WIA $$ form Florida?

[PA-44Typed]

Has anyone gotten any help in Florida? I keep getting sent form one person to the next, with no one knowing what to do.

 

[splatt]

A few years back I got a 737 type with help from WIA. There is an office in Tampa near Bush Gardens, but I don't remember the numbers for them. I hope this gets you a bit closer...

 

[EatinRamen]

I'm in line to get $$ from the Workforce Central Florida office. It's a long process, but the information is usually found on your unemployment office's website.

 

[thepotato232]

Just about all of the state WIA programs are broke. FL is more broke than most. I have been fairly close to the WIA application process for almost a year now, and FL has been especially stingy toward pilots - we're not an "in demand" professional field. This is especially true in FL, where the pilot training industry is still regularly turning out commercial pilots who have no immediate hope of employment.

Sorry for the doom and gloom, but it will probably take you forever to get a straight answer out of those folks, and that's a long wait for a train that doesn't come.

 

[wildbill]

I am fighting the same battle in Georgia right now. The office I have been dealing with since May said that aviation is not in demand, however if I wanted to be a hair dresser, welder, hvac tech or a truck driver they would help. So far all I have gotten is that I need to change my vocation. I guess that is part of the Obama "change" program.

 

[thepotato232]

I guess that is part of the Obama "change" program.

I've been furloughed since Bush was in charge, and I can assure you that this particular problem is not among the many, many things for which the current administration can be blamed.

 

[wildbill]

I can understand what you are saying about previous problems. However, when Obama took center stage, he told this country he was providing funding to make sure that everyone was properly trained and brought up to speed in their vocation when the recovery took place. I don't think the message trickled down.
The point is that Obama is in charge now and when he states on the national airwaves that money IS available, I expect it to be allocated to all. This is not happening. In Georgia they are picking and choosing. Five thousand dollars is the top amount in Georgia anyway and to give the total amount to a pilot for recurrent is not what they want. They want to spend as little as possible.

 

[dondk]

No WIA is going to give a pilot a new type or training unless there is a specific NEED/REQUIREMENT from an employer. You can thank those from 9/11 that raided WIA for types that were not necessary. This comes directly from my WIA advisor in PA. He will gladly give money for a type or recurrent, just have your employer put in on paper you need it. Funny thing, no one is hiring and those who are have enough candidates with the type already.

My suggestion, take the WIA for something else, that "backup" to aviation. At least you get into the system and IF there is a need in the future you are already in the system and know the process.

the line of having no $$$$, that is a lie, WIA is funded by the government and backed by charities, they have more $$$ than you think, they just are real stingy on giving it out unless they think you will be a successful candidate. Funding is based on success, not on how many people they give it to.

WIA time frame, I was approved and funded in about a week (non aviation). So it can happen that quickly, I didn't use the pilot line, they already know the industry sucks, but are more than willing to help you out of the industry.

 

[CrimsonEclipse]

Has anyone gotten any help in Florida? I keep getting sent form one person to the next, with no one knowing what to do.

Do you need the WIA investment for a type rating or a career change?

If it's for a type rating, forget it.
If you're staying in aviation, they MIGHT pay for an A+P ticket (A OR P actually).

CE

 

[thepotato232]

The point is that Obama is in charge now and when he states on the national airwaves that money IS available, I expect it to be allocated to all. This is not happening. In Georgia they are picking and choosing. Five thousand dollars is the top amount in Georgia anyway and to give the total amount to a pilot for recurrent is not what they want. They want to spend as little as possible.

That's all well and good, but the WIA program is still messed up. During the economic boom up to and including 2008, the Feds distributed the WIA money to the states, and the local state governments promptly blew that major cash infusion on virtually anything they wanted. It was easy for furloughed pilots in most states to come in and get cash for pilot training expenses because there was money to spare. The functionaries in the WIA offices were inclined to throw taxpayer money at whoever walked through the door. When people started losing jobs and needed this money on a larger scale, the states had already spent it all. After a year of bonus cash and drastically reduced payouts, they are just starting to dig themselves out of the debt they created for themselves. And yes, it really sucks - my home state wouldn't give me a dime. But to blame the Obama administration for not throwing enough money at the problem is to ignore the endemic mismanagement and corruption of the WIA program. This goes much deeper than we would like.

As an aside, can you justify the sizable expenditure of taxpayer money on your flight training in this day and age? Spending $10,000 on advanced training in an aviation market where nobody is hiring is a bad investment. We're being told that pilots are not an in-demand labor segment because we are not an in-demand labor segment. The government is telling you the same thing we're telling kids in initial flight training these days: You're throwing good money after bad. It's one of the few fiscally responsible calls made in the history of the WIA. From what you said, the WIA money is available to you, just not for what you'd like. Consider yourself lucky - some states are running so far in the red, they can't give significant money to anybody regardless of profession. The fact that they are now "picking and choosing" suggests they may finally be doing their jobs.