Is there anything good about Pan Am?

hallr1

New Member
I had planned to attend Pan Am some time in the near future but after finding this forum, I am having doubts with all the negative stuff being said about the school. Can anyone tell me something positive about Pan Am? I know the dorms are all taken for the fall. How is the apartment hunting process?
 
Have you looked into smaller schools other than the big academies? There are a lot of schools where you can get your flight training much cheaper and faster than at the large academies. Just check airports in big cities, like the Scottsdale airport in Phoenix, or the Palwaukee aiport in Chicago.
 
If you want to read some positive things about Pan Am, read my posts going back to when I started here last September.

The Turk.
 
A lot of people keep saying you can get your ratings faster at an FBO, or anything other than a big academy.
If that is true, then how did I do the program at Pan Am, from 0 time to CFII in 10 months? I will finish MEI next week. So that is a total of 10 and a half months.

You would have to fly 7 days a week, and never take a day off to do it any faster.

The Turk.
 
I think most people are emphasizing that the FBO route is <font color="blue"> cheaper </font>, not quicker. Speed isn't a big factor these days anyway. There aren't many regionals waiting to hire those with 300 hours anymore; that is unless you are Flychicaga
 
Once you finish the FBO route, then what? Quite a few of the guys that I know went to FBO route are still at the FBO, flying once a day with no hope of ever getting any multi. The advantage of going to an academy starts after you finish your ratings.
 
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Once you finish the FBO route, then what? Quite a few of the guys that I know went to FBO route are still at the FBO, flying once a day with no hope of ever getting any multi. The advantage of going to an academy starts after you finish your ratings.

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And the Academy's have a high turnover with everyone advancing?
 
I finished the program in March and I picked up 2 students 6 weeks later. I'm enjoying instructing, learning a lot, and living the dream.
 
turk, the speed at which you finished is not at all the norm.. or at least when i was there a year ago it wasn't. 10 months to finish is crazy fast
 
I agree, Turk went through faster than anyone i have ever heard of. at dvt the fastest most capable people take around 14 months. and that is really fast for here. i have never heard of ANYONE finishing from zero to hero in 10 months.
Hey turk, what was the extent of your flight experience before coming ot pan am? a little bio maybe....
confused.gif
 
Pink,
Well let's see, where do I begin? Just kidding. Since I was 18, I worked a full time job and went to school at night. For 12 years I worked in the air conditioning industry, then one day I got this crazy idea I wanted to switch careers. Well what else would I choose? Flying of course. I was influenced by some family members who were in the airline business, and I was responsible for the air conditioning at Miami International Airport, and I had ramp access, 24 hours a day. So I hardly got any work done, watching all those cool planes.
So I called my Cousin, who is a captain at ACA, and asked his advice. He went with me on tours of 4 schools, and after weighing all the options I chose Pan Am. (He went to FSI) I started at Pan Am September 1, 2002 with 0 flight time. (I had flown in a C152 a couple times over the years) I am now a CFII, and will be up for MEI next week.
So as you can see from my life experience, I have a good work ethic, which I am sure helped me to do so well at Pan Am.

The Turk.
 
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Once you finish the FBO route, then what? Quite a few of the guys that I know went to FBO route are still at the FBO, flying once a day with no hope of ever getting any multi. The advantage of going to an academy starts after you finish your ratings.

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Quite a few Pan Am students have walked into my FBO to rent our twins, and 172s (they aren't allowed to rent planes at their own school) and look for a flight instructor job since Pan AM couldn't give them one.
 
I dunno about that, I've rented aircraft with no problem whenever I've needed them, even the Seminole. As I understand it student's cannot fly solo in retracts, but they are more then welcome to rent Archers.

There's got to be more to the story about instructors comming down and saying Pan Am won't hire them. As far as I know everyone has been hired, except for a select few who were asked to leave.
 
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. As I understand it student's cannot fly solo in retracts,

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Why is that? Insurance reasons?
 
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I dunno about that, I've rented aircraft with no problem whenever I've needed them, even the Seminole. As I understand it student's cannot fly solo in retracts, but they are more then welcome to rent Archers.

There's got to be more to the story about instructors comming down and saying Pan Am won't hire them. As far as I know everyone has been hired, except for a select few who were asked to leave.

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Two more Pan Am graduates came into Sawyer today looking for flight instructor jobs and aircraft rental. They were very polite and seemed to have good attitudes. I wish them good luck and hope they can find a pilot job somewhere.
 
Pan Am find themselves in a very unforunate situation right now. Pan Am hires every one of it's graduates if they complete the program succesfully. With the industry the way it is right now none of the instructors are leaving from the top so the attrition rate is very low. Every summer enrollment goes down due to many factors. With no students, and too many cfi's we have a dilemna. Let's hope things pick up fast.
 
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Pan Am find themselves in a very unforunate situation right now. Pan Am hires every one of it's graduates if they complete the program succesfully. With the industry the way it is right now none of the instructors are leaving from the top so the attrition rate is very low. Every summer enrollment goes down due to many factors. With no students, and too many cfi's we have a dilemna. Let's hope things pick up fast.

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That sounds understandable. I can't fault Pan Am for that. It is difficult to find any flying job right now. Hopefully the industry will pick up again soon.
 
It seems to come in spurts also. About 3 months ago about a dozen of our instructors were going several places. Now, things are literally at a stand still. I happen to be in place ready to go but no one is hiring. Very frustrating.
 
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It seems to come in spurts also. About 3 months ago about a dozen of our instructors were going several places. Now, things are literally at a stand still. I happen to be in place ready to go but no one is hiring. Very frustrating.

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How many instructors graduate at a time, on average, as compared to the number of students inflowing?

And I agree. Aviation is simply tough these days. Regardless of school policies, FBO vs Academy, etc, etc; it's just hard to find people with the money to push through a professional pilot program. That or these same people are unwilling to incur that debt that comes with a loan, regardless of their love for flying.

Tough all around.
 
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