Falcon v.s. Flight Safety Academy?

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NYC FLYER

New Member
Hey everyone, I was looking into going to Flight Safety Academy to start my flight training from zero hours to CFI ratings but recently stumbled upon Falcon's website and was wondering if anybody had any pros and cons between the two schools. I was also wondering if Falcon GUARANTEES a job after training with them? Thanks
 
Nothing in life is guaranteed. What if you failed every check ride and had no customer service skills. I'm sure you would not get hired by either of these schools.

On that note, Falcon has treated me well (I'm working on my Instructor ratings now). I believe I am in good standing with Falcon as a student in their career pilot program. And I believe due to this they'll gladly hire me upon the completion of my initial CFI rating. Not to mention, this is my first place choice to teach since I enjoy what I see overall throughout my training with how the business values its' employees.

I do know this. Falcon Aviation Academy (FAA) to Flight Safety (FSI) is not an apples to apples comparison. They are totally different environments and go about their training in much different ways. If you need a very formal training program in a collegiate campus type setting, FSI is the better choice (and it will cost you more to go to FSI). If you would like to save some money and are okay in a more local FBO type feel where you'll have to self study a little more, come to FAA.

The best advice I have, is that you visit both schools before making any choice. After all, if you are going to give someone $50k of your hard earned money (or of a loan you will pay back), spending the grand it may take to visit both schools will help insure you make the best choice for you.

Just remember. Neither school is going to GUARENTEE you a job! After all, neither school will hire a student who has a bad attitude or bad track record. And any school who would hire such a person, you won't see me teaching there! But then, if you were a bad student, both of these schools may ask you to leave the program before completion anyway.

I assume though that you are a good person and will apply yourself to do well. And in both cases, the schools should hire you upon completion since both places do love to hire their good students as instructors. It's all about positive attitude and good faith effort. With that, you'll be successful.

Just my 2 cents worth...
 
Well, I had visited FSI and was almost 100% sure thats where I would want to train, but i recently came across FAA website and found them to be pretty competitive as far as price and everything goes. If you could, I have a couple more questions for you. First, what location are you training at? I hear there are 4 locations, do you know which of the 4 if any are better than the others? And also could you please tell me how many planes are at each location? Do you need to wear a uniform while attending FAA? And my last question to you would be, in the Airline Pilot Career Path, does FAA help you get a regional job after your time working with them is up? Thank you for your help so far.
 
NYC FLYER said:
Well, I had visited FSI and was almost 100% sure thats where I would want to train, but i recently came across FAA website and found them to be pretty competitive as far as price and everything goes. If you could, I have a couple more questions for you. First, what location are you training at? I hear there are 4 locations, do you know which of the 4 if any are better than the others? And also could you please tell me how many planes are at each location? Do you need to wear a uniform while attending FAA? And my last question to you would be, in the Airline Pilot Career Path, does FAA help you get a regional job after your time working with them is up? Thank you for your help so far.
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I trained at Peachtree City (FFC) from Private through Single Engine Commercial. I advise this location due to no control tower (saves money) and a great learning environment (many many students to be around and help you learn). Peachtree City is their main base of operation. It's a nice airport as well. Not to mention, very low cost of living there, which helps.

I am now at Peachtree Dekalb (PDK) where I finished my Commercial Multi and I am working on the Flight Instructor certificates. I would not advise starting at this location since it's one of the busiest general / corporate aviation airports in the country. I do advise going there for an advanced rating or two just for the experience you'll get at such a busy field. And the nice thing is, Falcon will allow you to change locations if you want.

Peachtree city has the most aircraft. There are at least 20+ aircraft there. Newnan also has a good share of aircraft (that's only like a 10 mile drive away from Falcon Field). So airplane availability at those locations are never an issue. Athens is a very small location with maybe three planes. And PDk where I am at has four or five planes.

No uniform required for Falcon (which is nice since you can be comfortable). Just remember, you are here to probably work for them in the future, so I'd still present myself as a professional.

And yes. They help you get a job at a Regional or other places. Most all my prior instructors have left for Regionals. The owner of the school is an X- ASA Captain who was very senior and has a great relationship with ASA. And for people like me, who want to ultimately go corporate, there is great networking for that as well. Just like my current flight instructor went to fly charter as of this week.

Hope this helps.
 
you've been a great help, thank you very much. If you know, what types of corporate, or charter jobs are out there that you know of?
 
Quite a lot of charter jobs and corproate flying jobs around Atlanta. Of course the corporate stuff is very tough to get into (such as Chik-Fil-A at Peachtree City and a ton of other corproate departments around the area), but the charter stuff is realistic for entry level such as Epps and Alpha Flying and others at Peachtree Dekalb that fly King Airs, Pilatus PC-12s, etc. Atlanta in general is a good location for an aviation career and aviation networking.
 
what kinds of costs from zero, to my CFI ratings am I looking at compared to FSI? And when training, how many students to an instructor are there? Is there ever any problems scheduling flights? Are the planes reliable and maintained well? Is there plenty of sim time, as well as flying time? Sorry about all my questions but I'm getting down to the wire with this stuff and I want to start training soon.
 
NYC FLYER said:
1) what kinds of costs from zero, to my CFI ratings am I looking at compared to FSI?
2) And when training, how many students to an instructor are there?
3) Is there ever any problems scheduling flights?
4) Are the planes reliable and maintained well?
5) Is there plenty of sim time, as well as flying time?
Sorry about all my questions but I'm getting down to the wire with this stuff and I want to start training soon.
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I would certainly suggest a visit to Falcon Peachtree City location to meet with them since it'll make everything clear. I'm sure you'll like what you see as well. Here are my thoughts on these questions:

1) For costs, I know for a fact it'll be less than FSI due to our program costs and hourly costs being less. So no worries here. But really, the biggest variable will be if you keep on track with the syllabus. They quote above FAA minimums at Falcon. I personally am within their quoted price for my program and all other domestic students I ever know are as well.

2) I am not sure how many students each instructor has. I just know though, that when I have a dedicated instructor scheduling has never been an issue. When I loose an instructor because they go to the Regionals, it does cause a delay in transitioning to a new instructor. This has caused me many delays. But it's beyond Falcon's control. But now since hiring has slowed and instructors are sticking around longer, this has not been an issue lately. So problem solved :)

3) Nope. Never had a problem scheduling flights other than what I mentioned above. But that's old news as the problem I believe has been solved.

4) All the planes are in terrific condition. There is not a single plane in the fleet I would not want to fly. The maintenance is onsite and Falcon owns it as they are a certified Diamond Repair Station. They do great in keeping these aircraft flying.

5) I only did 0.6 in the sim. But if you want to save even more money, you absolutely could use any of the sims. I just prefer to fly the real thing!

You are certainly asking great questions. Again, I would advise coming to visit and sitting down with some of the staff at Falcon. Everyone is very busy, but I'm sure they'll be glad to have you stop in. Just call ahead and schedule a day you plan to come out to visit so someone can be available to spend time with you. If you randomly show up, that may work as well but time with key employees may be limited if they don't expect you. But there are always students and CFI's around to speak with as well.

Good luck on your choice.
 
Thanks a lot for all your help. I live in New York so I have to plan a trip to visit the school. It sounds pretty good from what you said so far though so we'll see what happens. I'll keep you posted, and if I have any questions that come up ill be sure to PM you. Thanks again. And who knows, maybe someday you'll be teaching me to fly.
 
NYC Flyer, Thank you for you consideration of Falcon Aviation Academy as a potential flight training facility. And thank you Texas Flyer for the help, i hope to see you down in the ptc area soon. NYC Flyer, I am the Marketing and Recruiting director here at Falcon Aviation Academy and I would love the chance to give you a tour of our main facility in Peachtree City. Feel free to give me a call to set this up. Or just give me a call so I can send you some additional Information.

Thanks

Mike Melton
Marketing/Recruiting Director
Falcon Aviation Academy
1-877-359-3252 ext 204
faarep@falconaviationacademy.com
 
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