A friend of mine can start at VLM. The downside is that he has to pay for the type rating fokker 50. This will be held of the bruto wages. On top he has to sign a "bank garanty" of 30.000€ to prevent him leaving VLM within 3 years.
He is excited that he can start but knows that the market is growing and that maybe in a year there will be more attractive positions at other companies. It is cruel after a multi-ifr training of more than 50.000€ to demand these commitments to a you F/O to reach its dream.
Has someone experience concerning this subject? Is the garanty legal? Is there a way out if better jobs come forward?
Can you share your experience with me, please.
If you want discuss this matter more privatly you can also contact me at st_ha_pe@hotmail.com
THX
funding type-rating and bank garanty VLM?
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TCAS_climb
- Posts: 413
- Joined: 04 Jan 2004, 00:00
Show the proposed contract to a lawyer, he'll be able to tell you if it's legal or not. Sometimes it is, sometimes it's not. Don't assume too quickly that employers are playing fair with you.
Pay attention to EU regulations (not just Belgian regs), you sometimes have a nice surprise and discover that something legal here is not legal in a European context (sorry, no example springs to mind right now).
If in the end the contract is indeed legal, well... Your friend is back to square one. To sign or not to sign ? That's the question...
If the contract is not legal, see if it leaves you an open door to resign at any time without the financial penalties (get the rating, fly for a while, then leave for greener pastures without loosing the guarantee and get your money back). If there's such door, rush into it (sign the damn paper and don't say a word about its illegal content, you'll use it at your advantage to consider it void). If there's isn't, mention it to VLM to rectify the contract in your favor. If at this point they tell you to bugger off ("Take it or leave it, we won't change a word"), it shows it's not a company worth making efforts for (run away !).
Based on rumours from the pilot-side, VLM is not the nicest company to fly for (which is probably why quite a number of pilots resign). If you hate the job after six months and you're stuck with them for three years it'll be hell on earth for you. Then I guess you could perfectly say you were shafted... deep !
Pay attention to EU regulations (not just Belgian regs), you sometimes have a nice surprise and discover that something legal here is not legal in a European context (sorry, no example springs to mind right now).
If in the end the contract is indeed legal, well... Your friend is back to square one. To sign or not to sign ? That's the question...
If the contract is not legal, see if it leaves you an open door to resign at any time without the financial penalties (get the rating, fly for a while, then leave for greener pastures without loosing the guarantee and get your money back). If there's such door, rush into it (sign the damn paper and don't say a word about its illegal content, you'll use it at your advantage to consider it void). If there's isn't, mention it to VLM to rectify the contract in your favor. If at this point they tell you to bugger off ("Take it or leave it, we won't change a word"), it shows it's not a company worth making efforts for (run away !).
Based on rumours from the pilot-side, VLM is not the nicest company to fly for (which is probably why quite a number of pilots resign). If you hate the job after six months and you're stuck with them for three years it'll be hell on earth for you. Then I guess you could perfectly say you were shafted... deep !
Maybe it is also cruel to the company/airline, who has invested heavily in the type rating just to see it's investment run off after just a few months ? Maybe that company will in future no longer fund type ratings, and take only type rated pilots in, which again doesn't help the beginners. And those 'green pasture hoppers' might just get branded as such, and be no longer welcome in any other airline because that airline knows that these people will again be off as soon as they can, they did it before ? Not as easy, not as black and white as some migh think...
rwy25r
rwy25r
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TCAS_climb
- Posts: 413
- Joined: 04 Jan 2004, 00:00
Staying or leaving, from the pilot's point of view, is simply a matter of being well treated by the airline. Great airlines don't even need "bonding rules", they know that their pilots will stay because they really respect their flight crews and offer them attractive salary and career prospects. Fair-play airlines pay for the type-rating, then hold back a fraction of the pilot's monthly salary for a few years. But this money is not going back to the airline, it goes to a special bank account. If the pilot didn't leave the company by the end of his "bond", he gets all the money that was deducted from his salary back.
From what I understand, VLM is loosing quite a number of pilots, the atmosphere is rather chilly, and they're definitely not paying for the type-rating: they merely throw the cash in advance and suck it back on the salary afterwards (with interest, I guess).
The issue of the 30.000 euro guarantee is just a way of saying to the whole airline industry: "We're an airline pilots are running away from !". It's up to VLM to change that, but they don't seem to understand it, or they simply don't want to change that because a statu quo would still be in their advantage. With all those low-time pilots on the job market, it doesn't surprise me...
From what I understand, VLM is loosing quite a number of pilots, the atmosphere is rather chilly, and they're definitely not paying for the type-rating: they merely throw the cash in advance and suck it back on the salary afterwards (with interest, I guess).
The issue of the 30.000 euro guarantee is just a way of saying to the whole airline industry: "We're an airline pilots are running away from !". It's up to VLM to change that, but they don't seem to understand it, or they simply don't want to change that because a statu quo would still be in their advantage. With all those low-time pilots on the job market, it doesn't surprise me...
