PAJ has it spot on for ezy cadets. The £1000 is included in your net take home and the HSBC loan payment is then serviced directly from your bank account.

How much do you need for the wings scheme?

I know you need the £60,000 for the bond itself I only thought you needed living expenses on top of that taking it to £70,000 ish. What am I missing that people are talking about £111,000 and £90,000 loans? I understand the need to support yourself if you go into the holding pool but surely thats not adding £30,000 to the loan?

Im guessing I have been misinformed at some point. Please enlighten me!

Hi Tom,

I'll break it down:

• £60,000 = CTC Wings Course Payment
• £10,000 = Living Expenses
• £7,000 = CTC Wings Foundation Course Payment
• £34,000 = Interest on all of the above

Which pans out at a healthy £111,000.

When you reach a relevant stage of trianing Kerosine, CTC send out an airline handbook which details all the relevant figures. I also know a few guys out the other side of the course who can confirm the numbers. I don't have it detailed anywhere that cadets are paid more than £1000 per month for bond repayments. I would need to delve through my finances a bit but I am expecting to be making bond repayments of around £1100 per month, so I will have to find a small percentage out of my salary to cover the outstanding amount. I do stand to be corrected though.

TomH1408, the larger numbers you are reading about take into account interest. HSBC charge about 2.5% above variable BoE base interest rate for the privilege of the unsecured loan which over 7 years mounts up considerably.

Cheers bonalste

I see that the high figures everyone is talking about includes the interest you will have to pay back as well. i was worried people were having to take out £110,000 loans in the first place and then end up paying back £160,000 or so in the end!

And cheers PAJ!

This may be a stupid question, but can you not pay back more than just £1000 (approx) a month, hense reducing the cost of the loan in the long run?

Yes you can, it just depends on how much you will need for living expenses etc.

I've given a rough guide below for what I've spent so far:

Application fee: £137
New suit: £150
Travel Phase 2/3: £55
Hotel Phase 2/3: £50
Travel Phase 4: £40
Travel to arrange loan: £35
BASIC disclosure: £20
Medical: £317
Tavel to medical: £35
Insurance: £1300
Knowing where I'm going in November... priceless :ok:

While expenditure differs from one to the next, the above gives an idea of how much it can all cost before you even get there. I look to have spent over £2200 on getting to where I am now; just to visa to do now!

I decided to go for the whole amount as I want as much breathing space as possible when I'm out there. For the amount I'll be paying back, the extra interest is worth paying to reduce the risk of running out of cash in NZ.
Anyway if I have a surplus I'm sure I'll find something to spend it on!

Looking at the above post makes me worry about how little I'm worrying about how much I'm spending haha :p

I'm still a long way off from reaching the fATPL as I have not even had my phase 2 yet (2nd of sep). I think I am going to start playing the lottery again, try to win big and then have no worries about all these finances at all...I can dream.

I recently said to my mum. "If I get on the course, would you mind me putting the loan up against the house?" I wasn't to popular and her response was...."hahahah your kidding right?" At the moment the dream is getting further and further away.

I've been told that some people in NZ had got part time jobs, how true is this? Its a brilliant idea!

I've also been getting a little confused. I thought you only started repaying the bond once you started earning. From what I can gather on this thread is that once your training is complete you have to start paying back the £££ each month!!! Really puts me in a bad situation at the mo. However I remember reading on the CTC FAQ that the last 6months of training in the UK you are given £1000/m. Is this for living allowances etc or to do what you want with it? could be a massive life saver to some people, as they could use it to pay some of the bond balance off.

Right, back to revision for me, been on this forum for about 2.5 hours now. Wish me luck for phase 2 and maybe 3!

Karl :ok:

You start to pay back your loan 2 years after starting the course regardless of job status. For the last 6 months of that 2 years you are paid around £1000 a month to cover living expenses while training. I'm someone in this position can correct me if any of that is incorrect.

I remember this idea was floated a while back and apparently availability of time for a job can be a problem.

You are not paid 1000 quid for the last 6 months at all.... Once you have a type rating with an airline you are given I think 500 quid a month for the duration of the type-rating and then are paid roughly 1000quid/month although this varies down to a lower sum for some airlines for the first 6 months on the actual line before you are permanently employed with that airline. If/when you get a permanent contract then you are on a salary and no longer part of ctc.

With regard to people getting part time jobs in New Zealand: While I was out there, noone had a job. I don't see how you'd be able to hold down a job (even part time) with the variable nature of the flying schedule. I'm not saying that it would be impossible: I just don't see how it would be workable, and I don't know how CTC would view it.

Just my two pence worth if you're interested boys and girls, as I notice some of the old boys haven’t been on recently (obviously far too busy flying shiny new jets!)

As a recent "graduate" of the wings programme, and one of the lucky last few who have been offered a flying position since about April, I am now fully immersed in the World's favourite airline. The quotes from BJK refer to repayments at a certain orange operator and I thought I'd better just remind you that, for legal reasons, other employers are/may be available!

Due to the way BA are unionised they will not accept a separate pay scale for cadets and therefore you will be invited to join as a self sponsored pilot (SSP). You will then forego your bond to APL and the resulting repayments to HSBC will have to be entirely covered by yourself after taxable income.

So.....basic SSP salary in year 1 is around £31000 and this is taxed in the usual way. Flight pay is then awarded at around £11 per flight hour, £2 something per duty hour and £5/10 depending on the nature of your overnight (UK or abroad); this will equate to appox. £12-15k per year and is taxed at 18%. The basic salary then increases £6000 per year until year 3 when the SSP scale merges with the DEP scale and everyone’s a winner....? Now depending on your own situation (student loan, mortgage, child benefits etc) you can work out what you would have left.

The 2 loans from HSBC are for £64400 (for the foundation and cadet course) and £10000 (for living expenses) they are to be repaid over 84 months and will track 2.75% above the BoE base rate. A combined repayment of the two will cost approx £1260 per month. Early repayment is an option, but bewares as the clause that covers that situation does invoke various financial penalties that make it seemingly unwise to do so.

As for the suggestion that the living expenses loan does not need to be taken in full or that you will struggle to spend it in NZ....I'd be more concerned with keeping as much as possible available for those long, cold days spent in the pool at the other end of training in today’s' climate. Remember, you don't accumulate interest on any of the amounts until they are drawn down and this is done over a period of roughly 18 months.

Good luck to all who decide to apply or who are in training, it really is worth it when you see the light at the end of the tunnel...Here's hoping someone turns it back on soon eh?

Pre3

Just as a side note - the student visa doesn't allow you to work in New Zealand (I don't think).

As people have already said, the flying schedual would make it very difficult to hold down a job...and it does say on my visa (as Im sure it says on everyone else)

"The holder shall not undertake employment in NZ"

Don't think it can get any clearer than that!

awesome, thanks for clearing some of my questions up pre3mhjt and also congrats for making it as a pilot.

CTC vs Netjets
 

Hey guys,

I was just wondering....I have passed all the stages at CTC, except for stage 4 which I failed (but I will take it again middle of October). At the same time, I have applied at Netjets and I have been asked to come for the stage 2 selection.

I am a bit concerned about the Compass tests, maths & physics tests.

Does anyone know if the compass tests and maths are similar between Netjets /CTC ? can I expect something more or less similar?

It would be great to talk to someone who has pass these tests.

Thanks.

Lydia

I was referring to CTC placements. The last guys to be offered "traditional" cadet contracts went to eJ Swiss in April/May time; apart from that only 3/4 others have been taken on by BA as SSPs and everyone else is in the pool (generally speaking). Industry wide placements are far outside of my scope of expertise, but I'm sure if you went to the far east you'd find lots of people being offered jobs.

The airlines, especially the charters (and therefore CTC), traditionally have a slow period in recruitment terms this time of year. The problem this year is that it’s being exacerbated by the economic conditions and looks worse because CTC have never had such big courses rapidly filling the hold pool.