Wings alliance white tail 'sponsorship'
 

Thoughts? https://www.wingsalliance.eu/finance/

Still requires £56,000 security bond.

This could be quite a big deal.

Looks interesting, although I guess in addition to the £56k security bond, if you don't get a job with an airline willing to pay your training then you are liable for the training costs.

This strikes me as being a bit like the old CTC-McAlpine scheme of the mid 2000's, albeit without the unsecured HSBC Professional Studies loan. Basically, prior to training, the training supplier (Wings Alliance) and the partner airline will have come to an agreement that the former will supply x number of pilots to the latter. Wings Alliance then selects the trainees, the airline pays for them and the bond covers the airline's costs in case of the trainee leaving without completing the programme/joining the airline/leaving the airline early.

The conditions attached to bond forfeiture would be worth a look, I do wonder if there is any "performance protection" involved.

If they can get enough partner airlines I reckon it might make the "Big 3" sweat a bit, it just goes to show how big the profit margins are at some of the training schools.

I don't get what makes this scheme so much better than doing things via a traditional modular or integrated route? It's still costs the student £56k right? Someone enlighten me please :confused:

£56k which is very slightly over the typical cost of a modular pilot with high chances of employment in the end with their partner airlines. Last time I checked their APC program had 100% pilot placement rate.

I agree with the post above that these sort of programs would definitely make the big 3 sweat. £56k vs £110k is quite a difference.

The whole finance side of flight training needs a complete overhaul.

Has anyone applied for this? Managed to chat to someone on the phone at Wings Alliance and it seems to offer a great deal of flexibility as you don't need to do the training with their affiliated schools, info on their website doesn't go into massive detail so it would be great to hear people's experiences of the scheme.

I've been looking at this for a while now as well but I wonder how it goes with the usual advice of not paying anything up front? From what I can tell, you don't pay the £56K in one go, you pay £XX at this stage, then £YY at the next stage, then £ZZ later, so it's still modular but I'm not sure if you pay Wings or if you pay whatever school you're in? I think it was £10K-12K for the first part which was PPL, but then people have always said never to pay for anything in advance, not even paying for a 10-hour block time if you were hour building!

I think it's the same with the Big 3 in such that you pay £XX then £YY then £ZZ so they're not different there but the Big 3 is integrated course and they're the "Big 3" for a reason whereas Wings is just a group of flight schools and is a modular course. I'm guessing Wings Alliance can disappear and the participating flight schools can still remain but with no obligation to honor payments made to Wings?

Anything aviation-wise that you can pay in instalmants I would think are best paid using credit cards since if the flight school goes bankrupt, you are covered by the credit card company.

The obvious exception are the BBVA loans where the money goes straight to the flight school but I don't believe BBVA have been providing flight training loans for a while now.

Is this automatic or do I need to speak to my bank about such protection?

Wings Alliance was formed by one of the original founding members of CTC which may account for the similarity to the CTC-McAlpine scheme referenced further back. It works in conjunction with Bristol Groundschool and certain accepted individual flight schools who provide the training. Hence the 'Alliance' part of Wings Alliance. It's a great concept as it gives students more flexibility and control over their training compared to some of the other bigger FTA's, and for a smaller cost.

The APC is a good course, very intense and will make you work hard, but there is most definitely not a 100% placement rate for their course. I think that reference on their website dates back to the very first course they ran when both students were indeed placed. Remember, everyone is trying to sell you something. Most who have got jobs since their APC have done so on their own or not got jobs at all that I am aware of.

Hope this is of some help.

I've got an assessment with them for late August. £56k may seem much but my the big two were quoting my university 86 for CAE and 80 for L3. Modular. (Bucks New Uni Air Transport with Commercial Pilot Training)

I've just read through this, and the page on it on the Wings Alliance Website. It says "During the first few years of your employment, in addition to receiving a salary from your employer, they will return to you a little of your bond each month as they amortise the cost of your training, until it is all paid off"..... Am I missing something or does this mean you'll get the full cost of your training back!?

If someone could clarify this?

If its anything like the CTC / L3 training bond the bond will be paid back to you essentially as part of your salary but as it is 'the training bond' it won't be taxed the same as income. Its technically 'in addition to your salary' but your salary will be lower as a result

Was it less tax or no tax on the money they will repay? I can't clearly remember. But what I did understand is that you will NOT be getting your full £56K back. For example, Pilot A paid for his training and Pilot B went through Wings, both pilots get paid £40K but Pilot A is taxed for the full £40K whereas Pilot B is only taxed for £30K assuming he gets an additional £10K tax-free. According to listentotaxman, a pilot on £40K gets £30.5 yearly after tax, a pilot on £30K gets £23.7 + £10K so Pilot B is £3.2K better off per year so £16K over 5 years? Someone double-check my math on that? If correct, it's a far cry from £56K but still, £16K is nothing to scoff at.