Carlos,
First let me start off by saying that I am in no way trying convince people that Airline Training Academy is better than Comair Aviation Academy (CAA) or vice-versa. Nor am I trying to steer anyone away from either Flight School. Comair Aviation Academy and Airline Training Academy are both excellent Flight Schools however, they both have their good and bad points, as does any Flight School. I am merely posting my experience as a former student at CAA. Second, most of the people that you talk to when you visit a Flight School are salespeople and they are trying to sell you on their school. Remember that.
That being said:
I graduated CAA within the past six-months, as did my roommate from ATA. We both started at Comair about a year ago and were progressing through at about the same pace, however halfway through our Commercial-Single training my roommate and I decided to go and check ATA’s program. We were both frustrated by the political BS that goes on at as well as the overall atmosphere. These are typical frustrations that many students feel at any part 141 school. We were both very impressed with the quality of service that ATA had to offer and their facilities. They keep their enrollment size down too less than 200 were as CAA was near 350 students. Customer Service and personal attention should be # 1. This was one of the main reasons we were exploring other options. After having toured ATA my roommate decided that once he was done with his commercial-single that he was leaving for ATA. I however decided to stick it out at CAA, of which I do not entirely regret.
Around Thanksgiving I put in a request for two-weeks off during Christmas and was denied. The reason being that they couldn’t afford to let everyone go away for Christmas because it would hurt them financially. Now no matter how you look at it that is just not how you treat your customers. It was little things like this that really turned me off.
As far as the training at CAA was concerned, it was top-notch. I was fortunate enough to have some really sharp instructors. The flight-training syllabus is very through and at times extremely redundant. If you are looking to fly new airplanes though you might look elsewhere. They recently acquired something like seven new Seminoles and are trying to replace the extremely beat-up fleet of 172RG’s with Arrows. Both Flight Safety and Pan Am have a newer fleet however you will pay for it. The ground school training for the Instrument & Commercial ratings where very helpful and extremely through however, both Multi and CFI ground schools were somewhat vague and lacking in many areas. Typically all of the Ground Classes lasted around three-hours and were taught by primarily fresh Instructors. They were tough; there is a battery of tests to help prepare you for the written.
Now on to your questions:
The lady I spoke to said that you get at the minimum 100 hours of multi and many people get 150-200 by their 800 hour point. Are you saying that they allow you no more than 100 hours of multi (maybe so there's enough for other MEI-rated instructors, too)? Could you explain more exactly at what point you get the MEI training, how long it takes, and how many hours (is it exclusively multi time?) of dual-given multi time I should expect?
My experience with this matter is after having talked too several instructors there, you do typically start your MEI training around the 600 hr mark in your contract, however you still have to work as a full-time Flight Instructor. Most Instructors have 4-5 students and typically are at CAA 12-hours a day. My Multi-Instructor worked on his MEI training mostly during his days off and I think it took him around two-months to finish. You must complete their MEI ground school, get 15-hrs PIC in the twin, if you don’t already have it, do your checkride, and get standardized in the Seminole. Sounds like a lot yeah. Well it is. True you might start your MEI training at 600 hrs. but, by the time you are done you could easily be past the 700 hr. mark. The time it takes to finish your MEI training is entirely up to you though. After you complete the MEI training you will be teaching exclusively in the Seminole and maybe finish up what students you had prior to transitioning into the Multi-group. Most of the Instructors I knew finished and got their interview with approx. 100-150 hrs of dual given in the multi.
You also said that ATA provides a more direct route to the airlines. Why do you say this? Who did you interview with at the end of your 800 hours with CAA and did you get hired? Who else could you have interviewed with? Also, did your roommate at ATA get an interview immediately after the completion of the ATA program and did he get hired? Who else could he have interviewed with?
I don’t know all of the details of the training that ATA provides but it goes something like this:
1. Complete Airstage I, PVT, INST, & COMM Multi-Engine, with a Single-Engine Add-On.
2. Pay for Airstage II, (look up their website for details) when I was looking at it I think the price was around 15K.
a. Upon successful completion of Airstage II candidates complete a 121 style checkride in the CL-65 Level D sim in which recruiters from ATA’s contract airlines sit in on. Interviews are also provided.
3. Get your CFI at ATA and teach there for 1-year and Airstage II is free minus the 100-hrs LOFT training in the AZTEC.
Both ATA and CAA have a two-phase program.
CAA:
Phase 1 includes training for the following ratings: PVT, INST, COMM-SINGLE, COMM MULTI ADD-ON, & CFI
Phase 2 is where the student would work for CAA as a CFI (if hired) and upon completion of an 800-Hour dual given contract an interview would be arranged with one of their “contract airlines.”
ATA:
Airstage I includes training for the following ratings: PVT, INST, COMM-MULTI, & COMM-SINGLE ADD-ON
Airstage II consists of, CRM Ground School, General Systems Ground School, Simulator, Specific Systems Ground School, ATC-920 Simulator Training, Glass Cockpit (EFIS) Procedures Training, Canadair Regional Jet - CL-65 Flight Training Device Simulator Training
For more information on ATA’s programs go to their website:
http://www.flyhere.com
The reason I said ATA seems to be a more direct route to the airlines is because of their Airstage II program and their new Airstage III program. I have talked to ATA students that prior to 9/11 upon completing Airstage II, were hired at ATA’s “contract airlines” with a little more than 400hrs. To me that seems to be a more direct and faster route to the Regionals.
I declined an opportunity to interview with CAA pursue a Corporate or Cargo position. I decided early on in my training that I did not want to work for the Academy. Nothing against them, but it just didn’t seem like the type of place that I wanted to work for. I am instructing PT elsewhere to build the required 135 minimums for most Cargo operations.
You have some very good questions and I hope that you take the time to visit all of the Flight Schools in Florida before making a decision. I didn’t and really wish I had. Flight-Safety, Pan-Am, Embry-Riddle, Florida Tech, and ATP all have excellent programs. I was recently down at the Pan-Am campus and I was very impressed. They have new airplanes and housing right there on airport property. I think that they also have an agreement with AIRNET.
The industry is in a state of limbo right now and who knows how much longer the Regionals will be hiring. Take a look at your long-term career goals. Corporate and Cargo both seem to be sure things right now, so maybe take a look at schools with a track towards that end of the business. If you started at Comair tomorrow it would take a minimum of two-years maybe even 2.5yrs before you would be able to interview with their airlines and two-years right now might as well be two-hundred. Nobody knows what is going to happen to the Airline Industry, right now they can only speculate.
My thought is as follows:
1. Majors are furloughing and will continue to furlough pilots.
2. Majors are parking or decommissioning their aircraft in order to downsize. Ex. Delta down 25%.
3. It could be years before the Majors begin to recall pilots, and even longer to start hiring new pilots.
4. If war with Iraq breaks out, oil prices will rise, current ticket prices will no longer cover operating costs and the now extremely fragile airlines will be on the verge of collapse and we will be competing with thousands pilots for those few precious jobs.
5. As long as Regional are adding new equipment they will be hiring but how long will that last?
6. Average upgrade time at a Regional 1.5 – 2 years.
7. No movement at the top means that eventually no movement at the Regionals. When the Regionals quit buying new equipment upgrades will be non-existent.
I’m not trying to sound negative about the future of our profession but right now who knows where it is going. My hope is that it begins to improve and all of our fellow furloughed pilots can soon go back to work. I hope that my shared experiences will help you decide which route is best for you.
Good-Luck.
Airstage I