Originally Posted by Lowtimer77

I consider myself to be the type of person who thoroughly researches things before I decide to actually make an important decision. Since I was 12, I have wanted to fly and have learned all I could about the process. However, I believe there are many other good people out there who want to fly as well, but get sucked into a training program because of pure propaganda. Let me give you an example. I visited Arizona State University's Polytech campus last year because I was thinking about enrolling in their Prof Flight Program which was ran through Mesa Pilot Development. I met with the Dean Of the Aeronautics Department and he fed me and another young man what I now know is total BS. He talked about how much the airline industry was growing and how many new pilots were going to be needed and how within several years we would be making a really decent amount of money. He talked about the $20 million RJ Sims they had and how a job with Mesa was almost gurantanteed if you completed the program. However, he didnt talk about the crappy pay and working conditions at Mesa. He didnt tell me that I might be sleeping in the planes at night and that Mesa is loathed by the whole industry. What I found really depressing is the fact that this Dean was an older gentleman in his 60s with both prior military and airline experience. He's a guy anyone would trust. Fortunately, my primary flight instructor always advocated the "Non-aviation degree at a state school/train at the local FBO" approach so I decided to not enroll in MAPD. However, I honestly think that a lot of other good people go to these airlines not because they are trying to undermine the airline industry by working for low-pay and in horrible conditions, but because they are suckered in by fancy advertisements. However, there is much to be said with the issue of whether or not these pilots should have done their homework beforehand.