Another slant on PFT...

[bart]

We had a situation occur at our airport recently. A guy was hired, went to school, got his type in a lear 25. All paid for by the employer. The guy then quits three weeks later. Now, his employer is out the cash and has no employee to show for it.

What would you do to deal with this? Lets say you were the chief pilot and had to explain to the boss how you just vaporized about $25K. The boss says what are you going to do to make sure this does not happen again?

 

[bobbysamd]

P-F-T

These things happen. It's part of running a business. Perhaps the interview process is flawed, and the Chief Pilot did not ask the enough questions, or the right questions, to determine if this pilot might jump ship.

Maybe next time the Chief Pilot should specify only LR-25-typed pilots only. In this economy and hiring situation, plenty should be available. For that matter, there is not a pilot shortage. Even in good times, plenty of Lear-typed pilots are around. Also, contrary to P-F-T, demanding an employment contract is not out of line, although enforcing one is tough.

 

[Salty Dog]

Or, more specific than a hiring contract, an agreement that if employment terminates prior to x amount of time, the costs of the rating will be paid back on a pro-rated basis. Let the employee assume the training risk. He can still bolt if he wants, but it will cost him.

 

[WrightAvia]

bart I seen that same thing happen...

a friend of mine quit his part 91 job after they typed him in a jet. He quit to go to Midwest Express. He gets furloughed a couple of times and now works part time as a fill in corporate pilot. Seems he can't go back to his old employer since he stiffed em for the bill for his training. I would imagine also that bad news still travels fast even though when future employers call his past employer they can only lawfully discuss certain things when asking for references.

It must look wierd to a future employer when you have a type rating dated such and such and you quit to go to the airlines a month later. Hmmmmm.

 

[enigma]

We had a situation occur at our airport recently. A guy was hired, went to school, got his type in a lear 25. All paid for by the employer. The guy then quits three weeks later. Now, his employer is out the cash and has no employee to show for it.

What would you do to deal with this? Lets say you were the chief pilot and had to explain to the boss how you just vaporized about $25K. The boss says what are you going to do to make sure this does not happen again?

Working with what you have given, I must make a few assumptions. Number one, the chief pilot is a very poor businessman. I deduce that from the amount he paid for a Lear25 type. He paid about 18grand too much. I also conclude that he is a poor interviewer. Taking those inferences into account, I'll assume that the CP will do all he can to paint the pilot in as bad a light as he can. He will tell his boss that in the future he will require all newhires to pay for their own type ratings. His boss will probably agree that pilots are lousy and require all newhires to pay for the type, or he will not allow anyone to be hired that doesn't already have the type.

What the owner should do is fire the CP and hire a CP who is an effective manager. As Bobby said, this is most likely an interview problem. These situations can be avoided by doing a complete and thorough job in the selection process.

regards,
8N

PS I will also assume that the job wasn't very good to begin with. Considering todays pilot job market, no one would leave a quality job in their third week. Maybe the employer did a poor job of describing the actual job to begin with.

 

[swberry]

We had a situation occur at our airport recently. A guy was hired, went to school, got his type in a lear 25. All paid for by the employer. The guy then quits three weeks later. Now, his employer is out the cash and has no employee to show for it.

What would you do to deal with this? Lets say you were the chief pilot and had to explain to the boss how you just vaporized about $25K. The boss says what are you going to do to make sure this does not happen again?

Pay him/her 100K to start and treat them as equal and as I am sure you know, they will not leave. If you can't afford the 100K, then you will have to take what you can get.

 

[capt_zman]

And the nasty circle continues. The reality of this situation is that it does absolutely nothing to enhance the integrity of the profession. Only tightens the stranglehold between pilots and management.

Assumptions aside, it looks bad for pilots.

Here's another recent situation that just took place. A full-time pilot was hired to fly the company's Beechjets and brand new Hawker. Company paid for pilot's recurrent training in both jets and paid for pilot's living quarters. The job was tough and demanded more time and effort than the pilot was willing to give. Pilot and company never really got along, hence the relationship deteriotated over the 6 months. Pilot then finds another job and leaves the company. No problem right?

Wrong, the pilot never tells the company about his new job and never gives his notice, but simply leaves and never returns, giving some death in the family excuse and citing marital problems.

And here's the real kicker. 2 months go by and company is polishing the leading edges of the Hawker and what does the company find? Company finds the pilot's name and telephone number ETCHED into the stainless portion of the leading edge!

Now I don't know about you or any assumptions that you might make about the quality/pay/conditions of the job, but how does a pilot/person with any shred of decency do such an act? Makes me want to puke.

Just a downright shame that being a pilot groups me into the same class of workforce as this other pilot, because in my mind, he doesn't deserve to be cleaning sewers, never mind flying 14 million dollar airplanes. When will pilots raise the bar?

 

[swberry]

That is wrong on all levels. I am sure most professionals would not commit a crime by vandalizing another persons property regardless of pay/benefits. I do beleive that providing an employee with top notch pay/benefits coupled with excellent treatment sends a signal to that person from the very beginning of how important they are to that particular operation. I am confident that the employee will now work hard to find ways to save their owner as much money as possible.

This is only my opinion, I could be wrong...