TheWife
New Member
Ok, here goes. Please don't be offended by my opinion, I know a lot of you attend these schools, and this is just my personal experience. We made our decision based on what is right for us, and I am not saying that it's not right for others. Also, please forgive me if I use a wrong term or something, I am just the wife, remember.
OK, day one FSI-
We arrived to find our name on a welcome board, very thoughtful. We toured the facilities in the rain so our guide was very courteous in providing umbrellas, holding doors open etc. We were blown away with the Level D flight Sim, we got to sit in 3 different ones and I can see how they are a very powerful training tool.
We were taken to the office of Mr. S who is the um, Dean?? Is that the right word? He talked with us for about 15-20 minutes, and didn't seem to mind the finger prints Caleb put on his office windows. (Caleb was flirting with the ladies in the hall as they walked by, and they were all so incredibly sweet.) Mr. S also held Caleb on his lap and bounced him around which I thought was nice.
We saw the planes which were in great shape, we saw the class rooms that had power point presentations. We saw the cafe which is also a convenient touch. When we were done with the campus, we went to Jackie's office, were she had some toys for Caleb to play with, and she went over $$ and stuff with Corbin. She then gave me a bag that had a guide to the Indian River area, a map, a list of pediatricians and play grounds, etc. and vouchers for free breakfast from the cafe the next morning. We were allowed to stay in a Bungalow for free that night. We drove around the city and saw the beach. It was a very nice city. It had a small town feel to it, but not in the um, dusty Utah desert way I expected. It still had a Target and WalMart which seals the deal for me, lol. We did not get a chance to SEE any apartments, but from the research I did on the net, they are around $650 for a 3 bed 2 bath, with pool, etc. That would get you nothing in Utah. That's half our mortgage payment. Jackie and Kelly were just so very nice and told me I could call them if I ever needed help with anything like finding dr.'s or whatever.
I have one slight concern with FSI and that's that the place was pretty quiet. We saw probably 10 or so students there, while the halls at DCA were so crowded we couldn't get through. Maybe it was the incoming hurricane? I don't know if it's good or bad to have few students. On one hand it's less competition with other students for instructor jobs, but then if it doesn't pick up, that might mean there are no new students for you to instruct. The major appealing thing though is that they don't care if you go somewhere else while waiting to instruct with them, you don't lose your spot in line.
My biggest complaint about FSI, was that the TP in the Bungalows was the John Wayne style. Surely they could splurge for Charmin?
But if that's the worse thing I can come up with then they must be doing something right. We are hoping that the attitude and how accomodating they are continues into the training, and doesn't end once you have signed your check over. If you want more info about the actual programs, classes, etc. you'll have to ask Corbin, I tended to tune out during the stuff I didn't understand.
Ok, next we drove to Pan Am. We drove around the campus and never even got out of the car. We could tell from the outside that the area and campus did not compare to FSI, so we didn't bother.
Then on to DCA. They generally like you to take their standard 5 hour tour. We had a 15 month old with us so we are lucky to get in an hour or two. They seemed a little miffed that we were not wanting the cookie cutter tour. I asked for a place to change Caleb's diaper, and they suggested I do it in my car. It has luggage on both seats so I had to change him on the cold tile floor in the bathroom. The person who gave us our tour talked a lot about how long the runways were, and how many planes go in and out of that airport every day and a bunch of other stuff that we didn't feel was important. He knew we had to deal with Caleb's patience, but that didn't stop him from wasting a lot of our time. We wanted to say "enough already, show us the sims and the classrooms and the planes".
We did finally get to see the planes. They were not seemingly more or less taken care of then FSI's. But he didn't really say anything about maintainance. FSI talked for a long time about the maintainance rules and what they do for safety. I am not saying DCA doesn't do the same things, but they just didn't say either way.
We then got to see the classrooms, not as impressive as the power point at FSI, but that's not a big deal. We walked by the sims but did not get to go inside as a result of our unwillingness to take the 5 hour tour. We then went to the guide's office, where he said "well you are already sold on FSI, I can tell, but let me tell you why you will regret that" I am not really sure what he said after that, I wasn't listening, maybe Corbin was.
Every where we went there were posters that said things like "Comair will be hiring hundreds of pilots in the next 12 months" Oh really? And they are ALL coming from DCA aren't they? Then the guide pulled out a log from 99-01 that showed the number of hours DCA pilots got hired at vs the number of hours non DCA pilots were hired at. I asked him for the list from 01-02 or 02-03 since we really should see some post 9-11 numbers and he said it was still being compiled. Interesting. The list showed that other pilots weren't getting hired until they had upwards of 4500 hours, while DCA pilots were getting hired around 1000. I am sorry, MAYBE that's true, but I don't think it is, nor do I care. He went on and on about how important it was to chose a school that had a connection to an airline. I found it amusing that Delta sends their pilots and students to FSI for the sim training.
I felt like we were being given the sales pitch of the year. His answers were stale and rehearsed. It was like "what can I do to get you to buy this car today?". They also say their instructor waiting pool is about 3 months right now. FSI's is around a year. That sounds like bad news but what it says to me is that DCA students aren't willing to wait around. FSI must have a pretty damn good instructing program if people are waiting that long to be a part of it. FSI has internship programs you can do while waiting too. DCA will take you off the waiting list of you go somewhere else while in the pool. FSI doesn't care.
I could go on and on. But I won't bore you. We also did not care for the Sanford/Orlando area as much as Vero Beach. I was surprised, in Utah the larger cities are generally nice and new and well taken care of with a lot to do and see, and the small cities have nothing but tumbleweeds and a mini mart. So I was not expecting to care for Vero. In the end, it was the over all attitude that we got from DCA. Honestly the way they pitched, that we would not succeed if we did not choose their school, just makes us want to go to FSI even more, to prove them wrong. Maybe that's childish, but it's how we felt. They just rubbed us the wrong way, they did nothing to provide accomodations or meals or information about the area like FSI did. As we walked out the door we were told we owe it to DCA to come back and do the full tour so we can make an educated decision. He said we would get free, no obligation plane tickets for Corbin and I, but not Caleb, and that even if we still chose another school the tickets were free. All we had to do was pay $150 for the hotel. Um hello, you can get a hotel for $50, so let's see, that makes the tickets $100, not FREE.
We didn't take this situation lightly, we based it on what felt good and right to us, and that may be different for some one else. I know that just because a school gives me a mug and a map and has toys for my kid doesn't make them better then other schools. But the way FSI treated us, they were so accomodating and did not make us feel bad about having Caleb there and they did everything they could to make it nice. Their whole attitude was "do waht's best for you", not "you're screwed if you don't go here". There was a letter waiting when we got home thanking us for touring and telling us to call if we have more questions. Nothing from DCA. FSI encouraged us to go tour other schools and talk to students. DCA said why waste your time touring places that aren't connected to an airline. FSI has great PR, great facilities, great SIMS, great classrooms, great area....DCA didn't. It wasn't a difficult choice. Now we just need our house to sell, and we'll be on our way.
Again, please don't be offeneded about my opinion, it's mine. That doesn't mean DCA doesn't have a good program, we just feel FSI is better for us. Ultimately it was all Corbin's choice as he knows what to look for in the training and I don't, and it was an easy choice for him too. Ok, I am going to go duck for cover now.

OK, day one FSI-
We arrived to find our name on a welcome board, very thoughtful. We toured the facilities in the rain so our guide was very courteous in providing umbrellas, holding doors open etc. We were blown away with the Level D flight Sim, we got to sit in 3 different ones and I can see how they are a very powerful training tool.
We were taken to the office of Mr. S who is the um, Dean?? Is that the right word? He talked with us for about 15-20 minutes, and didn't seem to mind the finger prints Caleb put on his office windows. (Caleb was flirting with the ladies in the hall as they walked by, and they were all so incredibly sweet.) Mr. S also held Caleb on his lap and bounced him around which I thought was nice.
We saw the planes which were in great shape, we saw the class rooms that had power point presentations. We saw the cafe which is also a convenient touch. When we were done with the campus, we went to Jackie's office, were she had some toys for Caleb to play with, and she went over $$ and stuff with Corbin. She then gave me a bag that had a guide to the Indian River area, a map, a list of pediatricians and play grounds, etc. and vouchers for free breakfast from the cafe the next morning. We were allowed to stay in a Bungalow for free that night. We drove around the city and saw the beach. It was a very nice city. It had a small town feel to it, but not in the um, dusty Utah desert way I expected. It still had a Target and WalMart which seals the deal for me, lol. We did not get a chance to SEE any apartments, but from the research I did on the net, they are around $650 for a 3 bed 2 bath, with pool, etc. That would get you nothing in Utah. That's half our mortgage payment. Jackie and Kelly were just so very nice and told me I could call them if I ever needed help with anything like finding dr.'s or whatever.
I have one slight concern with FSI and that's that the place was pretty quiet. We saw probably 10 or so students there, while the halls at DCA were so crowded we couldn't get through. Maybe it was the incoming hurricane? I don't know if it's good or bad to have few students. On one hand it's less competition with other students for instructor jobs, but then if it doesn't pick up, that might mean there are no new students for you to instruct. The major appealing thing though is that they don't care if you go somewhere else while waiting to instruct with them, you don't lose your spot in line.
My biggest complaint about FSI, was that the TP in the Bungalows was the John Wayne style. Surely they could splurge for Charmin?

Ok, next we drove to Pan Am. We drove around the campus and never even got out of the car. We could tell from the outside that the area and campus did not compare to FSI, so we didn't bother.
Then on to DCA. They generally like you to take their standard 5 hour tour. We had a 15 month old with us so we are lucky to get in an hour or two. They seemed a little miffed that we were not wanting the cookie cutter tour. I asked for a place to change Caleb's diaper, and they suggested I do it in my car. It has luggage on both seats so I had to change him on the cold tile floor in the bathroom. The person who gave us our tour talked a lot about how long the runways were, and how many planes go in and out of that airport every day and a bunch of other stuff that we didn't feel was important. He knew we had to deal with Caleb's patience, but that didn't stop him from wasting a lot of our time. We wanted to say "enough already, show us the sims and the classrooms and the planes".
We did finally get to see the planes. They were not seemingly more or less taken care of then FSI's. But he didn't really say anything about maintainance. FSI talked for a long time about the maintainance rules and what they do for safety. I am not saying DCA doesn't do the same things, but they just didn't say either way.
We then got to see the classrooms, not as impressive as the power point at FSI, but that's not a big deal. We walked by the sims but did not get to go inside as a result of our unwillingness to take the 5 hour tour. We then went to the guide's office, where he said "well you are already sold on FSI, I can tell, but let me tell you why you will regret that" I am not really sure what he said after that, I wasn't listening, maybe Corbin was.
Every where we went there were posters that said things like "Comair will be hiring hundreds of pilots in the next 12 months" Oh really? And they are ALL coming from DCA aren't they? Then the guide pulled out a log from 99-01 that showed the number of hours DCA pilots got hired at vs the number of hours non DCA pilots were hired at. I asked him for the list from 01-02 or 02-03 since we really should see some post 9-11 numbers and he said it was still being compiled. Interesting. The list showed that other pilots weren't getting hired until they had upwards of 4500 hours, while DCA pilots were getting hired around 1000. I am sorry, MAYBE that's true, but I don't think it is, nor do I care. He went on and on about how important it was to chose a school that had a connection to an airline. I found it amusing that Delta sends their pilots and students to FSI for the sim training.
I felt like we were being given the sales pitch of the year. His answers were stale and rehearsed. It was like "what can I do to get you to buy this car today?". They also say their instructor waiting pool is about 3 months right now. FSI's is around a year. That sounds like bad news but what it says to me is that DCA students aren't willing to wait around. FSI must have a pretty damn good instructing program if people are waiting that long to be a part of it. FSI has internship programs you can do while waiting too. DCA will take you off the waiting list of you go somewhere else while in the pool. FSI doesn't care.
I could go on and on. But I won't bore you. We also did not care for the Sanford/Orlando area as much as Vero Beach. I was surprised, in Utah the larger cities are generally nice and new and well taken care of with a lot to do and see, and the small cities have nothing but tumbleweeds and a mini mart. So I was not expecting to care for Vero. In the end, it was the over all attitude that we got from DCA. Honestly the way they pitched, that we would not succeed if we did not choose their school, just makes us want to go to FSI even more, to prove them wrong. Maybe that's childish, but it's how we felt. They just rubbed us the wrong way, they did nothing to provide accomodations or meals or information about the area like FSI did. As we walked out the door we were told we owe it to DCA to come back and do the full tour so we can make an educated decision. He said we would get free, no obligation plane tickets for Corbin and I, but not Caleb, and that even if we still chose another school the tickets were free. All we had to do was pay $150 for the hotel. Um hello, you can get a hotel for $50, so let's see, that makes the tickets $100, not FREE.
We didn't take this situation lightly, we based it on what felt good and right to us, and that may be different for some one else. I know that just because a school gives me a mug and a map and has toys for my kid doesn't make them better then other schools. But the way FSI treated us, they were so accomodating and did not make us feel bad about having Caleb there and they did everything they could to make it nice. Their whole attitude was "do waht's best for you", not "you're screwed if you don't go here". There was a letter waiting when we got home thanking us for touring and telling us to call if we have more questions. Nothing from DCA. FSI encouraged us to go tour other schools and talk to students. DCA said why waste your time touring places that aren't connected to an airline. FSI has great PR, great facilities, great SIMS, great classrooms, great area....DCA didn't. It wasn't a difficult choice. Now we just need our house to sell, and we'll be on our way.
Again, please don't be offeneded about my opinion, it's mine. That doesn't mean DCA doesn't have a good program, we just feel FSI is better for us. Ultimately it was all Corbin's choice as he knows what to look for in the training and I don't, and it was an easy choice for him too. Ok, I am going to go duck for cover now.
