FlightSafety Acad.: In trouble?

[Typhoon1244]

I just spoke to one of my old friends down in Vero Beach this week...sounds like the venerable FSI Academy is in trouble. When I left in '98, the school had about four hundred students and a hundred instructors.

Now they're down to ninety-eight students. Ninety-eight!

Anybody have any thoughts as to whether or not "the Academy" can survive in this new aviation industry?

 

[bobbysamd]

FSI

Not that I can recall any trouble, but instructors certainly won't have any trouble getting aircraft for their students!

I recall the place having about three hundred students in 1991-'92. That was at the tail end of that hiring boom. There seems to be little disagreement, at least on our board, that this hiring recession is far worse than eleven years ago - and that one was pretty bad.

As you and I both know, FlightSafety Academy was founded in the sixties primarily to train airline-sponsered students. Its foundation is primarily the contract programs. It may be hard to believe, but, at least when I worked there, there didn't seem to be all that many self-funded students.

After hiring resumes, which it will, the contract programs will return. So will more self-funded business. Moreover, FlightSafety has solid funding by way of Warren Buffet. My $0.02 opinion and bet is the place will be just fine.

 

[CUEBOAT]

I instruct at Fort Pierce which if you went to Flight Safety I am sure you know of it. It is about 10 miles south. Honestly Flight Safety must be in big trouble, because I never see or hear them, and I do a lot of approaches at VRB. I am also friends with an Instructor at Flight Safety and he has zero students at the moment. They are also completely closed on sundays now, which is a good indication of slow business. To me it is no surprise the school is in trouble. Bottom line it is just too expensive. FlightSafety wants $70,000 for what can be had for $25,000 10 miles south. Please dont respond with the quality of instruction argument. Your airmen certificate is no different from mine.

 

[FSIGRAD]

This is just rumor mill nonsense. I instruct at FSI and although students loads are not at previous levels (I think 600 students was the max) I can still keep a decent schedule of around 3 full time students.
Last I heard there was something like 150 students with around 50 enrollments for this month. Al Ultiche (sp?) the founder and CEO of FSI has stated time and again that this company and the academy are in it for the long haul. I don't think the company is going to go bankrupt anytime soon.
Buffett became one of the richest men in the world by buying quality companies, I'm pretty sure he did his homework before buying FSI.......

 

[Chunk]

Live by the gouge, die by the gouge....

FSI's doing fine. The student load is down, but the future is bright enough and enrollment is coming around. As far as 10 miles south, if you're referring to Ari-Ben, yeah, you might have the same tickets, but you don't have the same training. Sorry dude, but we didn't get our rep in the industry by sucking....ya dig?

 

[banned username 2]

FlightSafety wants $70,000 for what can be had for $25,000 10 miles south.

WOW! $70,000??? I spent only about $75,000 and I went to ERAU for 4 years, and that included everything (Tuition, Room & Board, Flying and Travel expenses)

$70,000 is nuts for PVT-CFI/ME. Even if you did it ALL in a twin, that would still be high!

 

[mar]

Sorry for the digression, but, WHOA!

Holy Cats Typhoon! Did you just learn to fly in '97/'98? And now you're a CRJ Capt?

Sorry if I'm a bit slow on the uptake but that is *really* some remarkable advancement.

Do you realize how much money you could make if you wrote a book called, "How I did it."? You'd squash Capt. Darby like the little parasite he is.

Please realize I'm not joshin' ya at all. I might be slow but I can read between the lines and I've read nothing but professional and technically knowledgable postings.

Good on ya man! Keep on truckin'!

(Heh. Nevermind. I just learned from another thread that you, in fact, worked at FSI in '98. I guess you're just another slob like the rest of us. Fly safe man.)

 

[snoopy_1]

Holy Cats Typhoon! Did you just learn to fly in '97/'98? And now you're a CRJ Capt?

That doesn't sound very hard to do, when I left Flightsafety Academy some of the CFI's were going to the regionals without ever instructing. Chicago Express would practically grab the new CFI's and interview them before they had a chance to get out of the plane from their checkride.
You had 220 hour pilots going to the right seat of a Jetstream 31, I saw many low time cfi's go to regionals.

 

[Typhoon1244]

Re: Sorry for the digression, but, WHOA!

Holy Cats Typhoon! Did you just learn to fly in '97/'98? And now you're a CRJ Capt?

Uh, no. I learned to fly in 1990 at a one thousand foot long grass strip in Knoxville, Tennessee. I got my CFI/CFII/MEI at FlightSafety in '97/'98.

Give me some credit, man!

 

[na265]

I am not trying to high jack the thread, but, snoop, who is the chick in the avatar?