Well, here is an example of some reviews about them which don't sound great. I found way more bad reviews than good ones, in truth. Maybe you could encourage him to read these reviews instead of watching their advertising video :
"You do not want to attend this flight school
They will make you sign a contract. Then overcharge, you, poorly instruct you, and make false promises. they take advantage of the international students who are there on visas and as a student you have no choice but to put up with there ways. Very few are happy at this school. Unfortunately, due to the contract they make you sign most likely you will have to pay a penalty to leave the school. This equates to more wasted money for you. You do not want to attend this money trap flight school."
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"Fake Prices, unlimited cost, Bad instructors
I get enrollment to get "Privet pilot licence" with price as they giving me its the lowest in the flight industry, and brought me from overseas on base of this prices. Price to get PPL Tuition Fees ($10145.00) as Fix price" but I lost so far total of ($30000.00) and my Visa expire and they Says go and back when you have money!!!. and no licence as of fake prices. they get money account and make you paid advance in it and charge you with unlimited with out get back to you."
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watch for hidden cost
before making the trip to PEA make sure to read between the lines. I finally got done 1 year longer and 30,000usd more then I want."
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"Phoenix East Aviation -Beware, Low Quality
I went to Phoenix east recently and unlike the last reviewer I had a very bad experience.
They show students the lowest prices they can but do not include the fuel surcharge that they throw onto you at the last minute.
This place hides the total cost, and their instructors are not good at all. Most of the instructor are foreigners that speak poor english and have no experience teaching.
Trust me you will not learn anything from these guys. I did not. They were rude and wasted my money.
Do not recommend this place for anyone. period."
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Beware of false promises
I decided to train with PEA because they told me that they hire their own graduates. I finished all of my licenses starting with private pilot all the way up to MEI with a very high passing rate on the first try. I only had to redo 1 checkride which is considered an excellent accomplishment. However once I finished my instructors ratings, I took my resume to the chief flight instructor and she told me not to bother giving it to her because they are not going to hire me. I asked her what the reason was and she said that she didn't have to give me one. I went and talked to the director of flight training and he didn't give a straight answer either and told me to leave his office. I felt like I was ripped off. Don't believe any promises they make to you. Not only do they lie about hiring their own graduates but also about how long it takes to finish and the cost of they programs.
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Phoenix East Aviation. BEWARE SCAM
My husband was a flight student at Phoenix East Aviation, enrolled to take what they call their Program III. Their PRO III program is supposed to take you from a PPL to Commercial, Instrument, and all the way to CFII. A total of 8 courses. He is a pilot from the UK and already had his PPL when he enrolled. He paid about $22,000. into his student account over about 8 months. In that 8 months he only was able to complete most of one course, the Instrument Rating. They then refused to train him further, claiming that he did not have a necessary document to train (this is after already training there for 8 months, mind you). He finally withdrew from the school, after he gave up trying to continue training there, and requested his money back, unused tuition sitting in his student account, about $5000.
He finally got back a little over $900., which is what they claim is what was left in his student account. We still have no idea how they did their math. I'm still trying to get the rest of his money back.
I want to warn people about this school. There seems to be a common thread among flight schools. This practice of refusing to return unused tuition. And the misrepresentation of the costs and completion times of courses.
I have contacted the Florida Dept of Consumer Affairs, who agree with our position but have no authority to enforce. The accreditation company ACCET took the side of the school, but refused to listen to our side.
I think there may be a cause of action here for breach of contract, I'm still waiting for some information before I go forward.
I would like to hear from any others that have had similar dealings with this school".
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"From my experience at phoenix aviation they put business first and students last, if you are having a problem instead of them looking into it and trying to help you they just ignore you and continue to let you waste money. At first it took me over 7 months to finish my private and then now my instrument is taking so long because they kept changing my instructor, either the instructor had to go back to norway, or some crap like that, then next instructor letting me repeat the lessons which i have already passed. I went through 4 instructors during instrument. And that's really sad. Most of my fellow students will discourage you from coming here at phoenix.
Let me try and finish up my instrument so i can leave this place and find another school. I speak to bob my administrator but he is just a waste of time and you'll get nowhere with him. If you do infact come to this school pray that you get a different administrator'.
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I liked this one the best:
They have spent $200000 on making this video.Do not fall for illusions.Do good research and find cheaper school.because training is more or less the same.They pay $15/hour to flight instructors,while they get $180/hour from the student for cessna 172.The instructors work thier asses of so that this school makes money.even if you are here for 10 yrs u cant make friends here .These norweigins do not mingle or interact with any one!!!
Once I had a cross country solo flight (not to forget after all hazzels) from Daytona Beach to Gainsville.While i was landing and my left rudder lost function and my plane slipped away from the runway to the grass and I Was fortunate (Thank God) that day i came alive out of aircraft.The atmosphere in the cockpit is very very bad.Instructors shout at you and think they are your masters.They infact trained 2 girls for free because they took sexual favours from them.
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PEA has only a handful of good instructors. I can think of 3 from south america and one from india, and another from israel. There are a few more but they generally only administer exams Unfortunately such instructors are few and far between. I have noticed that many instructors don't develop their students stick and rudder skills properly and they usually just do performance based exercises without really developing a student's decision making abilities, Often times students are taught incorrectly, few examples are:
1) Inadequate and sometimes non existant instruction on leaning techniques ( I knew a commercial pilot that had NEVER leaned the mixture)
2) I was once told to put the C172 into a forward slip when I had extended 40 degrees of flaps. I promptly reminded my instructor to read the Pilot's Operating Handbook (POH) again as such a maneuver is discouraged.
3) After doing my first chandelle (a typical commercial level maneuver) I noted several mistakes I had made while my instructor just said "good" and continued texting on his phone. He did not last long as my instructor
4) I knew an instructor applicant (an individual training to be an instructor) that was unsure of crosswind takeoff technique. He/she now works there by the way.
5) They don't let students fuel or add oil to their planes. I tried to do it myself and was told that is against policy. You drive a car, and know how to refuel it. I think the same logic should extend to pilots.
6) They are known to pressure their examiners to pass students even if they don't deserve it.
7) I knew a commercial pilot that used ground winds to plan a cross country flight, which any pilot will say is a big NO NO
I knew an instructor that taught a flight planning lesson to a student in 30 minutes. I would say this lesson takes three hours maybe spread of two 1.5 hours sessions.
There are also a number of reviews over on PPRuNe that are pretty hysterical and not in a good way either.