Airman closed until further notice..

[phantomdriver]

Its going to be nice to fly near norman again with less air traffic.

 

[SmokingWires]

*thumps the jukebox* this thing's skipping...

 

[JonJohn82]

I hate the mess that occured with Airman shutting down, but it's nice to fly with less traffic.

 

[pilothouston123]

lets start a thread looking for people that got ripped off by airman for shutting down, Use private messages only

 

[phantomdriver]

pilothouston123 how are you? were you "screwed" by airman flight school??

 

[pilothouston123]

In September of 2004, I paid $6500 for my 3 instructor tickets up front. I was told it could be done in a month. I figured right away that that was not going to happen. I took my CFII ride as an initial about 6 weeks later. cam back in december to finish and was ready for my MEI ride and the airplane went into 100 hour and the holiday break came. I landed a 135 job and was planning to take some time off in the fall to finish up... Bottom line I paid for three tickets and only got 1. My guess is they owe me $2500

 

[hoop]

From this mornings Daily Oklahoman.

Flight academy remains in tailspin

By Robert Medley
The Oklahoman

NORMAN - Airman Flight School, grounded with mounting debts and stranded foreign students, has no way to re-open or refund tuition, the school's owner said.
Student chooses fight for flight school costs
Airman owner Jerry Carroll, 52, told The Oklahoman he plans to file for bankruptcy and has no idea what happened to tuition payments made in the days before Airman closed. He blames the closure, and the state of limbo in which Airman's students now find themselves, on the company that tried to buy the school from him.
The school has a history of tax liens and debt problems dating several years. Those troubles -- plus the negative impact of terrorist attacks on Sept. 11, 2001, on the aviation industry -- crippled the school, those close to the case said.
But in some ways, Airman's demise follows that of its longtime owner. Court records show Carroll has a history of financial troubles, a drunken-driving arrest and an eviction. Carroll also operated the flight school without a current flight instructor permit.
Now the flight school's doors at Max Westheimer Airport are closed and its students have lost their tuition money. Sixty-six former students and employees are suing the school for breach of contract. Among the allegations: Airman deceived students by taking their tuition when owners knew the school was closing.
Dreams grounded
After the 2001 terrorist attacks, Airman eventually recovered as a popular flight training school, co-owner Brenda Keene told The Oklahoman in June.
She said the flight school did not deceive the students.
"We did not take any money knowing that the school was going to close," she said when contacted about the lawsuit. "We only took two small payments on Monday (Aug. 29) when we enrolled a class. We did not know the school was closing until Friday (Sept. 2)."
The school officially closed Monday, Sept. 5.
Airman's closing left 88 students searching for ways to return home or find places to stay in the United States.
Student Tracey Opoku, 25, of Ghana, said she paid $16,000 to Airman on June 22 and was supposed to start training Aug. 29. She moved to Norman Aug. 15.
She was refunded $1,200 on Aug. 31, but now must return home to Ghana, and she worries a lengthy legal battle will be hard to monitor from abroad.
"How will we know how it is going?" she asked from a friend's house where she is staying in Arlington, Texas.
A student from Taiwan came to Airman for flight training after her family sold their farm to pay her tuition. Other students had federal student loans that were paid directly to Airman. The students now are obligated to make payments, said attorney Bret Glenn, who is representing the plaintiffs.
Opoku said she lost $14,000 she paid for flight training.
"Flight school is not like a truck driving school closing," Glenn said. "It's these people's dreams to be a pilot and that is what makes this so tragic."
Oklahoma City attorney Mary Travis is representing Carroll. Travis claims 75 percent of the students listed as plaintiffs on the civil lawsuit against Airman received more flight training than they paid for. The rest are owed money.
Airman's rocky ride
Among the defendants in the lawsuit are Airman owner Carroll, president of Airman Flight School, and KJB Flight Management LTD, an entity of which Keene and David Batton are principals. KJB has tried to buy Airman and was managing the school until it closed.
Batton is an assistant district attorney in Cleveland County who prosecutes criminal cases. As a private attorney, Batton has represented Carroll before. He said he will not represent Carroll in the pending Airman case.
Batton blames the terrorist attacks in 2001 for the school's troubles
"That is part of the problem," Batton said. "The biggest impetus is 9/11."
Carroll echoed those sentiments. He said the school's insurance rates doubled after the attacks.
Airman's link to the attacks is the school's most notorious student, Zacarias Moussaoui, the only person charged. Flight instructor Juan Carlos picked up Moussaoui at Will Rogers World Airport when he came to Oklahoma and took him back to the airport when he left. As a result, Carlos was on a federal terrorism watch list, said Pamela Tarling, Carroll's cousin who also has represented him in previous legal matters.
Batton said the flight school needed better financial management after a decline in enrollment following the terrorist attacks.
But Glenn said not all of Airman's woes were directly related to the terrorist attacks.
Glenn, who has a pilot's license, attended Airman earlier this year. He said he quit going to the school because the airplanes were down too much, often because of scheduling problems.
"I think it has been a complete mismanagement of a flight school," Glenn said.
Other problems at Airman started before 2001.
Ten years ago, the school had two crashes in one week. An instructor made a crash landing in McClain County because of engine failure, and a small airplane flipped during a takeoff exercise in 1995.
In 1996, the University of Oklahoma sued Airman for being behind on $3,151 rent. Part of students' tuition was earmarked for housing in OU dormitories.
The school also owes back taxes.
On Feb. 16, the Internal Revenue Service made a $55,092 claim against Airman, court records show. March 10, the IRS filed a $15,717 tax lien. Airman has had tax troubles with the IRS dating to 1995, records show.
Earlier this year, Batton and Keene formed KJB Flight Management. Batton said the company -- which also has Airman's maintenance director, Sheila Jennings, as a partner -- has been unable to take ownership of Airman because of liability issues.
Batton said he thinks KJB should be dismissed from the current lawsuit since he was not successful in taking over the flight school.
"It is the only ethical thing to do," he said.
Owner's problems pile up
In 2000, Batton represented Carroll in a driving under the influence charge. Carroll was given a two-year deferred sentence, court records show.
Carroll said that case did not affect the flight school.
He had a flight instructor permit that expired in 2002, said Roland Herwig, Federal Aviation Administration spokesman. Carroll did not renew his medical certificate required for flight instructor certification.
Carroll said he did not need the permit since he was no longer teaching or flying.
In 2003, Batton represented Carroll in a mortgage foreclosure lawsuit filed against him by Bank of New York regarding his Norman home.
In May, Carroll was evicted from a rent house. Attorney Haideh Saheb said Carroll owed $3,250 in back rent and $2,500 in damages to walls and doors. Saheb, whose wife owns the house, said they have not been reimbursed.
Airman's collapse
In February 2005, Arvest Bank sued Carroll after he failed to make payments on a $465,000 loan made in 1999. Carroll signed the loan note as president of Airman Flight School.
The loan is in default, court records show. A petition shows Carroll owed $221,836.97 as of July 2, 2004.
Glenn said Arvest Bank is attempting to take possession of all of Airman's equipment, from airplanes to tools.
Batton said Carroll attempted to obtain financing to repay Arvest Bank but was not successful.
In August, Baker Hughes Inc. started eviction proceedings against Airman in Cleveland County District Court.
Houston-based Baker Hughes leases an airport building from OU and subleased it to Airman. OU owns Max Westheimer Airport.
Airman was given until September to make up rent payments, Baker Hughes spokesman George P. Bernhardt said.
Carroll has disavowed responsibility for Airman's closing. He said he thought KJB Flight Management was trying to buy the school from him up to its last day. Carroll said he had no idea the doors were going to close in September and he has not had daily involvement with the school since April.
Glenn said the question remains as to where the students' tuition has gone.
"We think it has gone to paying bills," Glenn said.
Carroll doesn't know where the money went, his attorney said.
"If money was taken by someone, Jerry has no knowledge of that," Travis said.
Glenn said Airman should not have taken tuition from students knowing problems would prevent it from keeping the school open.
"They had a duty to take care of these students and to perform their services," Glenn said.
Carroll said he has no way to help the students finish training or refund their money.
"It's not within my means," he said. A hearing on the lawsuit in Cleveland County District Court is set for Friday.

 

[phantomdriver]

Its sounds like a bloodly mess with airman. Its a train crash.

 

[MFRskyknight]

Dreams grounded
After the 2001 terrorist attacks, Airman eventually recovered as a popular flight training school, co-owner Brenda Keene told The Oklahoman in June.
She said the flight school did not deceive the students.
"We did not take any money knowing that the school was going to close," she said when contacted about the lawsuit. "We only took two small payments on Monday (Aug. 29) when we enrolled a class. We did not know the school was closing until Friday (Sept. 2)."
The school officially closed Monday, Sept. 5.

Man I hate that woman. What a filthy liar. She knew this place was going to bite it, and thought by accepting more loan money it would stay afloat. For what, maybe 2 seconds? Idiot.

MFR

 

[pilothouston123]

This is the worst kind of things that can happen to a business.

Airman is dead! The banks will get the scraps thats gunna be that.

I wonder if thier ad is still in Flying Magizine?