E6-B

I say weasel out of it, its what separates us from the animals.... except the weasel that is.

FlyHappy

And I'm sure that will impress the hell out of the interviewers when you move on and it comes up in your next interview! "I skipped out on my training contract with XYZ, but golly I really promise to stick around at your company!" If you don't like the training contract, then don't sign the damn thing in the first place! It says a lot about your integrity that you want to use the excuse that no one in management was in the room when you signed it. I know this is a complete surprise to some people, but it actually costs thousands of dollars to train you -- don't even try to compare professional flying to flipping burgers at McDs. Is it really that out of line for a company to expect you to stick around for a certain amount of time, especially one lower on the food chain that knows pilots are just there building time? If the company sucks or it's against your principles to sign a training contract, then don't go to work for them in the first place. However, once you sign the paper, then live up to your commitment!

FlyingChipmunk

Just get yourself fired.



JK that will cause even more problems down the road..

saabguy493

Well, last resort, it couldn't hurt. "Uh, so why did you get fired from your last job????????????"

DYNASTY HVY

I got fired because I did not want to pay my bill?

Count Dracula

Why anyone would sign a one-sided contract in this business is beyond me? There are enough scumbags in aviation just waiting to strong-arm and dictate "do it my way or the highway". Get over the gee-whiz, golly gee "I get to fly an airplane and you pay me welfare wages, how lucky am I" syndrome and grow some hair on your nuts. If the company is unwilling to negotiate before you are employed.......this is probably a bad sign of things to come. If they are willing to negotiate, then have it stated that you would like to add a safety clause in the contract by your representative. Make sure it states that you will not be held liable for the training cost if you feel safety has been compromised in any fashion during the contract term.

capoetc

I think there is a chance he might have been kidding ...

FlyHappy

Yes, but unfortunately the original poster wasn't. Guys signing training contracts and then finding BS excuses to try to get out of them need to understand how that can come back to haunt them -- like maybe at their next job interview or even years later down the road when they're trying land that "dream" job! Like I said, if it's a dog s--- company or it's against your principles to sign a training contract, then don't go to work there in the first place! If it's a REAL safety issue, that's one thing, but signing a training contract and then immediately trying to think of ways to get out of it says all I need to know about your integrity. If all training contracts are so terrible, then why aren't you self-appointed Grand Poohbahs of Aviation slamming all Southwest pilots and Southwest for requiring everyone to have a 737 type rating to work there? Heck, even SkyBus doesn't require you to have an A320 type rating! So why aren't you all beating up on Southwest? Oh wait, you WANT to go work there, so that makes it okay! I bet some of you were the same guys who paid-for-training and are now s---ing on everyone else about training contracts that costs pilots nothing as long as they remain at the company for a certain period of time. Once again, if it's a bad company or bad contract, don't sign the thing in the first place. However, if you do sign the contract and don't have a legitimate reason, then live up to your commitment!

lowflying

Honor your contract just like United, Airways, et al. honored theirs: declare bankruptcy. Not a day goes by that most airlines or any other company isn't looking for a loophole to screw you out of rest, pay, or QOL. I would consider my duty to them as much as they would consider their duty to me. As far as it haunting you in the future; it would not be hard to explain why you left a crappy company.

bgmann

Here is the deal...The airline in which I was employed by neglected many safety conscious practices. They failed to repair inoperative equipment on a timely basis. They deferred the equipment per the MEL for as long as possible. The equipment regularly was not repaired until its scheduled inspection. We flew with inoperative radar equipment, inoperative deicing boots, and door warning indicators indicating an open door--all of which were written up by mechanics to have been deferred or operative and legal for flight, yatta, yatta. The radar passed the boot-up test, and the other items mentioned were signed off by the mechanic, so the company said we as pilots were legal to fly and to not do so were reasons for disciplinary action due to refusing to operate an aircraft with operative equipment per company and dispatching requests.

The company issued FOM updates and emailed to us. We as pilots are responsible of keeping "our" FOM's up to date with the companys' FOM revisions. However, how can the pilots be responsible for printing out the revisions. The company should be responsible for printing out a physical copy and mailing them to the pilots. They never did this they just emailed us documents to print.

A pilot needs to keep up on his/her aircraft systems knowledge, especially when the foundation for initial training taught by the company is inadequate. We had 5 street captains of which all, 100%, of street captains failed checkride. The 7 FO's that took the checkride, 4 passed. The other 3 failed. 8 out of 12 failed. This does not point to the individual pilots, this issue points to the failure of the company to have adequate training and instruction to provide a trainee (new pilot) the necessary knowledge and instruction to succeed with his/her checkride. No pilot will 'willingly' risk their pilot certificate and have their pilot record suffer from having a Pink Sheet, or FAA Record of Failure Initial Training.

After line FO's took their Captain's checkride and passed. They were subject to FO pay until they were "assigned" a base as a CA. Until then, dispatch would send them on various short-term CA temporary assignments, all the time receiving FO pay while they operated and exercised as the CA.

The company was aware of leaking cockpits and avionics bays because of CA's writing it up. Directly overhead of the right pilot's seat is the emergency ditching hatch. This hatch regularly had a lacking seal and per the maintenance write-ups of captains to fix the leak, the write-ups went unanswered. Navigation and communication radios, as well as HSI's and Attitude Indicators, failed in flight when experiencing in-flight rain, and when residual water was resting in the avionics bays. They failed in-flight so we were once again legal to depart but were not confident in their operation, again pressured to depart. The pressure differential from cruise would create enough pressure differential to force water through seals (lack of seals) from the ditching hatch and the avionics bay door latch.

I dont feel like typing more...So many people have posted negative opinions not knowing the whole story. I had all the intent coming to this company to remain for two years and honoring my contract.