Pilots often wonder what happens if they sign a contract to repay training costs when accepting a flying job that involves expensive simulator training but quit before the contract has expired. Conventional wisdom is that such contracts are not enforceable and the hiring company eventually drops the issue. That was not the case for Allen Miller, who accepted a job with Bombardier Aerospace’s Flexjet fractional operation in July 2000. Miller spent 17.5 months flying for Flexjet, leaving more than half a year before the 24-month period agreed to in his contract and owing the company thousands of dollars for training.
Miller didn’t want to pay, so Flexjet sued him. The reason he didn’t want to pay back his training costs, he told AIN, “is they promised us many things and didn’t deliver.”
Miller was hired with the promise that he would receive a type rating right away and regular six-month recurrent training. Miller believed what Flexjet told him, he said, because marketing material at the time assured shareowners that they would always fly with two type-rated pilots who received recurrent training every six months.
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