Westwind places 9 with the airlines in 1 Week!!!

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NewbieAirlinePilot

NewbieAirlinePilot

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Don't know if anyone has heard yet, but Westwind School of Aeronautics placed 9 of it's instructors with the airlines in 1 week! 6 went to Mesa and 3 went to AirNet. Mesa was looking for pilots with 700 hours or more and hired them on the spot at Westwind. Seems like Mesa knows where to go to find great FO's with not very much time in this competitive industry.

Mesa not only took 6 instructors, but also took the Career Resources Manager to fill their head pilot recruiter position. Seems like Westwind instructors and students are going to have an inside advantage for a while with Mesa.
 
NewbieAirlinePilot[COLOR=black said:
Seems like Mesa knows where to go to find great FO's with not very much time in this competitive industry.[/COLOR]
Mesa not only took 6 instructors, but also took the Career Resources Manager to fill their head pilot recruiter position.
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competitive for mesa is a pulse :)

The previous recruiter hadn't been there very long either. I would suspect your "career resources manager" will be back shortly.

but congrats on the placements.
 
NewbieAirlinePilot said:
Don't know if anyone has heard yet, but Westwind School of Aeronautics placed 9 of it's instructors with the airlines in 1 week! 6 went to Mesa and 3 went to AirNet. Mesa was looking for pilots with 700 hours or more and hired them on the spot at Westwind. Seems like Mesa knows where to go to find great FO's with not very much time in this competitive industry.

Mesa not only took 6 instructors, but also took the Career Resources Manager to fill their head pilot recruiter position. Seems like Westwind instructors and students are going to have an inside advantage for a while with Mesa.
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Dude, they hired over 60 pilots in the last 48 hours from various places throughout the valley so dont flatter yourself. And the 3 who went to Airnet had all been with Westwind for years and each had 1,000+ hours. Jenifer Clavell is not heading pilot recruitment. She is a resume pre-scanner.

I am sorry to say that if you think WSA is the best thing since sliced bread, you're dead wrong. You are going to pay double for everything. I went to Westwind for a few things and I've never been ripped off so hard in 1 month my whole life.

The rumor is Westwind is slow and potentially in financial trouble. They've sold off their fuel service and maintenance hangar. And I recently heard they dont even occupy the upstairs anymore. The school is a ghost town from several inside sources.

ATP in Mesa isnt very far away and its not too late to transfer.

By the way, do they still make you do the BS sim program - Airline Transition - in the 737 simulator. Save your money. It wont get you anywhere.

I am not trying to discourage you, just watching out for you. WSA has a horrible reputation for ripping everyone off.

Disclaimer: Opinion and my experience only!
 
True Airnet does required 1000 hours to get hired, I'll give you that one.

As far as pricing goes, Westwind was very good to me in that aspect, pay as you went, only paid for what you needed, nothing more.

Most major flight schools are "slower" than normal, this is true since Key Bank pulled out, however people who still work there state new students are still showing up and beginning their training.

Selling part of a company does not = financial trouble all the time. Westwind just sold the FBO and maintance parts, still owns the flight school and charter company. The charter co operates upstairs and took some offices while the new hanger is being built. Upstairs classrooms and computer labs and still available.

If you ever feel you are being ripped off by a company then I agree you should go elsewhere, however during my time at Westwind I didn't feel ripped off.

As you stated, this in only my experience talking, others my feel differently.
 
NewbieAirlinePilot said:
A- Most major flight schools are "slower" than normal, this is true since Key Bank pulled out, however people who still work there state new students are still showing up and beginning their training.

B- Selling part of a company does not = financial trouble all the time. Westwind just sold the FBO and maintance parts, still owns the flight school and charter company. The charter co operates upstairs and took some offices while the new hanger is being built. Upstairs classrooms and computer labs and still available.
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A - I'll agree that several flight schools have been slower due to the key bank situation. However, after several discussions with marketing personnel, who shall remain nameless, Westwind's student situation in not just bad, its crippling.

B- The rumor in the industry of flight training is Westwind has had financial woes for several years now. This coming from a Westwind partner and owner. Anytime you reduce your overhead you decrease liability and wages which exactly what Westwind did when they sold there FBO services to Tragen. Westwind isnt a bad school from an educational standpoint. But from a value and business standpoint, its on the brink of disaster in my opinion.

Funny how one of the asst. chiefs is now in a closet-like office. I think people can find more value for their money in a flight school, that my spill.
 
meritflyer said:
Dude, they hired over 60 pilots in the last 48 hours from various places throughout the valley so dont flatter yourself. And the 3 who went to Airnet had all been with Westwind for years and each had 1,000+ hours. Jenifer Clavell is not heading pilot recruitment. She is a resume pre-scanner.

I am sorry to say that if you think WSA is the best thing since sliced bread, you're dead wrong. You are going to pay double for everything. I went to Westwind for a few things and I've never been ripped off so hard in 1 month my whole life.

The rumor is Westwind is slow and potentially in financial trouble. They've sold off their fuel service and maintenance hangar. And I recently heard they dont even occupy the upstairs anymore. The school is a ghost town from several inside sources.

ATP in Mesa isnt very far away and its not too late to transfer.

By the way, do they still make you do the BS sim program - Airline Transition - in the 737 simulator. Save your money. It wont get you anywhere.

I am not trying to discourage you, just watching out for you. WSA has a horrible reputation for ripping everyone off.

Disclaimer: Opinion and my experience only!
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Westwind still owes me $3000.00 that I will never see. Mr. Jerry Dilk promised me that money over and over again. Unfortunatley, the amount was too small for an attorney to mess with.


Good luck to all new students there and congrats to those instructors who have just left...

ILS
 
meritflyer said:
Three words for you ILS, small claims court.
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I thought about it. I just do not have the time to mess with all that legal crap. Three grand is a good chunk of change but not enough for me to take it to small claims.

Besides, I already took far more than $3000 out of their pockets. I am satisfied with that.

The only thing that could be better is to watch the school close. Then I could rest easy knowing that students wouldn't be getting screwed there anymore.

ILS
 
CLR4ILS said:
Besides, I already took far more than $3000 out of their pockets. I am satisfied with that.
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Pretty cryptic statement so it's possible that I'm not interpreting correctly, but if you are saying what I think you are, this speaks volumes about your personal integrity. Or lack thereof.
 
SteveC said:
Pretty cryptic statement so it's possible that I'm not interpreting correctly, but if you are saying what I think you are, this speaks volumes about your personal integrity. Or lack thereof.
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I think he means steering people clear of that school. Not the other thing.
 
desertdog71 said:
I think he means steering people clear of that school. Not the other thing.
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....and the light turns on!

:)


IF that is what you mean ILS, implication retracted!
 
"Besides, I already took far more than $3000 out of their pockets. I am satisfied with that"

Wow. I never thought of it like that. Or to feel satisfaction with it.

Wonder if you could say the same about me and direct track at FSA?
 
Well, WSA has to be one of the finest pilot-producing academies in the States, in my opinion. Unfortunately, as I have previously mentioned, the chief CFI, owner, and assistant chief CFIs dont seem to be working in the best interest of their students/customers.
 
SteveC said:
....and the light turns on!

:)


IF that is what you mean ILS, implication retracted!
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Thank you for the retraction.....

yes, steering people clear of the school is what I have done by sharing my personal experience. The three prospective students that sent me a PM asking for advice a few years back ended up at FSA and UND.

I think by screwing me, Westwind probably lost at least thirty thousand dollars profit from these three candidates.

THE IMPORTANT THING IS......... These three guy's ended up at schools that provided good training and they were treated like a customer..


ILS
 
DE727UPS said:
"Besides, I already took far more than $3000 out of their pockets. I am satisfied with that"

Wow. I never thought of it like that. Or to feel satisfaction with it.

Wonder if you could say the same about me and direct track at FSA?
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No DE, I wouldn't think of it like that. I don't care if you try to steer people from advanced airline training programs for the next thirty years. These young guy's are not listening to you. They will enter those programs anyway.

However, I have been successful in steering people away from bad "schools" and pointing them in the right direction of good schools...

So I guess I am ahead in "our" quest to help aspiring pilots...LOL....

ILS
 
"These young guy's are not listening to you. They will enter those programs anyway"

HAHA. Well, be sure to use your personal success in the airline biz via direct track as you point people towards FSA ab initio and away from other options. Personally, I'll rest on my success in the biz as why people should listen to me. Has worked for me pretty well around here in the past.

I do appreciate you coming up with the idea that I could put a dollar amout to the folks I've steered away from Ab Initio. Pleases me to no end....
 
meritflyer said:
Well, WSA has to be one of the finest pilot-producing academies in the States, in my opinion. Unfortunately, as I have previously mentioned, the chief CFI, owner, and assistant chief CFIs dont seem to be working in the best interest of their students/customers.
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You really seem to have had it rough at Westwind, could you just give us all a good example that way we can actually judge the circumstance and not just your opinon of "taking it in the rear". That why others could judge for themselves.
 
CLR4ILS said:
That's awesome... I would love to see Judge Judy rip into the Westwind Management...

ILS
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And why are you so ass hurt also? Could you tell the forum a specific example of what ticked you off and put a bad taste in your mouth.
 
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