Originally Posted by
Thedude
I disagree.
Some companies do not consider you an employee until you finish training or IOE or whatever metric they decide to use.
Example, I worked for a company that did not consider you an employee until you finished GS. I was only payed per diem until I finished the sim. The next day I was a full fledged employee and all of my paperwork was based on that check-ride date.
For paperwork/PRIA purposes, if you attempted any part of a check-ride, I would probably put that down as an employer.
If I quit on the first day ground school, I probably would not put that down.
It doesn't matter what the old company thinks or calls it (or what you think).
What matters is what your NEW employer will think if they find out that you started training somewhere, dropped out (reason unknown but they'll assume the worst), and then failed to disclose the whole situation.
Besides most of the airlines have wised up, they'll ask the question in several ways...have you ever failed to complete a training event, voluntarily left, involuntarily released, etc, etc. They have their bases pretty well covered with the language these days.
And just so there's no confusion...you won't get an opportunity to argue your case as to why your personal definition of employment is different from theirs. You can argue it here on APC until your face turns blue but an airline will just collect your badge and send you packing.
So really the question is not can you argue the case, but rather will they ever find out? If you're certain they'll never find out then nothing's stopping you from telling them whatever story you like, with as many omissions as you like.
With all that said...a lot of regionals are hiring anyone with 1500 hours and a pulse, so you can probably get away with it at the entry level. But don't play these sorts of games with a major airline.