Wagner Airways...

[PA44]

Has anyone ever heard of wagner airways in lincoln park, NJ? Supposedly, they offer 1000hrs of flt. for approx. 16.25/hr. The deal is that you work for them as a cfi, and perform other various flights. So you pay 16k, obtain students, and teach them(their flt time is deducted from your 1000), and when your not teaching, your just doing other type of flying. I believe they pay you 10/hr? This sounds fishy, anyone care to comment?

 

[HankHill]

never heard of them.

web site?

 

[derg]

Sounds weird.

Some thing to inquire about:

(a) How long they've been around

(b) *Written* refund policy

(c) Quality of flight instruction

(d) Take a peek at the bathrooms, because dirty bathrooms could mean "dirty laundry". Except, of course, if they're shared with other schools/businesses

(e) Cleanliness of the facilities

(f) Morale of the other students/instructors. Even better, offer to buy one of their instructors lunch and I'm sure he'll tell you all you need to know (good and bad) about the flight school.

(g) Maybe even call the local FSDO in the area and see what they think, if anything, about the school

(h) Call the Better Business Bureau

Bonus:

(i) If they don't have on-site examiners, call a few up and ask them about the quality and preparation of their applicants.

After the "events" over the past few weeks with ATA, I think it's worth doing as much research as possible when it comes to choosing a flight school.

 

[captjeff]

Hello,

My friend has just completed his commercial training, and is currently finishing up his multi training with Wagner. I backseated his last flight in the duchess with Chris, whom I think is also the chief CFI at the place. He seemed to be very knowlegable, and explained thoroughly while my friend was doing the pre-flight for the first time, and during the flight.

Personally, I enjoy hanging out around lincoln park because it's such a tiny airport- everyone I've met there are very nice, and it has a good atmosphere.

Back to your inquiry though. $10 / hour pay for instructing seem to be quit a bit below market rate. The flight schools I know around NYC area pay somewhere between 16 - 25 / hour for their CFIs. $10 actually seems outrageous considering Wagner charges $48(?) for primary instruction and $53 for the multi instruction.

I hope this helps.

 

[carlos]

[ QUOTE ]
Back to your inquiry though. $10 / hour pay for instructing seem to be quit a bit below market rate. The flight schools I know around NYC area pay somewhere between 16 - 25 / hour for their CFIs. $10 actually seems outrageous considering Wagner charges $48(?) for primary instruction and $53 for the multi instruction.


[/ QUOTE ]
I have never heard of this operation, but if you figure that part of your pay is the $16.25/hour rate for the 1000 flight hours, the pay may not be that bad. You have to weigh all the benefits versus all the costs to determine whether it's worth it. Just remember, there's almost always a catch.