twebb

Yes, you can stick it to the man by leaving after signing a contract and burn a bridge. Or you can choose not to go to the company all together. Or finally pay off your contract and know you're welcome to come back. I think two are doing the right thing, and one isn't right.

A good future job would pay your exisiting contract. I know major or regional airlines wont do that, but some private 91 gigs will.

USMCFLYR

Are you supposing that the pilot defending against these possible legal actions is getting that service for free or just plain ignoring the entire process?

Training contracts are training contracts. I'm sure that if any of the people so against them ran a business that required them to provide expensive training, and then not get some type of return on that investment, that they would not be in business very long. Someone called them unethical. I can't agree with that. Obviously the military is a huge user of training contracts - and I found the military to be very ethical in my time; of course I seemed to have had a better experience in my military career than many on this forum (thank goodness!) I sure there are many private businesses/corporations/etc... that would expect something back from a person whom they sent to a school or some type of high tech, expensive training. A little while ago there was a person posting on the forum who's company was going to send them to law school. Does everyone think that that the company doesn't deserve some type of guarantee or are you are so anti-management you can't see past your own noses?

Lobaeux

The military can cancel that contract though, for the needs of the military.

sqwkvfr

Sounds like a big expensive headache to me[/QUOTE]

This all may be true, but rjet can't sue anyone for such a low amount of money and come out ahead...it'll cost them more to go through the legal process than they would collect....and they know this.

What they can, and will, do is sell your debt to a two-bit low-life bill collector who will make a mess of your credit and make your life difficult.

At which point it will be you racking up the legal bill paying a lawyer to make it go away, which is very difficult and next to impossible.

Magpuller

I see what you are saying, but JB, AA, USA, DAL etc...as well as most other regionals get along just fine without training contracts. I think that one could credibly make the statement that absorbing the cost of training new hire pilots with no liability to the pilot is the industry standard now. It may once have been the other way around but not anymore...

I think all of this will be mute anyway as I've heard that RAH's latest proposal, the LBFO v2.0 has the training contract removed completely. If that rumor is not true or no TA passes I still think it will be a matter of time before they do away with it.

USMCFLYR

Many of those listed are considered careers destinations.
My current job has a training contract! Considering that VERY few seem to leave this job I was very surprised at this fact, but it seems that many moons ago that the job was yet another stepping stone to the airlines and there were people who got the job, got the one or two type ratings, and then bolted for the airlines.
Businesses that operate on the most razor thin of profits obviously have the most to lose from unrealized gains from investments.
Look at this way. When YOU invest money, you want to see a return on it. You would not be happy if the investment banker took your money and ran off to the hills

There are bad parts of a training contract. I don't like the way they are one-sided for instance. I don't know what the answer might be - especially for an industry as volatile as the airline industry. Another poster mentioned being stuck in one job while another comes available. I was very nearly in that exact situation when my present job offer came open. The company I worked for did not have a formal training contract, and unfortunately I had just completed training on another type of aircraft when my initial type was grounded, but I gave the company my best efforts, as much head's up as I could, and explained that I couldn't pass up a real career move. I even delayed starting my new job until the latest possible start date. If my out brief was as honest as I hope it was, my former employer and I parted ways on good terms.

In the end, I hope that the new contract doesn't have a training clause embedded either, but I do have a hard time seeing any and all training contracts as the evil that they are often portrayed as on this forum; but then again I've not worked in an industry that has quite the poor labor/management relations as the general airline population either. I guess I don't automatically assume the worse in all measures.

mojo6911

Most people signing up for a job that pays 25k a year probably don't have many assets, so signing a training agreement is probably worthless. You can't squeeze blood from a turnip. With that said, if I sign something, I intend to honor it.

quinnlake

My question should have been, "why are the unions at eagle and republic allowing hiring bonuses."

I thought the rest of the post made that clear.