Training Contracts?
 

Currently (as of October 2011), which airlines are still making you sign them, and for how $/long? How are those companies handling pilots if they choose or need to leave?

From what I've heard, no contract at SkyWest, ASA, XJT, or TSA. Eagle requires a contract if you are below 500/50 and need to attend the jet transition course. Not sure the details of that contract.

Not pinnacle

Nothing at CommutAir.

I think that is a contract if you're below 800/100, and with the contract they'll permit as low as 500/50. Above 8/1 you don't have any contract.

No idea if it's a contract for the cost of the RJ course or more. I want to say two years?

Colgan no longer requires them. I think I can speak for most regionals when I say that training contracts are a thing of the past.

Republic / Chataqua / Shuttle America have a contract bond. Most overseas airlines do, too (and pay a lot more, too).

Great Lakes has one. $7,500/15 months, and that's non-prorated.

Good informational thread everyone.

On the Compass page it still states 12K/12mo, is that still a fact for new hires there?

Trng Contract
 

:)I signed a contract with a regional once. I completed the jet training and left well before the end date. They sent me overnight letters three times. The UPS driver would show at the door, I would say "He does not live here." The driver and I would exchange smiles until the next time. The regional never took it any further. How would I pay it anyway? They know what I made per year.:)

The contract at eagle is the cost of the jet course. And it is prorated.

8out,

Did that "follow you" to your next job, I'm assuming it did not?

Thanks

Any other good stories out there for folks to learn from regarding training contracts?

Most courts have held training contracts as unenforceable. One particular case I remember happened in Texas with Bombardier Flexjet. I believe you can still find the legal opinion with a google search. Case was dismissed.

trng contract
 

The non-payment of my training contract was never an issue.

If a company you are considering has a training contract, and you are planning on baling, perhaps you should not take the job.

If you sign a contract, honor it. That is what an adult does.

If you sign it, you should honor it. However, any company that wants a signed training contract should be a huge red flag. Chances are the QOL, pay, treatment of employees etc will be less than stellar. Buyer beware.

TSA doesn't have a training contract.

:p

I didn't say only great companies don't have training contacts. Plenty of dumps don't require one but that doen't mean there not dumps. I don't think Mesa requires one either.

Some training contracts state they will give you an unrestricted type rating. My company was screwed by that because a lot of pilots had the "circ. Apch.- VMC only" limitation on their licenses.

It's a prorated 12k/12mo contract. Not that it's good or bad...But, in their defense per the contract you get an ATP and PIC type rating in the EMB 170/190 (if you don't already have one).

The real "limitation" is "SIC only".

Without dwelling on the ethics/morality/etc. of training contracts, if you really want to know whether you'll need to honor it, take the contract to a lawyer and pay for a consultation. Some good points have been introduced on how you may or may not be held responsible.

We run into lots of unenforceable contracts in our daily lives (ever read the back of a theme park admission ticket? Even in the case of the park's gross negligence you can't sue them?) A contract may or may not be worth the paper its written on.

NOTE: LostInPA is not a lawyer, never will be a lawyer, nor does he/she/it play one on TV

Training contracts are one of those many things that the pilot's think nothing of when breaking (except for the few on here that seem to realize that adults honoring their signatures - or handshakes in the old days - is a dying breed), but if management breaks a contract (which they often do) is the devil's own work. It is this mindset that one can get out of a training contract after signing it, or defaulting on loans through a loophole even if able to pay, or any other form of playing the system that has led to much of the problems we now face on either side of the table. Whether it is the training contract or the employment contract - both should be honored.

USMCFLYR

I would never condone breaking a contract delibrately with the intent of getting a type and leaving; however, sometimes life changes and you need to change jobs for whatever reason. Last full time flying job I had was a 12 month pro-rated contract. Left at month 8 (with a full type) for family reasons and offered to write a check for the additional months when I turned in my manuals. Got a "you were a good employee and we appreciate your candor, but that's not required." In a nutshell they waived it. Had a lot to do with my attitude about it I believe.