March 14th standz

B767

Well-Known Member
Anyone hear anything on how many people will be attending? I'll be there. The email from Angie said that it'll be 30 hours and some frasca/seminole flights thrown in. I guess this isn't just single engine standz? Also, does FSA have a contract that states how long you have to work there before you can leave?
 
Only Swiss, RWL and PTN are contract programs (i.e. the european programs) that charge for leaving. IF you do get in a contract program just know they charge the FULL amount of standardization whether you are 3 months or 11 months into the contract.

I hear they are hiring into the multi stands because people are flocking out of there for much greener pastures. Word is that management expects to have to replace 75% or more of the instructors there now by fall due to the airlines hiring people up.

Good luck, have fun, and dont let all the rumors or attitudes get to ya.
 
Doesn't sound like a bad gig. I'm curious... Do you know how many pilots are going through their stans class each time?
 
When I was hired there we had 35 in my class in march 2010 and less then 6 months later I could count on one hand the people still working there from my stands class. I heard they are having trouble finding people to fill classes though due to opportunities opening up elsewhere. 16/hr is on the low side for what you have to do there imo.
 
Are the new guys finding enough work now? I hear that has been the trouble. These Asian contracts can be somewhat wishy washy. To the OP, did they offer you full time or part time? I think some guys earlier last year had to sign a contract if they wanted full time with benefits. I'm not sure how they run it now. 4 years ago everyone hired was full time and there was plenty of work. Times change.
 
Well maybe they'll start paying more and then maybe they'd get more instructors!
 
We were told by management that they made $1mil profit last year... thats pretty dang good for ANY business... plus when you charge $50/hr plus for the instructor you would think they could afford to give a little more then $16-18/hr
 
We were told by management that they made $1mil profit last year... thats pretty dang good for ANY business... plus when you charge $50/hr plus for the instructor you would think they could afford to give a little more then $16-18/hr

Are you talking about FSI as a whole or just the Academy? That seems to be a high profit for just the Academy. IMO $16-18/hr isn't terrible if you can consistently bill 40 hrs/wk. But I know it's tough. I know what it's like to be there 50 hrs/wk but billing only 25 to 30. It sucks.
 
Are you talking about FSI as a whole or just the Academy? That seems to be a high profit for just the Academy. IMO $16-18/hr isn't terrible if you can consistently bill 40 hrs/wk. But I know it's tough. I know what it's like to be there 50 hrs/wk but billing only 25 to 30. It sucks.

FSI as a whole produce's way more than a million dollars per year. Warren Buffet wouldn't have even blown a sneeze in our direction if that were the case. In my opinion, for a company of that size(only talking about the academy), that seems like a small profit to me.
 
Yeah Im sure that that figure is on the low side. But think about this. We flew over 65,000 hours at the academy last year. Lets say the average cost of a dual flight is $200/hr. Again this is not taking into account the higher price of the seminoles, arrows, 172's. Just for this purpose that all the hours flown were in cadets. 65,000 x 200 = $13,000,000. Management told us it takes $1 mill to operate that place per month and pay all the salaries etc. So 12 months - $13 million dollars = $1 million dollars profit.

Again this is the low side of the figure. The added income from the more pricey planes would bring this number up. I dont care how big your company is, a $1 million dollar profit is pretty nice. But I'm sure that number is bigger in real life anyway. And I'm sure that the numbers of the cost of things were inflated when presented to the employees to make it seem like they were just scratching by and couldnt afford raises, and the cost numbers were probably shrunk when presented to corporate so that it looks better to them and has a nice effect on the bonus checks for the top of the Academy.
 
Interesting....... Guess that's why DG finally told us that he's putting some money (200K) into the admin building and bought a new maintenance truck?? Hopefully, some of that money "trickles" down the road into the rest of the FSA buildings. Put nicely, they are looking &$@)'!$ worn.
 
Assuming those figures are correct, that's quite an accomplishment for the academy especially since they spent several years in the red. This accomplishment came with a price tag, too. Things have definitely changed. Hopefully, with the looming CFI shortage, they can attract new talent by offering full time and/or better pay.
 
FSA will have to offer full time and benefits to keep the instructors. And a pay rate around the $20 range to lock them down ...... But that will still be difficult now that the regionals are hiring again.

I'm happy for all the instructors that have moved on to the "jet" jobs. Congratz!!
 
$1mil profit or more, DG is starting to repair the roof on the admin building ($200K) and bought a new maintenance truck. Hopefully some of that profit "trickles" down the road to the other buildings. To put it nicely those buildings are looking $&(@";& worn! Need to replace all that old carpet and throw tile down and throw some more paint on the walls. That alone will clean the place up. And it wouldn't cost an arm and a leg.
 
How many showed up on Monday? What are your first impressions? Any questions we can help answer, just let us know.
 
8 showed up. 8 passed the test. 5 single and 3 multi. There are many a question seeing as we all have the same person for the non checkride "checkride." I think a meet and greet is in order for this weekend....
 
If your non checkride checkride is the AH then be prepared to feel like your 6 inches tall afterward no matter how hard you study and prepare. haha.
 
Any going to the JAA programs? Or is it too early to tell?

As far as I know no one is in any JAA program. The 3 MEI's aren't even going to get SE stand until way later this year. Guess there's a need for MEIs...

If your non checkride checkride is the AH then be prepared to feel like your 6 inches tall afterward no matter how hard you study and prepare. haha.

We all have AH for the non checkride checkride. I'm well prepared to feel like a dung beetle. He seems like a good enough guy in class though. I just wish I had a tape recorder. He's going to brief one of our 2 presentations on Friday, and I really just want to repeat exactly what he says.
 
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