An opinion

[phan]

For those of you who like and support DCA, good for you. But don't freak out because I don't agree with you.

Stay away from this place. Little pay + little flight time = DCA. I worked my tail off for a year. I became a check instructor and a group leader. And for what? For 300 hours dual given and $7,000?! What a waste of time. In the 6 months after I left, I made 3 times as much, flew 600 hours, and was hired by a regional. Did DCA come up in the interview? No. Why? Because it makes no difference. Time is time. And flying to the practice area is not what the average Cheif Pilot would call "good experience".

Anyway, make your own choice. I will admit, I had the time of my life as a student at the then CAA. Made friends for life and got good training(a compliment to my instructors, not the program). But working for them is the slums. Ask any instructor who will level with you. Go to a local FBO, get your 100 hours a month and move on if you so desire. You might even find that instructing outside the academy is rewarding and a possible career. GASP!!

Regardless, best of luck to everyone and don't get mad DCA. I know this forum makes you sweat bullets!

 

[FO_SHIZZLE]

Little pay is correct, but I will disagree with you on the little time. I currently have 5 full time students, so I keep pretty busy. Enrollments do ebb and flow a bit, so it has a lot to do with timing and luck.

I'm sure that DCA/CAA would not come up in an interview. I don't think anyone claims to be the best just because they come from DCA. I think it is a good education but doubt it would sway the interviewer any.

If you don't mind me asking, what motivated you to leave a group leader position and find another job? Was it another instructing job? What airline are you working for now? You are certainly entitled to your opinion and it sounds like everything worked out well for you, so it looks like that was a smart decision for your situation.

 

[DE727UPS]

"I know this forum makes you sweat bullets!"

Really? why do you say that. I would think they could care less.....

 

[phan]

Fo Shizzle - I am still instructing and was hired by Skyway Airlines. I am in their pool of hirees. And why did I leave a Group Leader position? Because besides padding on a resume, what did I gain? More work, more stress, more responsibility. Which are not all bad things, but a 15 hour/$12 day (true story)is not my idea of a reward. I could not even pay my rent. That's not even including food, bills, etc, so it was just a matter of time before I ran out of money. Some call it "paying your dues" but I call it uneccesary. And the amount of work that I was doing put a huge strain on my relationship. But you are 100% correct. Some people get lucky, while others have bad timing and bad luck. Such is life. But one last thing and then I'll stop pouring wine. I was really struggling for money at one point. I asked what more I could do to earn money and I was told I could clean the bathrooms at night. No joke.

De727UPS - Those guys at the academy tell some group leaders to visit this forum and promote a positive atmosphere. (It was brought up in our STANDZ class). In fact, if you read through some of the threads you will even see Pat Murphy.

My whole point in posting (I hate posting) is that when I wanted to do accelerated training after doing my private in college, I always wanted an honest opinion to base my decision on. So here is mine - If you want good training go to DCA without a doubt. It is good training not because of any special programs or instructors, but because the standards are through the roof. Good in some aspects/bad in some others. But to instruct there, well, read my previous post. I think taking a job there is foolish. The absolute biggest drawback to the school is that a whole world of aviation is going on around you and you are not allowed to enjoy it. Yes, contrary to popular belief, there are bigger and more sophisticated airplanes than seminoles out there. And - sit down for this one - if you don't turn your fuel pumps off climbing through 1,000 ft you won't crash!

You only live life once. To each his own.

 

[Joepilot]

I guess that place gets to even group leaders. I too am a former DCA student that was one of the growing list of people that didn't get hired. I think people need to realize going in that there is that chance that you will not get hired to instruct. You always need a backup plan. The aviation world does not live and die by DCA's hand. Looking back I think I the training was good, but the attitude of that place turned me off. It was better when it was called Comair. I have been lucky. I am close to starting my application process only a year out of DCA and I make double what DCA pays with less BS. I teach students not "customers". Got sick of hearing that word while I was there.

Phan- Which group did you work for? Has Skyway's outlook gotten any better? A few people I know are facing possible furlough. I have their application on my desk waiting to be filled out and walked in by my old instructor , but I am a little reluctant to fill it out right now until things change.

 

[flyguy]

[ QUOTE ]
And - sit down for this one - if you don't turn your fuel pumps off climbing through 1,000 ft you won't crash!

[/ QUOTE ]
Hmmm...Sounds like somebody failed a stage check.

 

[phan]

Joepilot - "I teach students not "customers". Perfect. Perfect. Perfect.

Flyguy - I never busted a single stage check.

 

[PhilosopherPilot]

[ QUOTE ]
De727UPS - Those guys at the academy tell some group leaders to visit this forum and promote a positive atmosphere. (It was brought up in our STANDZ class). In fact, if you read through some of the threads you will even see Pat Murphy.

[/ QUOTE ]

Interesting. It has been eerily quiet around here lately...

G

 

[flyguy]

[ QUOTE ]

Flyguy - I never busted a single stage check.

[/ QUOTE ]
So you busted multiple stage checks?

Hey, I was just kidding man. And I understand the monotony. I deal with the same BS at Sierra.

 

[H46Bubba]

[ QUOTE ]
Interesting. It has been eerily quiet around here lately...

[/ QUOTE ]

Good that's they way it should be.... well maybe not this quiet!

 

[Wannabe2]

Yeah, it has been pretty quiet around here. Perhaps because there isn't much new to report. The good/bad/otherwise are still about the same. I suppose I haven't commented on anything in a while because most, if not all, of the discussions about DCA can be found in the previous posts.

For the sake of full disclosure, I am now a group leader for the instrument group (yep, I share a desk with Fabio, er, planediveguy) and yeah, I see a number of our instructors hurting for work a bit. I also see some of the instructors in other groups with tons of work. Like foshizzle said, it ebs and flows between groups here a bit. I won't try to justify only paying $10 per hour, but that's the contract I willingly signed, and I will honor it and not cry about it because I knew what I was getting into when I signed it. So did every other "white shirt" here.

P.S. I do recall being asked to help"promote the school" in standz class or somewhere along the line and I do to a certain extent. That was never asked of me because I was a group leader or soon to be stagecheck pilot, it was asked of me because any business out there would like to have employees that help bring in business. That's more work for us and it will get us out of here and flying jets that much sooner. I was certainly never asked to lie about the school or promote it in any way that was false. I haven't up to this point and don't plan on telling anything but the truth in the future if anyone has questions.

 

[militaryman]

I think you hit it right on the head Phan...I was an instructor there, for too long. Like everyone said, the training is second to none, but instructing there was more of a hassle then its worth. Everyday I walked into that building, I feared for my job. When I was a new instructor there, I was voluteering for the pizza tours and admin sims. I really enjoyed do things like that for the academy. One day in 2003, management put me on probation and threated to take my job from me over a matter that wasn't my fault. They told me if I messed up during my probation, I'd be gone.... From that moment on, I laid low and finshed out my time there without volenteering for anything else. I felt like I was stabbed in the back. Nevermind the hard work I had put in. As far as the pay, I'm still recovering from the finacial mess I got in because of the $10 hr I was making. Well, at least my credit history will improve after 7-10 yrs. At the airline I work for, the low pay I received while in training was more than I ever got at DCA. For those who still want to work at DCA, good luck. I'd recommend that you have some money saved in advance to cover yourself during your instructing career at DCA.

 

[flyboy04]

Thanks fan so much for making that post. I wasnt hired as an instructor for DCA after months of hard work and the odd thing was i didnt feel all that bad about it, i was almost kinda relieved that i didnt have to set foot in the place again. Trainings good, instructors are great, but its alot of money to pay for those two things you may can get somewhere else. Buyer beware!

 

[militaryman]

flyboy....I know a couple of people at my airline that I reconized from DCA. They were students while I was an instructor. One left during his Commercial training and went to RAA. They other didn't get hired by the academy. You, my friend, can get your hrs faster somewhere else. All 3 of us were in the same airline training class.