Whats going on here at FSA??

[CAP_Flyer]

Things are not tough here, we're at the highest student count since 9/11.

The jobs are still there, but now they're instructing jobs.

That actually sounds pretty dang good to me. Right now, my eye on the prize is an instructor job down at FSA...even though I still have quite a road to travel to get there. Having a nice steady job where I'm under contract, having a continual stream of students coming in, nice weather, love the flying....that just plain seems right up my alley.

So...do they let you rent a Seneca to take a little jaunt over to Freeport? Surely there are some pretty nice perks working at that location...

 

[swisspilot]

That actually sounds pretty dang good to me. Right now, my eye on the prize is an instructor job down at FSA...even though I still have quite a road to travel to get there. Having a nice steady job where I'm under contract, having a continual stream of students coming in, nice weather, love the flying....that just plain seems right up my alley.

So...do they let you rent a Seneca to take a little jaunt over to Freeport? Surely there are some pretty nice perks working at that location...

travelled all over the world, Florida has good weather only on their license plate...I would say the only good weather I ve seen here is sometimes in the winter.

You can't rent any plane at FSA to go on that kind of trip (and I'm not sure if you can actually rent a Seneca), just walk down to Sun Aviation and rent from them (seminole and warrior), they will let you take the plane to the islands.

 

[bLizZuE]

You can rent anything to anywhere, except the Seneca to go to the Bahamas.

No international flying on our insurance I think, or maybe just company policy.

 

[CAP_Flyer]

Pity...but it still doesn't deter me one bit about going after an instructor job at FSA. Like I said, it certainly seems to be a good stable job for as long as you're there. Like you said, bLiz, the jobs are out there, and a lot of them are instructor jobs. For someone who wants an instructor job, that's pretty good news. For someone who doesn't....well....I'm sure they'll find SOMETHING.

So if you fly to the USVI or Puerto Rico...does that count as international flying?

 

[bLizZuE]

I'm sure you could ask lol.

 

[Murdoughnut]

For what you're paying, I think you have every right to bitch and complain wherever you want.

 

[C5crewChief]

For what you're paying, I think you have every right to bitch and complain wherever you want.

Well today was the last straw!! My mother, who is putting up the money, and I went to have a chat with the center manager about the scheduling issues (I.E. flying once or twice a week, waiting days and days for a check ride) and he seemed amazed to hear such a thing. Like this was the first complaint he has ever gotten for terrible scheduling. My mother has called the Chief Pilot several times and left several messages with no reply. Center Manager wanted to know what he should do to fix the problem. What do you mean, what should you do? Your the center manager, it's your job to figure it out, not mine. When he said all students are treated equally I had to bite my tongue while I thought "BS". Ask anyone at FSA, I mean ANYONE if there is a priority on contract students and they will tell you there is. Apparently my money isn't green enough for the folks at FSA.. so any students thinking about going to FlightSafety be aware and don't get suckered into their false sales pitches. When they say the Airlines come to FSA to hire that is 100% FALSE. If and when the airlines come to FSA they just tell you about their company and how to go about submitting your resume. There is no recruiting or hiring on the spot.

If you have over $100,000 and plenty of time to waste and you don't mind being forgotten about while you are sitting around for days on end then this is the right place for you, on the other hand if you want to get training in a positive environment, without delay or waiting around while contract students breeze right by you then I strongly encourage you to look elsewhere.

I believe I used all my resources to get this scheduling problem resolved and after talking to the Assistant Flight Chief several times and now today the Center Manager I just don't see anything changing. I might get on the schedule two consecutive days, then the trend will fizzle out like it has in the past.

 

[soonerpilot06]

When they say the Airlines come to FSA to hire that is 100% FALSE. If and when the airlines come to FSA they just tell you about their company and how to go about submitting your resume. There is no recruiting or hiring on the spot.

Airlines DO come here to recruit and hire. I was hired right here on the spot when a recruiter from TSA came down to do interviews for the AATP program.

Given the "current economic stress" (as stated in my furlough letter), I wouldn't expect airlines to make recruiting trips to any flight schools.

 

[bLizZuE]

Some people just need a shoulder to bitc, er, cry on.

 

[T56Maniac]

However,
it's sad that the "single" 141 students cannot compete with the multiple foreign "priority" contracts. And yes, you cannot say that the BIG contracts do not get top priority...that's just a fact. On the other side of the coin....FlightSafety is a business!

Overall, students (customers) should know about this and consider all options if they are not part of a large contract because that is the direction that FSA is going due to the economy, etc.

my two cents,

 

[Jason]

Well today was the last straw!! My mother, who is putting up the money, and I went to have a chat with the center manager about the scheduling issues (I.E. flying once or twice a week, waiting days and days for a check ride) and he seemed amazed to hear such a thing. Like this was the first complaint he has ever gotten for terrible scheduling. My mother has called the Chief Pilot several times and left several messages with no reply. Center Manager wanted to know what he should do to fix the problem. What do you mean, what should you do? Your the center manager, it's your job to figure it out, not mine. When he said all students are treated equally I had to bite my tongue while I thought "BS". Ask anyone at FSA, I mean ANYONE if there is a priority on contract students and they will tell you there is. Apparently my money isn't green enough for the folks at FSA.. so any students thinking about going to FlightSafety be aware and don't get suckered into their false sales pitches. When they say the Airlines come to FSA to hire that is 100% FALSE. If and when the airlines come to FSA they just tell you about their company and how to go about submitting your resume. There is no recruiting or hiring on the spot.

If you have over $100,000 and plenty of time to waste and you don't mind being forgotten about while you are sitting around for days on end then this is the right place for you, on the other hand if you want to get training in a positive environment, without delay or waiting around while contract students breeze right by you then I strongly encourage you to look elsewhere.

I believe I used all my resources to get this scheduling problem resolved and after talking to the Assistant Flight Chief several times and now today the Center Manager I just don't see anything changing. I might get on the schedule two consecutive days, then the trend will fizzle out like it has in the past.

You have every right to complain as much as you want but if things are truly that bad -- why don't you just leave????????? There are hundreds of other flight schools in Florida.

You didn't do something silly like give them all of your money up front did you???....

 

[swisspilot]

Some people just need a shoulder to bitc, er, cry on.

There is a foreign priority!

They don't tell, CFIs with Nigerian or PTS students to fly them every day, I can give you CFIs phone number and you can ask them about this?

What about the deal with AirChina, where CFIs can not do their own schedule? And have to put on freeze all their other students for days!!!!

SAT and RWL are a separate thing and I understand...

I have many friends, former FSA students end of '90s early 2000, all working for majors in europe now, they can't belive what I tell them about at FSA!!

I was always lucky both my CFIs were very nice and tried to schedule me at least 4 times a week, so I'm not bitching about my position but what I hear from other students!

Something I have to complain about is CKride wait...I asked to get a flight (was a retake of maybe one hour), I had to leave the country for an interview, after remedial I had 4 days left before my LOA (note: I had to wait for my remedial flight beacuse AirChina students have priority on my Instructors schedule!), they couldn't manage that but when a PTS student has a flgiht to go home everybody works with him to get his Ckride.

bLizZuE, since when FSA has a maintenance facility in Sebastian?

 

[bLizZuE]

Since we fired/reduced our maintenance staff to a skeleton crew.

 

[C5crewChief]

You have every right to complain as much as you want but if things are truly that bad -- why don't you just leave????????? There are hundreds of other flight schools in Florida.

You didn't do something silly like give them all of your money up front did you???....

Ohh I left, and I'm quite happy where im at now. It's more of a laid back atmosphere. No worries about "am I going to fly tomorrow" My schedule is posted on Sunday for the entire week ahead. So waiting until 2:30 sometimes 5PM on the schedule for the following day is not an issue anymore. Flying four times a week is not a problem either. I'm assigned an instructor and i fly everyday from 7am - 9am. except Wednesdays, a day off is nice. If I have a question for a ground instructor I definitely don't have to worry about getting charged $58/Hr brief time if my questions go over the time limit of 15 minutes.

I must say that FSA is good on giving your money back.. well what's on account at least. I gave a portion up front and whatever was left I got a check that same day!

Also, who ever was saying that they went or knew someone that went to FSA back in 2000 that's great. When I talk to airline pilots who went to FSA in the 90's they are surprised to hear what's going on. Maybe in the past FSA had their stuff together and considered all students equal. But now days, it's true, contract students are priority, and FSA is a business. Talk to the center manager, he's Mr. Business himself.

 

[West_Indian400]

I have been doing research on flight schools for a long time, in many different locations worldwide, and I hope to be at flightsafety from next year, needless to say I'm really looking forward to it . I have come to realize that it is probably one of biggest tradeoffs of going to a relatively large and well recognized flight academies. Contract students are in a way their bread and butter. I say that because the numbers enrolling at any one time are large (20 or so), they are almost guranteed to finish the course with minimum resources (training fuel etc.) - probably due to rigourous selection standards, They are prepaid and they almost all complete the course (the income is guaranteed) and most importantly they get repeat business by the airlines and "recognition" as an "approved school" all of which tends to attract other customers, especially independent or non contract students. This can be said for other top schools around the world Like Oxford, Flight Training Europe, CABAIR. CTC aviation all of which are "approved" training providers for the likes of BA BMI, Thomsonfly and many other european majors. All these schools will give priority to their contract students in general, thats the way it is. And I don’t believe that its ever been different.

Part of the reason why we want to go to schools like flightsafety, Delta Connection and those other big schools is because we know we will recieve top notch training, why? because other students say so? Because experienced pilots say so? Because airlines trust them to provide ab-initio training to their cadets is also a big selling point. So recognizing what you could be in for before signing over that big wad of cash to your school is prably a good start.

 

[CLR4ILS]

If you're not under contract or you can bail on the one you've got, do it.

Why are things so tough at FSA? They're cutting costs because few if any of the Regionals are hiring. As such, there are many less students to be had.

If they're still shoveling the "we'll get you a job right away!" line, they're full of crap. Stop and take a good hard look at the state of the industry, and then take another look at any pilot Academy.

The Academy will lie to you- They'll tell you they're the only way in to the Airlines and that THEY can get you a job. That's not true. They (or anybody else) might not be able to get a job.

These Academy places rely on student showing up in droves to 'buy the dream'. Don't be their sucker, man.

Do not confuse FlightSafety with some of the other academies out there. I have never seen or heard of FSA promising anything to anyone, including a job. FlightSafety has always run the slogan, if you want it, you have to earn it. That goes for your wings as well as a job. They provide good quality training and the tools to help you succeed; the rest is up to you.

I am happy to hear that FSA is acquiring new A/C and that things have picked up down there.

ILS

 

[CLR4ILS]

Ohh I left, and I'm quite happy where im at now. It's more of a laid back atmosphere. No worries about "am I going to fly tomorrow" My schedule is posted on Sunday for the entire week ahead. So waiting until 2:30 sometimes 5PM on the schedule for the following day is not an issue anymore. Flying four times a week is not a problem either. I'm assigned an instructor and i fly everyday from 7am - 9am. except Wednesdays, a day off is nice. If I have a question for a ground instructor I definitely don't have to worry about getting charged $58/Hr brief time if my questions go over the time limit of 15 minutes.

I must say that FSA is good on giving your money back.. well what's on account at least. I gave a portion up front and whatever was left I got a check that same day!

Also, who ever was saying that they went or knew someone that went to FSA back in 2000 that's great. When I talk to airline pilots who went to FSA in the 90's they are surprised to hear what's going on. Maybe in the past FSA had their stuff together and considered all students equal. But now days, it's true, contract students are priority, and FSA is a business. Talk to the center manager, he's Mr. Business himself.

If you don't mind me asking, where did you go?

ILS

 

[soonerpilot06]

FlightSafety has always run the slogan, if you want it, you have to earn it.

THANK YOU!!!!!

There are a few people here that think they are entitled to a rating or a job.

 

[crjsomeday]

"FlightSafety has always run the slogan, if you want it, you have to earn it."

"You are going to the Harvard/Top Gun of civilian flight schools"

"Flighsafety looks the best on a resume"

Are you serious? They are still getting people to fall for this? Amazing. Been there done that, "earned my plastic wings". Biggest mistake I have ever made, what a waste of money. Stop listening to the marketing BS and go get your ratings cheaper, the airlines that are not hiring don't care where you got your ratings. Is Captain Jack still telling all his BS to the new students? You are going to retire a major airine captain with 1.75 million dollars! Ha, ha,ha, stop you are killing me, ha,ha,ha.!

 

[C5crewChief]

"FlightSafety has always run the slogan, if you want it, you have to earn it."

"You are going to the Harvard/Top Gun of civilian flight schools"

"Flighsafety looks the best on a resume"

Are you serious? They are still getting people to fall for this? Amazing. Been there done that, "earned my plastic wings". Biggest mistake I have ever made, what a waste of money. Stop listening to the marketing BS and go get your ratings cheaper, the airlines that are not hiring don't care where you got your ratings. Is Captain Jack still telling all his BS to the new students? You are going to retire a major airine captain with 1.75 million dollars! Ha, ha,ha, stop you are killing me, ha,ha,ha.!

Well marketing does fill the students with loads of crap. For instance the airlines coming to recruit. Sorry to tell you but the airlines coming for a simple Q & A session doesn't constitute as a recruiting session. They don't take resumes either, or at east haven't been reciently. They just tell you about their hiring minimums and if you are interested and meet the requirements then you can submit your resume online here or there. And I have to agree with "crjsomeday" that it doesn't really matter where you recieved your certificates from. As long as you can pass the interview/testing process and you know what your doing in the flight deck then you'll be fine.



After leaving FlightSafety I took a visit to SunAviation and Paris Air. SunAviation's instructor is a very very experienced pilot. He's a CFI - CFII -MEI - AGI - IGI - Helicopter instructor, A&P, and holds many other certificates as well. But the down side to going over there is that the instructor is talking about retiring so I didn't want to get in the middle of training and have him leave. The aircraft rates are $108/hr solo and $30/hr for the instructor. A big difference from FSA.


At Paris, where I chose to go is the better choice for me. Like I said before, it's more of a laid back atmosphere and their instructors are just as knowledgeable as the CFI's at FlightSafety and the schedule is made up a week in advance. As for cost, it's a lot cheaper than FSA. No worries about spending over $100K for flight training. The $25K I spent in step two was enough for me to realize it was way overpriced. The Piper Senacas run $265/hr dual at Paris compared to FlighSafety Seminole at $339/hr dual.