Oxinatah

Hello Folks

I am currently doing some serious thinking about enrolling myself in Regional Airline Academy's program, however I am a bit leery about them. The tuition costs is roughly 88k after all is said and done for a 12-14 month program. Yeah thats cool and all, say that I'll get all of my licenses and ratings (I currently have none) however, they say that they place 98% of their students with regionals. How can that be when Embry Riddle Aeronauticle University has students lying around who are still flight instructing with about 3-4k hours under their belts? Yes RAA says that is because they give type ratings in one of 3 jets which allows thier students to get the jobs, but there seems to be something fishy about that and 88k is alot of money.

Does anyone have any information or any suggestion on where I can get some information to either confirm or deny RAA's claim? if so please e-mail me!! [email protected]

Most apreciated

Jeff

Jesrober

Regional Airline Academy is a very good school and would recommend it, but I would add a few things to think about. The price 88K I believe now is a guarantee that you will get everything done meaning no extra expense. From what I have been told they make the most money on the Type Rating (which you don't have to get) saves you 18K. Also they say before they offer type in 3 aircrafts which is false advertising they only offer it in the CRJ. When they say 98% get hired that only includes people that got through everything that number in no way accounts for people that can't get through the program which I would say would probably change the numbers. But a good percentage does get hired. Things to consider when coming to RAA... The newest plane in the fleet is probably 10 years old most are close to 20 or 30 years old, also some of the maintenance problems with the planes scare me there has been quite a few Carbon monoxide incidents recently, they also say they have a Garmin 430 fleet also not true only about 8-10 planes have them, you will not spend time in these planes except for Instrument, Also some of the policies being put into place by management are starting to get a little frustrating, for instance you can only take 1 day off during your course and that only happens if someone dies or some serious reason. Basically what that means is you will get a week off for Christmas if you ask for it the rest of the time you get 2 days off if your lucky a week. Its more like Boot camp than flight school. Also if a sickness prevents you from flying you now need a note from a doctor. I'm still trying to figure out if I'm a customer. I don't mean to scare you away from RAA for the most part I like it but just keep these things in mind when choosing a school.

Alex

RAA is full of ****, just like any other "fast track" airline training program. They place 98% of their guys with an INTERVIEW with a regional, big difference between interviewing vs actually getting hired... Do yourself a favor, go to an accredited school with a good reputation, get your CFI, build some time and actually become a good proficient pilot before going to the regionals, it'll make the skies safer for all of us. I personally would recommend getting a degree from Embry-Riddle (not necessarily an Aeronautical Science degree, ATC seems like the way to go nowadays) and going through their flight training program because it is probably the best one out there (I've instructed at many different places and Embry-Riddle is by far the most professional and produces the highest quality pilots out there from what I've experienced). Also, Embry-Riddle's fleet is by far the safest and most technologically advanced out there, so the money you pay for it is definitly not wasted. Just my two cents....

dash8driver

I'd have to disagree, only because I'm biased... Purdue University has just as good a program, if not better, although not as well known as Riddle. They have their own sims (727-100 and 727-200), you fly trips as a King Air co-pilot your Junior or Senior year, most of the training fleet is brand new, tuition is not as expensive, great professors, plus Big Ten football and we can drink the Riddlen kids under the table.

Alex

Good point, I was just using Embry-Riddle as an example though, I think Purdue and UND's programs are definitly just as good, and probably equally as reputable within the industry. Does Purdue's fleet have ADS-B? We recently got that installed in all of our aircraft here at Riddle (about a year ago) and it's really awesome, makes collision avoidance a lot safer. Come down here for spring break this semester and we'll see how much you guys can really drink lol.....

Oxinatah

Thank you all for your input it is greatly apreciated, however I did research on Embry Riddle (originally my first chioce) but after talking to a man on staff there I cannot recall his name but according to him their students have attained between 3-4k hours flight instructing and still havn't landed a job at a regional. He also informed me that the pay at Embry Riddle for flight instructing is so low infact that the students parents have to take over the loan and even pitch in for living expenses. This is probably true considdering that Embry Riddle is now about 160k for the degree and all licenses not to mention just about every school I've talked to that their students must flight instruct before landing a job say that as a flight instructor you make little to no money. Seeing as how I am funding my own way through college and life with no help from my parents or anyone else this is a path I cannot afford. RAA so far is just the logical path to take IF everything they have told me is correct. Which is the reason I had decided to post here. I just want to know if the people graduating from RAA are getting jobs as pilots at American Eagle, Colgan Air, and Wisconsin Air and I would like to know if those airlines ar happy with the quality of the pilots comming out of RAA. If you have any information on that I would be greatful if you could share it with me! =)

Alex

Here's the deal. Any place like RAA is a business. They're simply out there to make money. All they guarantee is an interview with a regional, does that equal a job? Absolutely not. In fact, most regionals nowadays aren't hiring the 300 hour guys anymore, those times are gone. You'll be wasting your money at RAA or any other place like it. Get a degree from anywhere, not necessarily Embry-Riddle, and do all your flight training on the side and instruct for a while. Instructor pay isn't that good, then again neither is regional pay so you're screwed no matter what. If you're looking to make a lot of money straight away you're in the wrong business my friend. As far as instructors getting 3000 hours here at Embry-Riddle before getting jobs, the person you were talking to is severely misinformed. I'm an instructor here and I can tell you as a fact that we're losing several instructors every 2 weeks, none of which have much more than 1000 hours.

Oxinatah

Jesrober

Would you possibly be able to e-mail me outside of this forum? you seem to have a lot of knowledge about RAA which leads me to believe that you are currently enrolled there your self. I would like to talk to you specifically to discuss how the school works how happy you are there etc. If you could please e-mail me at [email protected] I would greatly apreciate that!

Jeff

Alex

Part-time CFI's make $10/hr, full-timers make around $15/hr.

Alex

yep, $15 per hour of either oral time, engine running time, or sim time. That's just the starting rate.