Bond/OAT "Sponsorship"
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I understand that the successful Bond applicants were told that they should not talk about their training on Pprune and, if that is the case, we will never know the answer as to whether some have or have not dropped out.
Although the deal was good from most people's point of view, the trainees had to find £30k of their money - that is still a lot of dosh for someone in their early twenties (as I believe the age of the eldest trainee is).
Will we ever know whether any trainee gets chopped by Bond? Unlikely unless someone wants to "blow the whistle"!
The selection procedure was rigourous but only time can tell whether it was a good selection procedure and whether Bond recruited the "right" people. That is something that can only be answered in about 5 years time.
The reason loyalty is often lacking is because so few people have been shown it by the employer in recent years. Loyalty has to be earned and goes both ways.
Cheers
Whirls
Alpha87 - a rather unnecessary comment to Snowy, no?
Although the deal was good from most people's point of view, the trainees had to find £30k of their money - that is still a lot of dosh for someone in their early twenties (as I believe the age of the eldest trainee is).
Will we ever know whether any trainee gets chopped by Bond? Unlikely unless someone wants to "blow the whistle"!
The selection procedure was rigourous but only time can tell whether it was a good selection procedure and whether Bond recruited the "right" people. That is something that can only be answered in about 5 years time.
The reason loyalty is often lacking is because so few people have been shown it by the employer in recent years. Loyalty has to be earned and goes both ways.
Cheers
Whirls
Alpha87 - a rather unnecessary comment to Snowy, no?
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Whirly
The actual ages of candidates ranges from early 20's to early 30's and whilst £30k is still a lot of money to find, by anyones standards, it is still cheaper than the cost of an ATPL(h), IR, turbine & multi-engine ratings when privately funded and all without any guarantee of a job at the end. All things considered, the Bond offer is still a very attractive one!
alpha-87 - Agreed, given the nature of the package Bond are offering I can imagine that loyalty (or lack of) won't be an issue for the candidates...
PR
The actual ages of candidates ranges from early 20's to early 30's and whilst £30k is still a lot of money to find, by anyones standards, it is still cheaper than the cost of an ATPL(h), IR, turbine & multi-engine ratings when privately funded and all without any guarantee of a job at the end. All things considered, the Bond offer is still a very attractive one!
alpha-87 - Agreed, given the nature of the package Bond are offering I can imagine that loyalty (or lack of) won't be an issue for the candidates...
PR
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Blimey Ivor, I reckon you'll manage to offend a fair few with that post!
Sure there are some who are funded by parents etc... but there are many who have spilt blood, sweat and tears to get there. Speak to the people re-fueling or cleaning your aircraft, or maybe those working as rearcrew or op's; you'll find a fair few who are picking up an ATPL manual long after others have gone to the pub to moan about not being one of the advantaged few.
And another thing! You claim that simply having money means you 'make it'? If you mean that money equals automatic CPL IR then you couldn't be more wrong. You still have to reach a required standard and I applaud all those who have the guts and determination to do so regardless of whether they funded it by selling the silver spoon from their mouth or by putting a kidney on ebay!
Just realised I'm ranting. Rant mode off. Have a nice day.
Sure there are some who are funded by parents etc... but there are many who have spilt blood, sweat and tears to get there. Speak to the people re-fueling or cleaning your aircraft, or maybe those working as rearcrew or op's; you'll find a fair few who are picking up an ATPL manual long after others have gone to the pub to moan about not being one of the advantaged few.
And another thing! You claim that simply having money means you 'make it'? If you mean that money equals automatic CPL IR then you couldn't be more wrong. You still have to reach a required standard and I applaud all those who have the guts and determination to do so regardless of whether they funded it by selling the silver spoon from their mouth or by putting a kidney on ebay!
Just realised I'm ranting. Rant mode off. Have a nice day.
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Alpha-87: a bit harsh, but seeing as the merchant navy company i'm with give feedback to everyone who apply, it seems to me that they have their heads firmly screwed on whatever they say!
However you must find that a company that will not even consider feedback to people that have spent £700 on their application in total is being slightly out of order!
And £30k is an awful lot of money to some people, especially me, which was also put on my application form that was sent up to aberdeen!! Not all young people can get money that easy, even a lot of older people cannot - - if you really wanna know, my parents would've had to remortgage and get a loan for me to be able to afford it, which they were willing to do considering they knew how much i wanted to do it.
And the way i see it is that i haven't completly changed direction, i have a love of flying, and the route i have chosen has allowed me to fly privately and enjoy it as much as i want, and not have to get to a stage of thinking 'oh, here comes another assessment, another task to complete'!!
So in a way, i think i have come off better as i will earn more in the beginning, not have any debt whatsoever and be able to enjoy flying as and when i want.
However you must find that a company that will not even consider feedback to people that have spent £700 on their application in total is being slightly out of order!
And £30k is an awful lot of money to some people, especially me, which was also put on my application form that was sent up to aberdeen!! Not all young people can get money that easy, even a lot of older people cannot - - if you really wanna know, my parents would've had to remortgage and get a loan for me to be able to afford it, which they were willing to do considering they knew how much i wanted to do it.
And the way i see it is that i haven't completly changed direction, i have a love of flying, and the route i have chosen has allowed me to fly privately and enjoy it as much as i want, and not have to get to a stage of thinking 'oh, here comes another assessment, another task to complete'!!
So in a way, i think i have come off better as i will earn more in the beginning, not have any debt whatsoever and be able to enjoy flying as and when i want.
Hovering AND talking
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O27PMR, the actual age range of the candidates was from 18 to early 40s!! However, the eldest successful candidate (about whom I was talking!) was early/twenties (24 I believe).
Cheers
Whirls
Cheers
Whirls
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Sorry Whirls, maybe I should have said the age range of 'successful' candidates was early 20's to early 30's... I appreciate the age spread for applicants was greater though
PR
PR
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According to a letter I got from Bond - "We have in the past year taken on 12 student pilots...their average age was 19". So where are these people in their 30s? Also, why are the Bond students not allowed to talk about their training on Pprune? What's the big secret? Aren't they doing it at Bristow in Florida anyway where loads of other students quite happily chat about their experiences? Are they making them clean the toilets or something to pay back the sponsorship? I think we should be told.
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BusinessMan, "I think we should be told" - it's a jovial quip regarding the (also jovial) cleaning the toilets line. Humour, or in my case feeble attempts at it, clearly don't come across well in print.
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Sorry Sean I also don't seem to be able to get my humour across despite the smilies! Can assure you I have also been following the saga with a grin 
. Still waiting for Mulder and Scully to appear to check out the conspiracy theories 
BM
. Still waiting for Mulder and Scully to appear to check out the conspiracy theories BM
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BM, ha ha, bring on the spooks, they'll get to the bottom of this secrecy plot
. I've just looked at you little face thing on your first reply, I thought it was an angry one not a smiley one - it's off to the opticians for me, if I can find it.
Best wishes
Sean
. I've just looked at you little face thing on your first reply, I thought it was an angry one not a smiley one - it's off to the opticians for me, if I can find it.Best wishes
Sean
Hovering AND talking
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Originally Posted by Ivor the driver
I'd like to think when I'm in a position to hire a pilot and it's between two "equal" people I'll choose the candidate who paid for his own training and grafted for it.
Cheers
Whirls
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Harry, does "19 years old, oh come on" mean you don't believe the average age of the successful candidates was 19, or you know otherwise? I can only refer you to my letter from Bond which said exactly that. Why would they lie to me? Having said that, there are some on this thread who seem to know the average age of those now enjoying the benefits of the sponsorship over in Florida (and best wishes to them all) is clearly not 19, which begs me to ask the question differently - why DID they lie to me? They told me I'm too old to even bother thinking about a NS job anyway, so what benefit is it to me or them to tell me the average age was 19 if it wasn't? I am more confused than ever.
Best wishes
Best wishes
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Cheers TTT, consider me not confused any more. BTW, I wasn't suggesting that you were suggesting the average age wasn't 19, that was in reply to another post. I'm confusing myself again....
Best wishes
Sean
Best wishes
Sean
Hovering AND talking
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Harry, even IF the average age of the trainees is 19 (not 12, don't exaggerate!), they will come out of training with a CPL/IR, not an ATPL. Then, when they have gained the required multi-crew experience and all the other hours required for an ATPL issue, they will no doubt be 21, so therefore, it is completely feasible.
Cheers
Whirls
Cheers
Whirls
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Contacted OAT the other day and Bond have no intention of doing any more sponsorship for the time being.
