Hear, hear! As a former BA cadet pilot myself, I can tell you the rosy glow soon wears off after a few years in BA. I don't want to start complaining as I know other pilots have similar ,if not worse experiences. However, a lot of this is self inflicted. Some of our colleagues will come to work for nothing. <Funny how the cabin crew never say that though> I also never hear my doctor, lawyer, accountant friends say that either. They are on a considerably better package than I will ever achieve. So , while I am unhappy with my package here at BA, I am aware that most of our current ills are self inflicted, and we hold the key to improving it. Until that happens , you only have to look at the number of non resident pilots to see how people are trying to improve their lot.

My point was simply this:

To become a commercial pilot you need to undergo expensive training. The BA TEP scheme pays that training bill for you and (provided the commercial needs of the airline are still ok when you qualify) you are guaranteed a job. OK you pay back some of this training cost from your salary and by being worked hard, but the other option is to work for years to save the money to train, by which time when you do join an airline you are lower down the seniority list and might not progress as far in your career, or you take out a loan, on which you make repayments each month from your salary. If you pay for the training yourself you are not guaranteed a job at the end of it.

Don't get me wrong, I don't think BA are doing their cadets a 'favour' or doing it because they are being kind, they do it because they know they get something in return. I also realise that the likelihood of being sponsored by BA or anyone else is slim, but from where I sit at the moment, what I can see as the quickest and safest (from the point of view of a guaranteed job) to become a commercial pilot is by being accepted for sponsorship. It is also the first option to explore before looking at self-sponsorship.

However, I know that I am not going to sit around for years trying to get on a sponsorship scheme with an airline. I will go out and raise the funds somehow and pay for my own training.

Close AC, but should read 'You pay back all of this training cost from your salary, and you are worked hard.'

1. Application form. 5 essays!

2. Group exercise in weston-super-mare. Group exercise is a paper planning exercise to get people over shark infested custard.


3. Interview. Why you want to join. Bit of warm and fuzzy - 'when did you last receive excellent customer service?'. Bit of Tech - Perf - AeroD.

4. If you pass, BAC 1-11 sim at LHR. (Cheeky practice available at Bournemouth). Birmingham SID, recovery, hold, ILS, overshoot, ILS.

5. Offer. Turboprop only at present, irrespective of experience. Recent drop in salary to £20,000 per year with £3,000 in allowances. Type rating on Dash 8 is £15,000 over 3 years.

I politely declined the offer.

ps. Recruitment process is run by a good man - quite refreshing.

GA

Gentleman Aviator

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