Where will Pilot School take me?

Question

Currently I am enrolling into pilot school, American flyer's to be exact. I am 20 years old and I wasn't really "college bound". I decided to take pilot school because I was interested in flying and I could never focus in college because I felt no direction with my courses. I want to become a commercial pilot and fly the big Boeing planes, you know the good stuff. I'm starting with smaller planes right now like the Cessna, but I understand we all start small. The guy that I talked to said that theres a program that will get me to commercial pilot standards, and that it will get all my licenses and stuff and all I need to do is put in hours to get hired by the companies.

so my questions are

-Will they really get me all my licenses?

-Will I be trained to fly the big stuff (there doesn't seem to be the big stuff in the school)

-After graduation, the guy told me that I will work within the school to train other students, thus continuing to earn flight hours. Is this true?

Answer 1

Lies lies ALL lies!!!!

But seriously, why do you think they're lying to you?

Does the sign out front say big fake flight school?

Answer 2

Q: Will they really get me all my licenses?

A: Yes, for around $60,000 or so, they'll get you through Private, Instrument, Commercial single and multi-engine, and Flight Instructor with about 250 flight hours. You will not get your ATP, which requires a minimum of 1,500 flight hours. If you were to buy that many hours, it would cost you about $200, 000.

Q: Will I be trained to fly the big stuff (there doesn't seem to be the big stuff in the school)

A: No. The largest planes you will fly are small 4-6 seat multi-engine propeller-driven airplanes. For extra cost (about $8,000) you might get a bit of training in a turboprop or small jet. No flight schools can teach the "big stuff" until you're qualified, i.e. you either hold or are qualified to hold an Airline Transport Pilot License. This rule came about after 9-11. Don't worry; if or when you get the qualifications to get an airline job, the company will train you in their equipment at their own expense.

Q: After graduation, the guy told me that I will work within the school to train other students, thus continuing to earn flight hours. Is this true?

A: Yes, this is how it is often done, but there's absolutely no guarantee they'll hire you. By law, they actually cannot guarantee you a job. If they do, get it in writing. For every student they hire, there are probably 10 to 20 who have to go looking elsewhere for their first job, and the competetion is fierce when you don't have much flight time.

Also, think about the fact that at many flight schools who hire their students, you'll be learning from a wet-behind-the-ears flight instructor with no "real world" experience, and he learned from the same type of instructor, who learned from the same type of instructor, ad-infinitum. In my opinion, this type of in-breeding  is like teaching a dog to do tricks. It gets the job done, but you won't really know the ins-and-outs of flying until you gain OJT. I'm not saying that it's necessarily a bad choice, but if it's not too late there are alternatives to the American Flyer's /  Pan Ams /  Delta Acadamies of this world that you ought to investigate. These big schools with national advertising campaigns and a paid sales staff are very, very good at marketing and sucking people in. Swallow their hype with a large grain of salt.

One other thing, if you don't at least have a 2-year college degree, the major airlines will not even look at you until you have about 10 years of real solid flight experience behind you since 90% of the people you'll be competing with to get a job with them have a 4 year degree. Trust me, I know wherefrom I speak. At 6,000+ flight hours with an AS degree (3/4 of that time obtained flying for a well-known regional airline) I could not get a single major airline interview until I got my BS degree.  By that time I had decided to switch career paths. I'm not saying this will definitely happen if you don't have a BS degree, but the odds are heavily for it.

Good luck Bradley, whatever you do!

Answer 3

You'll  get Commercial, Instructor, and Multiengine.

You won't be trained to fly the big stuff.  The airlines will teach that.

You might well be hired as an instructor there.

Answer 4

American Flyer's is a superb program!!  You can get your commercial license with them but you'd still be flying Cessnas.  To fly Boeing planes, you'd need "the major airlines"; they'd train you!

American Flyer's can indeed help you get your commercial certificate!!

Answer 5

It will take you as far as you let it take you. :-) What it takes is determination, a dream, and the willingness to go as far as you can!