Sponsorship anyone?
 

hello again everyone!
Now i have a really good question which i'm pretty sure everyone in this forum wants an answer to! here goes:
I keep hearing that airline sponsorship for pilots was halted after 9/11, so how howcome I'm still hearing about it in almost every forum here?

You will probably hear it in a "good old days" " remember when " etc etc kinda way . There are a rew sponsorship types things still in existence , ie Highland airways , but they are not traditional full sponsorship like days of old.
As long as people will pay 25 grand to goto work for an airline why should they bother sponsoring ??
But theres another argument

Sponsorship wasn't halted after 9/11, sponsorship ended because companies seen an easier way to get pilots. It's as simple as that really.

I'm pretty sure most already know about all the training options because they will have studied all the ways to get to where they want to be, so won't need to know the answer.

The definition of sponsorship has changed and in most cases no longer implies that an airline will pay for your training, it implies that they will select you prior to training which you will then pay for and on satisfactory completion you will be given a job which is probably the biggest hurdle.

BA used to do a 100% full ATPL sponsership , with a small bonding . i remember it well as i applied for it post 9-11. After 9-11 it was no more :-(

this must be the only job where you pay to work !

Also be aware as you read the longer threads, some of the dates on posts go back to 2001, 2002etc. Not everything they say may be as relevant now. Even so I think hollingworthp's comment is very true:

This is the best you're likely to get!

Blame the rich kids!
 

About twenty years back when I started in the flying side of the business once you got the CPL/IR (fATPL) you would send your CV to all the airlines and eventualy get a job.
The airline would pay for your type rating and usualy "bond" you to work for them for 2-3 years so they could get a return on investment.

Enter the "rich kids" who found that by getting daddy to pay for a type rating they could get first chance at a job.

As you can guess the airline beancounters loved this idea and now it has become the norm, all I can say is that I got into the business just in time having now done five type ratings and not payed a penny for any of them!

Yep there is no such thing as an airline sponsorship these days. By that I mean you get paid a cadet salary, get your accommodation and training fees paid for and have a guaranteed job at the end. Subject of course to passing the tests to the required standard.

Instead we have a mix of "semi" sponsored schemes - and I use that term very loosely. Invariably they involve either a salary sacrifice or working for free to get a foot on the ladder. Most can be lumped into the misselling category.