Training bond

swisspilot

swisspilot

Well-Known Member
I need some input on the situation I`m facing, I got a job offer, I was able to negotiate part of the contract, but if I sign it I will be faced with a 3 year contract with a pretty big training bond, 12K USD bond after the first year, goes down to 10K USD after the second year and a % of that based on the months left until end of the 3 years.

This, if I`m trained on one aircraft only, bond ramps up if I upgrade (my own decision).

I will be flying a C206 VFR DAY, training is up to proficiency plus 100 hours of PICUS (Pilot in Command under supervision) . Environment is extremely hard to fly in, very short bush strips, 1300-1500 feet average at high temperatures and humidity, lots of MVFR.

what you guys think about this bond?

what are the contracts like at "similar" bush flying jobs up in AK?
 
All I can say is LOL! Three years for a C206? You have to be kidding! My contract for a C208 with a well-known cargo outfit is $10k for 12 months and is pro-rated.
 
swisspilot said:
I need some input on the situation I`m facing, I got a job offer, I was able to negotiate part of the contract, but if I sign it I will be faced with a 3 year contract with a pretty big training bond, 12K USD bond after the first year, goes down to 10K USD after the second year and a % of that based on the months left until end of the 3 years.
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Had better be paying you a small fortune to agree to that flying a 206...
 
tiredcfi said:
All I can say is LOL! Three years for a C206? You have to be kidding! My contract for a C208 with a well-known cargo outfit is $10k for 12 months and is pro-rated.
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Well the main reason for it is that 90% of all the flying in the country is Bush Flying, training for this type of flying is not easy or cheap, company need pilots and the few local could easy jump to an other company after getting experience. There are no 135 regulations, every company operates under 121, even to fly a 206 you have to sit a pretty long ground school and do a lot of recurrent training, you need a check out flight to pretty much every airstrip...training does costs a lot of money.

The bond for the Caravan/Twin Otter is the same, but the contract is 5 years
 
drunkenbeagle said:
Had better be paying you a small fortune to agree to that flying a 206...
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It`s based on local wages, there are almost no expat pilots. 400 USDs fixed a month plus 11 USD/fligth hour, that goes to 18USDs after the first year, currently average hours are 80-90/pilot, it comes with health insurance, taxes paid for by the company and housing allowance. Cost of life is about 1/3 then in the US
 
swisspilot said:
unfortunately nobody with less then 3K-4K hours of Bush flying gets into anything bigger then a 206
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I don't care about the airplane, and I would love to fly a 206 in AK.

The problem is that there is no way that it costs anywhere near 12K to teach an experienced pilot how to fly a 206, even in Alaska. Even with 100 hours of OJT there is no way that the training costs are over 3K.

IMHO a training contract should be for 12 months and recoup about 50% of the direct training costs. Absolutely never should one be for more than 24 months and the total direct training costs. If they can't show you the training budjet when they are requiring you to sign a contract, then you need to walk away.

FYI the contract at my old company for training in a 208 was 3500 if you left before 12 months. The direct cost for training was 5,000 for a sharp pilot, and about 7500 for a guy who needed a little help.
 
3 years?? Run, don't walk. And don't even look back.

edit: 1yr after you finally go to 18/hr? Again run, don't walk.
 
Sounds like a crook I once spoke to. I'd run as fast as the wind. No flying is hard enough to string people down like that. If they find a victim, its the victims fault.
 
jtrain609 said:
"That, or His Dudeness … Duder … or El Duderino, if, you know, you're not into the whole brevity thing."
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True story... Our ALPA Contract Administrator was very excited today because he got an email from his library that they were holding this book for him.

Also, slightly related... I met ExpressJet's Contract Administrator today. I now see that we got the short end of the lawyer stick.
 
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