Pan Am Intl' Flight Academy?

[172driver]

Definitely only grads but there are grads being hired who only come for CFI/CFII/MEI, if that helps. They are opening a new campus in Massachusetts and some of the new hires are headed that way.

 

[ceo_of_the_sofa]

well, u get a nice uniform at PanAm and there's all that heritage...



scam

 

[StrykerFL]

CAA Route

I would definitely advise you to do your research before attending Comair Aviation Academy. I was a student there for eight-months and in that time I received my Instrument, Commercial (Single & Multi) and CFI ratings. The training program is very good and structured however they are lacking in many areas. Ratings such as the Multi-Engine seem to be bankruptors for everyone. I finished my multi in 25-hours and it was considered above average. The average is somewhere between 30-40 hours with a 20-hour quote on the contract. Extremely strict standards are the culprit. There is nothing wrong with having high standards however at the rates they charge for A/C and Instructors an unsat on a lesson or stage check can become quite costly. I turned down the opportunity to work for them because of their lack of customer service (due to 300+ students) and other issues much, much deeper. One for instance: I finished my commercial single in about five-weeks and was all ready for checkride only to find out I had to wait 12 days because they only have 1 full-time DE and 2 part-time DE’s. And to make matters worse the day I was scheduled to take my checkride, my examiner was late and then he blew me off because he had something else to do. As a result I waited four more days for the weather to do my checkride. I had a similar fiasco with Comm/Multi.

As far as instructors getting hired by the “contract” airlines, I personally know of at least 8 that had all of the credentials, finished the 800-hour CFI contract, and were all turned down. Know I am not sure if that is their own fault (DUI, Felony, Etc.), or they just interviewed poorly, but I would definitely ask a lot of questions about that end of business. Ask to see actual percentages of Instructors hired at Comair and the other airlines. Look at the fleet. Most of the aircraft are extremely used besides about 7 new Seminoles. Ask about taking time off for the holidays and personal days off. Scheduling is also a bummer. It is a day-to-day schedule. You won’t find out your schedule for the next day until after 5:00 pm the previous day. You have no say in flying times or days off.

I will say that other than all of the behind the scenes hi-jinx the instructing that I received was top-notch. I was lucky and got paired up with some pretty good and knowledgeable Instructors, however my roommate was not so lucky. You are the only one that can decide what flight school is best for you so look carefully. If you are about to spend 50-80K on flight training you must really scrutinize the prospective schools. I made the mistake of not shopping around and paid the price. Anyone looking at a high-dollar flight school please take my advice and ask a lot of questions. Watch out because they are all extremely cunning salespeople. They will pour sugar in your ear and have you begging to be accepted. Sure a guaranteed interview is nice but is it really worth all the pain and suffering you will go through to get to that point. When the Majors start hiring again and the Regional Captains start getting snapped up like crazy a guaranteed interview won’t be necessary.

I am not saying don't go to CAA. If you find that it is for you then by all means go. Study and fly your butt off and you'll be done in no time. I just wanted to share my experience so others can get an inside view from a former student.

I hope that this will be helpful in choosing a flight school wherever it might be, Flight Safety, Pan-Am, Comair, Embry-Riddle, ATA, ATP, or a local FBO. Good-Luck.

 

[bobbysamd]

Guaranteed "interviews"

I agree wholeheartedly about being wary of guaranteed interviews. Especially during these times. Aside from being extremely cynical about anything "guaranteed" in this business, I would think the best you might do is make poolie status. And, how long might your pool status be valid.

I know I push MAPD quite a bit during these discussions. I do not like Mesa Airlines as a company at all, but I like the MAPD program, and its promise of an interview. I would say the same thing, though. I thought I read where Mesa is sopping up its furloughees. Even so, you might find yourself in a (cess) pool after your interview, with your only hiring hope being Freedom Air, and all that it implies.

PS-Very interesting and insightful post from Stryker, above. To be fair about it, change the name from Comair to another big commercial school and the story will be the same.

PPS-I like his comment about "cunning" sales people and their actions. .

 

[naviator]

If I were you I would worry more about getting the most amount of multi-time than about the so-called guaranteed interview with a regional.

In that case, since you're moving to Fort Pierce anyway, go back to Ari Ben and sign up for their pro-course. Half the price of Pan Am, better instructors and most importantly, lots and lots of twin time.

I left Ari Ben in April this year with 1200 hours total time of which 900 was multi engine. You won't find that anywhere else.

So for your own sake, give Ari Ben a call. You won't regret it.

Good luck.

 

[ChadCRJ]

Naviator

I sent you a PM maybe you haven't recieved it. Anyways I did take a look at Ari Ben's website. It does seem like a deal when it comes to pricing. I do have some questions for ya.

Did you do the professional pilot course there? How did you like it? How long does it take to complete? (I'll be going in with a PPL)

They talk about flying there mult-engine a/c it seems more than the C172's or whatever they use. Is most of your training done in the twins? Also, do you really get to pick flights to fly from coast to coast as they say on their website?

Once you complete the whole program are you guranteed a flight instructor posistion? How big is their fleet? Are the planes pretty new?

And finally, did you just get hired somewhere? Do a lot of there grads get hired? Where?

I would really appreciate a post back from you. Thanks again.

Chad

 

[darien]

aviator

chadman
AriBen is the best bang for your buck. They are a small flight school their instrument course is part 141. It's like going to a local FBO that has great instructors. Your paying for the flight time not the facilities or brand new planes. You should take a trip to fort pierce and check it out. Pan Am is right next door and Flight Safty is ten miles up the road. Go compare them for yourself then make that 30k decision. I recommend it. I've seen quite a few guys transfer over from pan am to aviator, but not vise versa.
I went their with my private pilot license and went up to my commercial. Since you have your private you will only do a few hrs in the single for your commercial ticket. They have about 7 beech duchess. You are guaranteed a job instructing for them if you finish the course. They been in business for a long time so they have a ton of guys who are flying for the majors now. You'll see all the old pics on the wall.
Great luck to ya!

 

[jborsdrf]

DRIVE THROUGH 100 HOUR

I've got lots of buds that fly for or buy time at Aviator. Beware... it's cheap but you get what you pay for. Planes are ragged out beyond belief. Friends have told stories of assymetric brakes, electrical failure in IMC, engine fires, props that won't feather, props that won't unfeather, engines that won't start, flashllights for landing lights. One of their mechanics came to work for us (Pan Am) and told stories of auto parts, bad logs, and my favorite 15 minute 100 hours (our mechanics take two days to do a seminole and thats if nothing is wrong). The best is when tower asked "is that a new Duchess?" and the guy replied "yeah barely 9000 hours on it"

But what the hell I guess you can't f*ck with a bargin

 

[ChadCRJ]

PanAm

Yea, thats one thing I like about Pan Am. All there planes are practically brand new. I also like how they have the multi-engine route flying program to build time. I will probaly end up going to Pan Am but still I'm doing my homework.

Chad

 

[naviator]

Alright, I wasn't gonna do it, but I couldn't help myself

First of all, if you want the best deal out there Aviator is the place to go. And like you said, you have to do your homework and consider each school and weigh up the pro's and the con's.

If I had to do it all over again, there's no doubt in my mind I'd go back to Aviator. I most definitely would not go to Pan Am. As an Aviator instructor I had several students that left Pan Am and joined Ari Ben. And the previous post is right, you get what you pay for, and Pan Am definitely did not give you what you paid for, according to my former students.

When it comes to Aviator. Sure the airplanes are used. That's how they can give you such a great deal. And if you're looking for new airplanes to train in go to Pan Am. I'd say that would be you only reason why going there.

After over 900 hours in the "raggedy" Duchesses at Aviator I never had an engine fire, electrical fire, brake problems, and gee I didn't even have to use my flashlight as landing light. But of course there's gonna be things that go wrong from time to time. Any instructor could probably tell you some interesting stories about airplanes doing weird things. Maybe even a Pan Am instructor

But again, like you said, add the plusses and subtract the minuses and you come up with your answer.

Good luck.