Ace Program At Panam

[drpilot]

ANYONE GONE TO THE ACE PROGRAM LATELY? IT LOOKS LIKE THEY ARE OFFERING MONEY BACK GUARANTEE IF YOU ARE NOT HIRED WITH IN 6 MONTHS BY ONE OF THE AIRLINES. WOULD APPRECIATE ANY INFORMATION ON THE TRAINING, IF YOU HAVE BEEN HIRED AFTER GOING THROUGH THE PROGRAM, IS IT WORTH THE MONEY? WHAT IS THE TRAINING LIKE?
THANKS
DR

 

[1900cpt]

Try a search on panam and the ace program....that might be able to answer some quesiotns you might have. As for the money back gaurentee.....theres got to be a catch. How can those airlines/regionals hire you when most are not hiring right now...and if they are, they are probably taking higher time guys/gals.

just my observation

1900cpt

 

[AZaviator]

There are several catches to the money back guarantee for the ACE Program at Pan Am. In order to qualify for the money back guarantee, in addition to the ACE program, you have to do Pan Am's CRM training course and the multiengine time building course. If you don't have your CFII or MEI ratings, you have to do those at Pan Am as well. Then, once you have complete all the above, including the ACE program, you have to build up 800hrs of flight time whether its flight instructing at Pan Am or somewhere else. After reaching 800hrs, your 6 month period of finding a job begins. If you don't find a job 6 months from that point, apparently you can get a refund on your money.

I don't know of anyone who has ever received their money back from the ACE Program, but I'm sure its legit. Each and every airline partner Pan Am has is not hiring. The ACE program alone costs over $7,000, not including the other courses you are required to take. Its basically 30 hours of flight time in a CRJ sim along with a ground school, similar to what the airlines have. Sounds like a decent program, but I don't think I'd pay $7k, (or $1k for that matter) for some CRJ sim time. You could use your money toward other things such as multiengine flight time, etc. Plus, if and when you make it to the airlines, you will get PAID to attend a ground school and to learn the systems. I'm not sure why someone would pay thousands of dollars to learn the systems on an aircraft they might not ever step foot in.

Hope this helps!

 

[Rvrrat]

One other point to the whole ball of wax...

Read the fine print in the training contract you'll be signing during official enrollment...

If a student fails to successfully pass a scheduled stage check and/or check ride and falls behind the official time line of the course, said student is not eligable to be hired as a staff instructor.

That's not verbatim, is subject to the pleasure of the management staff of PanAm and is the legal "out."

 

[Flight Junkie]

drpilot.....I've been checking on schools for a friend's son to attend. I talked with a rep. from PanAm and asked him about their program. From what I remember in the conversation you're only refunded the $7,000 from the ACE program, not your total training costs from PanAm. I agree with AZaviator in that it's not woth the money for the RJ sim time.

BTW....AZaviator, if the AZ stands for what I think it does....I'm sure we shared the same stack over TFD more than once. Don't miss that hornet's nest.

 

[Wiggums]

Pan Am is a decent school. However, if I was going there I would get all the contracts and go over them very carefully before signing up. There are some harsh penalties for stuff like missing flights and leaving the program. One contract I would like to see would be the ACE program contract. There must be some loopholes or something to protect the company if the industry really goes bad. As it is right now only one of the partner airlines is hiring, and there pool is full with no class dates until next year.

 

[drpilot]

ace program

Thanks to everybody that responed. I do have my CFI-CFII-MEI but I was looking to go somewhere, were I could get more experience. I am not currently flying all that much as a CFII, do to the fact that there is a shortest of students out there. I have the 135 min's, but because I do not have the hours they require each 90 days, most jobs I do not meet there min's. So I was hoping that a airline training course would give me the up hand, when the job market gets better.