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Of course, I'm not disputing the notion that a training contract, even in this economy, is TOTAL crap.
I have been here a long time and agree that training contracts are crap. That said, I also have heard about how much the company wasted on wanna be pilots who had no intention on sticking around. I have seen them leave just before check rides and within a week of getting out on the line. One guy said he had to leave because it was too hard to get into and out of the cockpit and another guy said that he had no idea how much work fractional was. I also know the company has never once used it against any one with a legitiment reason for leaving such as a lost medical, mother getting sick and needing to be taken care of or several other family oriented issues that caused crew members to have to make a tough decision to leave during the first year. So go ahead and start the mindless ranting about the terrible treatment of pilots and comments about how if the company was worth a sh!t they wouldn't have to use a training contract. They started out without a contract and some time after losing somewhere close to six figures on about 4 or 5 pilots, they had to explain the loss to the investors and owners?
While I disagree with the PFT issue in general, I do see some of the rationale from the management side. They are looking for some solid commitment up-front from applicants. We are talking about mutual commitment. There is always a risk of losing a new pilot to a competitor or to an airline (returning furloughee) within the first year or two, and one way of ensuring that there is commitment is through a training bond or agreement. This helps to reduce risk on management's side.
Pilots should know about the training contracts up front - if they are aware, then they should make a decision about continuing the application process or not. It becomes their choice.
Again, I am not a training contracts fan at all, but I also try to look at things through management's eyes.
Sorry mate, there's proud and then there's blowing management. I'm an objective observer, with no bias either way.
No bias? Negative.
Why bother creating a decent place to work: one where people would be foolish to leave, when you can retain them at gunpoint?