What a load of crap. Just get yourself a type rating and don't be a burden.

My employer is actively recovering costs from those that left with debt collection agencies.

I'm having a hard time finding a counterargument between the accusations and the threats.

Can you explain to me why there used to be no bonds and people had long careers in one company?
Didn't the employer then consider the employee an investment in the true sense of the term instead of simply considering the training cost as an investment as is the case these days?

Some things in life are mutual. If you believe your employee is replaceable, he will believe the same about his employer.

That is actually the case. We aren't tied to our employers.

Who told you there were no bonds? Bonds or paid up front type ratings go back decades.

I was always of the opinion that the correct way is for companies to fund ratings for those joining their first pilot jobs (they'd have a hard time trying to get experienced pilots to pay so this topic is really about the first timers!).

Having seen the behaviour of some pilots, I mean just look at the very question that kicked off this thread, I now say no. First timers should fund upfront. No good deed goes unpunished and far too often I have seen that grovelling first job applicant do a runner within a year, taking the "free" rating, not repaying the bond and ungratefully forgetting the helping hand they were given. Let them pay and they'll appreciate it a lot more!

Controversial opinion - don’t run your airline like a workhouse and there’s a good chance your employees won’t leave at the first possible opportunity…

I agree with the principle, but that's not always the case, is it.

Take the regional airline trying to "do things right" and providing fully funded ratings and hotac for the 200 hr newbies for their first rating. They treat him like family. That person however jumps ship to the first jet airline that will take them with 500 hrs CS25 time. It is not exactly a reflection of the airline he is leaving.

Nothing wrong with leaving in such circumstances btw, we all have careers to build .. but to do so and evade the bond agreement with the very airline without whom you wouldn't have even been looked at by the jet operator .. that's not kosher. That's what I am against. The only solution is upfront payment if bonds can't be followed by court.

Pilots shoot themselves in the foot time and time again then we cry why nobody is nice to us. This thread is a prime example.

Fairest bond I ever had was the Airline arranged a bank loan in my name to cover training costs. Payment way £500 per month for 3 years. The Airline paid me a tax free amount each month of £500 to cover that payment, if I left within the 3 years then the payment to the bank was mine to fund. Worked well as the amount reduced and if someone left there was no admin cost to the airline of chasing a payment.

Well ultimately if you want your workforce to stay then you need to offer competitive terms and conditions to stop them leaving, irrelevant if you have spinny blade things or jets on the wings.

If the only way you can survive as an airline is by paying your pilots peanuts then is it really that bad if you go under?

Look at US regional pilot pay over the last decade, gone up 3-4x. Because if they didn’t increase the pay dramatically it’d have been even more chaotic. That wasn’t them being charitable, they’d happily had people living in cars and quite literally eating from food stamps when it suited them. Certainly not going to lose sleep about a CEO having to begrudgingly pay a competitive salary…

This is actually pretty reasonable. You owe the bank not the company. If you leave its not their problem and they aren't out of pocket.

Yeah very reasonable until there’s a pandemic and the airlines decides to stop paying back the loan that’s in your name…

https://www.bailiwickexpress.com/new...raining-costs/

Update - after approaching management a month ago about a schedule and rest days it was said
"there is no schedule, we are a reactive company"
I am now coming up on 4 months of permanent on call status during daylight hours
I drew up a schedule that would allow pilots to have the legal rest days required to comply with CAA minimums (1 day free of duty every two weeks and two consecutive days free of duty every month) but nothing has come of it in weeks
I think this argument has two sides, one side being unscrupulous pilots who intentionally use companies to get type ratings and leave, and the other side being unscrupulous companies who use bonds to trap their employees despite unpleasant and sometimes illegal working conditions

Ask them to write that down in an email and sent from a company verifiable email address. Then have a chat with your local CAA FOI. Could even CHIRP. Illegal behaviour by the Operator if true.

None of the above should be a surprise.
Do people not bother to read the terms and conditions of their job offers any more?
If they do, and then agree those terms by signing the contract, why is this discussion even taking place?

You are responsible for your own decisions. Live with them.