Airline Training Academy out of business

[jetpilotjay]

I was there in sept 01'. I saw the writing on the wall then and pulled out of AS II. I've been trying to get the rest of my money out of them ever since. THey are real crooked bastards, and treat you like s$$t while you are there. You're were always afraid to speak out. They made examples of those who did. You just kept going in the hopes there would be something. After 9/11, there was no point in staying. I wish the best for all the other students who will probably be screwed by this. Good Luck.

 

[flyboy]

Yeah, they dropped the bomb on anyone who crossed them. I'll bet ole Seesholtz is laughing his *** off now.

 

[jetpilotjay]

I don't know how long you were there but i was at pilot talk the day Pat questioned capt. Jim about the mesa lie. they kicked him out that day. they went to his apartment and told him he had one hour to pack and leave. Wendy Leonard(Jim's Daugnter) said that he shouldn't have embarrassed her father in front of everyone like that. THat taught everyone a lesson that day, BE VERY CAREFUL WHAT YOU SAY! If anyone out there remembers, Pat was in the Feb 01' class

 

[azpilot]

www.flyhere.com used to have a letter on there from an ACA chief pilot praising the program (unfortunately the website is blank now). If someone has a copy of that letter please post it.

Google caches page. You might do a search on there and see if you can find the cached page.

 

[Chunk]

*NOT* Ambulance chasing

For those of you stuck, FSI in Vero Beach has offered a week's stay in their dorms for free if you need it.

Sorry to hear about this scummy operation...I'm no fan of trial lawyers, but SUE SUE SUE. Get and injunction NOW!

Good luck to all out there taken for a ride by this "family owned" business.

Chunk

 

[surfnole]

What was the name of the guy who started this school? No doubt he will pop up again somewhere to rip everyone off. He needs to be blacklisted. He sold Comair the Comair Aviation Academy.

 

[172driver]

Don't know his name but I think he runs a school in Deland...maybe Regional Airline Academy?

 

[Chunk]

The guy's name is Williams. I think he flies for ATA (the airline) and also own Discover Air, a BE99 outfit on the side.

This guy is scum. There are students being told they have one day to move out of the apartments the school leased for them because the students pay the school for the rent (in some cases months in advance) and the school didn't pay the rent for the students.

Pilots are literally going to be homeless because of this scumbag.


HE SHOULD BE SHUNNED AND BLACKLISTED!

That's okay.....the students (from what I hear) have sworn out a warrant for his arrest.

Chunk

 

[SDF2BUF2MCO]

Chunk, that is the correct last name but from what I understand the old man is a retired airline captain from a major (or that's what he told his students). He has sons helping "run" the business. Not sure any of them are in the airline biz.
I also think he started the original Comair at Sanford (SFB) and then sold it to the present owners.
I need to be careful though since I'm only repeating gossip and don't know first hand.
Channel 9 in Orlando did a piece about this on the news earlier today. Sure it will get some more press.

 

[ShawnC]

Didn't ATA have a crash in Daytona last month on the 18th? I'm not sure because the NTSB site is down.

Retracted got access to the NTSB site the crash was from Comair

 

[azpilot]

I hope all future pilots now understand LOUD & CLEAR. DO NOT PAY EVERYTHING UP FRONT!!!! If the school is not willing to take money as you go run away. There is no reason why a school needs all the money up front if they are well capitalized. That is what credit lines are for.

If many of you received a loan from the same organization you might see if they can put any muscle behind this. I doubt it though. You may not see any money for years and if you do it may be 10 cents on the dollar.

Sad to say but this is another reason to bad mouth all of the schools that tells complete lies in all the magazines.

There are NO shortcuts. There are no MAGIC schools.

Good luck

 

[asarjfo]

Jim Williams retired from Delta in '95 or '96. He did start the original Comair ( I think it was AAA or something), but signed 7 year no compete clause with Comair. When the time was up, his sons (Rob, Scott, and Jeff) started ATA. I don't know how much input their father had. He always seemed like a nice guy who showed up on Friday for "pilot talk" to tell stories of the glamour days. He never seemed that involved in daily operations.]

Rob currently flies for ATA (the airline) as a 737 Captain. He was the "best" out of the three brothers. You had to take what he said with a grain of salt. Make sure you give him a big "PAT" on the back if you see him on the line!

Jeff was fired from Comair and had the BIGGEST chip on his shoulder about life in general.....he was in charge of the maint. department......one of the angriest people in the world.

Scott looked like humpty dumpty and was "in charge" of daily operations. He liked to strut around and tell us how lucky we were to pay him for the honor of attending his school.

The rest of the disfunctional family worked there in some fashion.

I went through the program pre 9-11. They did deliver on the original promise and I was hired by ASA, but It was a fight every step of the way. There were alot of people that left pissed and broke, but there are about 100 of us at ASA and some more at Eagle.

I feel for the students who were ripped off, but don't feel one bit sorry for the Williams family. I hope you guys get whats coming to you and in the process get Jeff and Scott thrown in jail.

I think they would both make nice jail house bitches!

 

[jdog78]

Airline Training Academy was owned and run by the Williams family and the head honcho (chairman) was Capt. Jim Williams, a retired Delta pilot. Below him were his sons, Scott (headed what eventually became Comair Academy), Rob (former Comair CRJ capt. and currently flying for Amtran), and Jeff (former Comair Brazilia captain). All key management positions were held by Williams family members. Clearly, this sh*t eating trailer trash family can't run a business to save their lives and this is the unfortunate result. I'm sure the tuition paid by students and the unpaid employee wages have been funneled into Discover Air, yet another failing Williams endeavor.

My heart is breaking for those students who have now lost tens of thousands of dollars and the means to pursue their dream of becoming aviation professionals. The idea that fellow pilots could wreak such havoc in the lives of the next generation of aviation professionals makes me want to bring back lynching...just leave a trail of krispy kremes to a tall tree and their fat necks would be in nooses lickety split!
Say a prayer for our fellow airmen in their time of need.

john

 

[350DRIVER]

Pretty sad for the students who may have just saw their dreams go down the tubes with this operation. I can only "hope" that most will be able to get ALL money back that was paid up front.... Unreal how much they got up front.. P!ss poor management at it's best. I can only hope that these smucks pay a hefty price for what they have done to these students.

good luck-

3 5 0

what is the possibility of getting the money back.?? or atleast some of it?

 

[Bouyer]

NOT MUCH

MORE THAN LIKELY WHAT MONEY THEY MIGHT HAVE LEFT THE LENDERS WILL GET FIRST DIBS ON, THEN IF THERE IS ANY MONEY LEFT SOME OF THE STUDENTS COULD POSSIBLY GET SOME OF THAT BACK I AM NOT HOLDING MY BREATH