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?

 

[snoopy_1]

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

I don't know, I sure as hell wish I did, she looks WAY hot to me, brunettes have it go'in on.
I got tired of looking at my old VMA 214 patch I had up there.

I saw Kerri Kasem http://www.kerrikasem.com/imageGallery_jay_spence_photos/images/20.jpg on espn the other day, she looks incredible, I think I'll change my avatar to Kerri.

 

[na265]

I vote to keep the one you've got.

 

[CUEBOAT]

Chunk

Actually it doesn't matter. Ari Ben employees two flight instructors who ar ex-FSI instructors. One of which takes care of all the initial CFIs. So you see I did infact go to flight safety only I paid $25,000. As far as training according to the ORL FSDO, Flight Safety has had 2 gear up landings with an instructor onboard while Ari-Ben has had none.The difference I see between people that go to academy type schools and other schools is that the academy group need to be told what to do, similar to being in the armed forces. While the other group have the mental tools to figure it out on their own. It doesn't matter either way, I have my ratings and I am teaching about 20 hours a week in a twin. It comes down to what fits each individual. Some people need to wear uniforms, a fancy new building and brand new airplanes. Some people need the structure while others need to save the $45,000.

 

[A1FlyBoy]

FSI board of directors is not loosing sleep...

AIRLINE CONTRACT TRAINING.

 

[Vladimir Lenin]

The difference I see between people that go to academy type schools and other schools is that the academy group need to be told what to do, similar to being in the armed forces. While the other group have the mental tools to figure it out on their own

I agree, having seen the academy grads instruct vs. the homegrown style CFIs. Difference is night and day, and I guess, about 45K. It cost me about 400 clams to realize that, having taken Instrument ground school with one of Florida's finest You could stumble him with anything that wasn't on Jepp's DVD he used for instructing

 

[FSIGRAD]

For the record I have no problems with Ari-Ben I think it's a fine school, but I kind of wonder were this came from

Flight Safety has had 2 gear up landings with an instructor onboard while Ari-Ben has had none.

I have been at FSI over three years and there have been no gear ups during that time. How far back are you digging for this? The school has been around for something like 20years......

 

[snoopy_1]

That guy is full of BS, it doesn't even know how to spell FlightSafety and it says it went their, I'm doing my best to ignore it.

Another FlightSafety Academy Grad.

 

[100LL... Again!]

Ahhhh... the old argument about how 'superior' the training is at the big schools. This is a mantra that many pilots repeat to themselves to help ease the realization that someone who spent $15K on their certificates can go just as far and know just as much as they do. It all boils down to the individual and the effort the expend. Sorry big-school boys: I've done enough airline training in the last four years to tell you there is no difference.

Here's a twist for you:

Going to a big school could put someone in the frame of mind that all they need to do is 'check the boxes' and Presto! They are a product of that school's fabulous training. "No need to excel, I'm a student at XYZ School. We are all superior."

This mentality is not so hard to envision.

 

[bobbysamd]

FSI contract programs

FSI board of directors is not loosing sleep...

AIRLINE CONTRACT TRAINING.

Absolutely correct. The contract programs are the Academy's bread and butter.

I first heard of the place because of ads it ran about the Swissair program. When I worked there Alitalia, Air France, Air Inter, Tyrolean and Asiana also had students who were training. Maybe Singapore Airlines, too - I don't quite remember after twelve years. Olympic Airlines of Greece had sent over a class of FEs who were cross-training to be pilots. All of these students were there during the year I was there. I had former students from Emirates who finished at FSI. Also, there were plenty of self-funded foreign students when I worked there. FSI was also expensive back then, but still far cheaper and easier than learning to fly in Europe.

(Thank G-d the reports that the 911 terrorists had trained at FSI were bogus.)

FSI will do fine once hiring gets better. In the meantime, with student loads down and instructors needing work, it might be a good time to train there. Shorter lines at Dispatch and more opportunties for personal attention.

 

[Ralph]

big schools cost more but offer a quick route to finish your ratings and buy a job with some place like asa. It comes down to which you have more of, time or money. Good and bad instructors are everywhere.