on reserves and finding customers wherever they can be found. It is not unreasonable to suppose that training schools follow a similar format.

New opportunities may be unpalatable, unaffordable, and a complete non-starter to some, but if there is a market it simply becomes part of the new reality. If there is no market, the idea will either die or evolve into something else.

I have already said, it is for people better informed and more closely involved with this particular company, and this particular scheme, to comment on the specifics. However, the generality is that the training schools in question and the airlines being mentioned are most definetaly not "scam" artists. They are well established players in their respective fields. Whether you love them, loathe them or are indifferent to them. They all have have a history of providing training, placements and jobs in accordance with terms that reflect the realities of the current marketplace at any particular moment in time. They may well be the price setters or market makers for this often bad news, but that doesn't change the reality.
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Old 2nd May 2011, 16:41
  #157 (permalink)  
 
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CharlieFly, an MPL has to be done in a flightschool which partners with a sponsoring airline. Part of the MPL is the initial type rating which has to be done within the sponsoring airline training scheme. Until the end of the (longer than normal) supervision the student has to remain within the sponsored airline. However after the pilot is released and has passed its final check he is free to change airlines, however he still has a different license that can be a problem to other airlines which are not used to have MPL pilots within its workforce, in general changing airlines is not done and quite unlikely. An MPL is not a full CPL, the difference is however not all that big. After 1500 hours experience the pilot can transfer his MPL into a normal ATPL given he has the required hours. At least that is how it works for our students, all of which got a full unrestricted job after completion of their training. However, we are not easyjet.
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Old 2nd May 2011, 16:52
  #158 (permalink)  
 
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Bealzebub,

I don't think that there is the suggestion that anyone is scamming anyone else. The use of the word is simply an emotive error by certain posters.

However, entry into this profession entails a cost, a risk and a reward. The MPL scheme is the most expensive, has the highest risk and (at easyJet) a poor reward.

If I were to offer you a new iPhone for £2000, sent by uninsured second class post in a clear plastic bag, then I am not a scammer, but you may be a fool if you went for it.

You argue that economics are steering the airline business into a path where MPL is the only option. At some point, the cost will be so high (for the individual), the risk so high and the reward so low, that there will be no takers. Many would argue that we are at that point now, and that the only reason that there are takers is because the FTOs paint a picture that is somewhat different from reality.

Originally Posted by OAA website
Climbing through the cloud at 6 miles per minute and bursting out 'on-top' into brilliant sunshine at 20,000 feet whilst the rest of the world works beneath you is both a privilege and a pleasure that only a pilot can truly enjoy on a regular basis.

Back down again towards the ground, flying a £120 million jet with 150 passengers on board flying accurately on instruments along a precise approach path, breaking through the base of the cloud at 100 feet and landing safely on the runway in a 30-knot gusting crosswind, is also a unique skill set routinely demanded from an airline pilot flying within Europe.
I would suggest that the cost/risk/reward balance - on the easyJet scheme at least - is tipping, or has tipped, the wrong way. Regular captains like me believe that we should have:

easyJet plane - easyJet pilot

and

recruitment from the vast swathes of 1500+ hour turboprop pilots who would love to come and work for us.
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Old 2nd May 2011, 17:30
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However, entry into this profession entails a cost, a risk and a reward. The MPL scheme is the most expensive, has the highest risk and (at easyJet) a poor reward.
Stop lying.

It's not the most expensive, it's the nearly the same as the regular Oxford/CTC course. Plus, you pop out of the other end type rated, saving you ~£30,000.

It's not the highest risk, it's the closest thing to a guaranteed job you'll find today. High risk would be starting any course of training with no job guarantee...

It's not a poor reward (although I agree, it's not a particularly good one either). Of course it won't be that great for your first few years. Who said it would be? But deal with that, and in 2-3 years, you're one of the most employable pilots in the world. Then you can tell easyJet (+ their sh*te T+Cs) where to go.

And no, I'm not applying for the course. But if I could, I would.
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Old 2nd May 2011, 18:34
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HundredPercentPlease

I was trying to be economical in my use of reply space, and only part of the thread was by way of a reply to you. I am sure your comments concerning the specifics of this MPL scheme are very valid. I didn't think I was suggesting that economics were steering the industry into an MPL only path, but given the range of very limited realistic options for the "250 hour airline wannabe" that may have been an unintended interpretation.

If I were to offer you a new iPhone for £2000, sent by uninsured second class post in a clear plastic bag, then I am not a scammer, but you may be a fool if you went for it.
Indeed. But that is because there are so many other quicker, cheaper and more secure options. If you were the only realistic game in town, and I were a customer in need of your product, it might be a little less imperative how you packaged and posted the product.


If I truly believed that a CPL/IR and 250 hours was going to find me a job as a first officer on an airbus A320/1, or on a Boeing 737 or 757, I would find very, very few games in town, beyond the cadet schemes that may come packaged as part of an fATPL programme, or indeed as a new MPL programme.

With that clarification, I otherwise agree with what you have said.
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