Originally Posted by
Out Of Trim
The only regional that doesn't require them that I'm aware of is SkyWest. There may be a few others but, actually, many if not most are requiring training agreements. And, I fail to see how somebody would consider that to be unfair.
First of all, when you consider all of the costs involved in training somebody to the point where they're ready for IOE, $15000 to $20000 is a pretty realistic number IMO. Add in the cost of ATP-CTP and it's even more. Do you really see it as fair if somebody then leaves right afterwards to sign on with another company because they pay more or are offering a bonus? If the shoes were switched and you were the one who paid to train them I think you'd look at it a lot differently.
Secondly, since nobody forced you (when I say you, I mean that generically, I don't actually mean "you") to sign and you chose to do it then what? Should you be allowed to buy a car and then be allowed to keep it when you welch on the payments? How does one even develop that kind of mentality? The big, bad world just doesn't work that way. And, I think you're wrong ... if the entire class refused to sign then every last one of them would be shown the door while the company just waited for the next batch of more reasonable and responsible people to show up. The opportunities for employment and training are far better now industry-wide than they've ever been. In that regard, nobody has a thing to complain about. Wages are a different story though.
You sound like management. People leave companies all the time when they get better offers. Happens to the LCCs and even some legacies. There is no loyalty in this game...from either side. For example, let's say United hired you, you quit your old established job, you're in training, and you get furloughed. Is that "fair" of United? Every airline who has furloughed has hired until they furloughed. Happens in this industry. Give me a break. It's a free market. The answer? Offer pay/comp that is as good or better than the competition. It's a business cost. Find a list of regionals who have training contracts. There aren't any. Great mistakes I think, but they don't count. No respectable airline has training contracts. Other airlines shell out retention bonuses to keep people (they pay you to stay, instead of scaring you into paying money to stay). Think they do it for fun? No...cost of doing business. Training contracts are a sign that they have a feeling people will want to leave.
Mesa wants me to fly their planes the way they want me to fly them. Just like any job requiring a certain skill set, they have to pay to train me. If they run an airline such that people want to leave, it isn't the fault of the "selfish" employee who wants to find a better opportunity for himself and his family, it's the company for making a bad work environment or not stacking up against the competition with respect to pay and work rules.
You must be new to this business. For the love of God and the betterment of our profession, please refrain from such ridiculous posts.