To pick up, or not to pick up, the TAB
Apologies to Shakespeare.
To save all the trouble, this
link will take you to the current TAB discussion on the Training section of the board. I do appreciate Tri-Driver's comments in this thread and on that thread.
I keep hearing that the place is only a school. Okay, then, just for the sake of argument, I would expect quite a bit more than what the $63K course provides. For example, how about 141 approval? I've read the TAB website many times and never saw anything about the place being a 141 flight school. 141 connotes a certain measure of quality and consistency. You should expect that quality if you're going to pay that kind of money for flight training.
I kind of like the idea of learning to fly in turbine equipment and taking a true, airline-quality course. However, the advantage will be lost when (1) you look for a job at 300 hours, not get hired, end up getting a CFI (and spending more money), build post-grad hours in recips and your turbine currency goes stale, and (2) a recruiter sees that you built your turbine at a school, for which you (or Mom & Dad or Grandma) paid.
The history of some of these so-called airline-quality flight schools hasn't been good. For example, some people might remember an outfit called Air Carrier International Flight Academy. This was a school in Denver twelve years ago that promised airline-style
ab initio training. I ordered literature from the place to see what it was about. The literature included a testimonial from some Continental Express bigshot who was pleased with the 300=hour graduates he hired from this school. In any event, the place went out of business in three years. I heard it ran up some major debt, but I'd bet another reason is word went out that it couldn't deliver on its promises.
Also, the section in the advertising about hiring is rich. Which commuters are hiring? Certainly, AE, to which the advertising make a pointed reference, is not. AE has a ton of furloughees to recall before it will resume hiring. The only regional airline where I've read consistent references about hiring is Comair. I
don't think Comair will hire TAB grads, especially when it has so many from its school from which to choose.
Here's a
Gulfstream thread that went on for three months.
I second Avbug. In the old days, they called it P-51 (Parker 51) time. People need to go to a school that provides that skills that are the most marketable. If they want to go to a school that has so-called "airline connections," they should ensure that the airline(s) in question are hiring and choose a school with solid, proven connections, i.e. Mesa or Comair.
Good luck with building the time you need.