Tired,
You say that my note was "whiny" and sounded like it was written by a 14-year-old. Why don't you be a little more specific? Put your money where your mouth is and show me where there were grammatical errors, typos, etc.
You work for Pan Am and you're trying to defend your school's reputation - nothing wrong with that. It's the way you go about it that's the problem. You personally insult anyone who has anything negative to say about Pan Am. If you ask me, THAT is the behavior of a 14-year-old. Why don't you act like an adult and keep your comments professional? Your remarks actually did more to prove my point about Pan Am than MY OWN post did (thanks for the "help")!
You seem very convinced that there's just a few students who are dissatisfied with Pan Am and that the school is being unjustly criticized. I was there for 18 months and by the time I got my CFI certificate I was the ONLY one left out of the group of us that started. The other 9 people left because they were unhappy at Pan Am. I know. I talked with them. Now that I am also gone that means that EVERY person in my class left Pan Am because of the way they were treated. Doesn't sound like a minority to me.
And since you're so anxious to defend your school's good name there's a few more things I'd appreciate your comments on:
1. The subject of this thread for starters. It sounds like one of the better students at your Ft. Pierce campus got disenrolled simply because he asked the Center Director a question. Did he?
2. I left Pan Am because I was told I had to get my MEI or I was fired. It's kind of funny that during this timeframe I heard the MEI's constantly complaining about how few students they had. That doesn't sound like you have a shortage of MEI's does it? Keep in mind, I'm not talking about one or two of them complaining - they were ALL complaining. For God's sake, there were MEI's that didn't have ANY multi students at all - I know these people, I talked with them face to face, and I can guarantee you that what I'm saying is true. That being the case, what is the reasoning behind Pan Am's "get your MEI or you're fired" policy? I just KNOW it's not the extra money Pan Am would get by blackmailing their instructors. Your specific comments are welcome.
3. While we're on the "do it or you're fired" subject, how about the current word from Mt. Olympus: All CFI's now have to go through the ACE program or .... you guessed it .... "YOU'RE FIRED"; (does anyone besides me sense a pattern developing???). I got this info from two of the most senior instructors at Ft. Pierce so I'm willing to bet it's true. I won't argue the point that ACE will make you a better pilot, but to insinuate that someone isn't an acceptable instructor until they know how to fly a Regional Jet seems to be stretching things a bit. Again, I know Pan Am isn't after those $$$$ in your students' accounts.
4. At one point ALL the JAA students got together and just about walked out because of the condition of their airplanes (the JAA guys were flying the older Warriors, not the Archers) and a few other issues that I can't recall. The point is, Pan Am pissed off EVERY ONE of them (not the vocal minority) to the point where they were ready to leave.
5. Another true story. During the days when Pan Am couldn't create a firm schedule to save its life, the guys who were doing the route flying had their days off changed on an almost weekly basis. One of the guys put up a $500 deposit on a dive trip he scheduled on his days off. Well, as luck would have it, his days off were changed two days before the trip. When he brought the issue up with the Director of Training do you know what his response was? "Tough s**t". There were a dozen witnesses to this event. How many respectable businesses do you know of where management speaks to customers in such a degrading manner? Now before you give me the old line, "He was here for flight training, he shouldn't be wasting time doing other things", that is NOT my point. The issue is the way Pan Am treats their students and employees.
Tired, if I were you, I'd be spending my time fixing the problems with my flight school instead of slinging cheap insults. What do you think?
