PFT Update
 

Rumor over at Mesa is that the MAPD Training program has an unusually low enrollment.

Perhaps the word is FINALLY getting around about PFT & Mesa! :D :D :D

i've heard the same; it has been decreasing since I left in '05. I don't think it's all about Mesa, personally I think it's about the entire industry. Why would you want to drop $65k into training for a job where you make $20k-$30k for the first few years?

I think it is a good sign that enrollment is heading down. However, I think of all the PFT programs, Mesa's is the crappiest. It takes 2 years. You get an AA degree (which to me is worthless). And you get to live in Farmington, NM. I wonder how those enrollment numbers are going at places like RAA, and other PFT pilot factories.

"Perhaps the word is FINALLY getting around about PFT & Mesa!"

While I wish you were right, check out

http://www.jetuniversity.com/applica...oduct&id_prd=5

It seems that Pinnacle is working a deal to hire interns from Jet U with commercial ME ratings as RJ F/O's.

It makes me sick to my stomach how they they list your earnings first year as a first officer and per diem as a deduction to your total cost of training and call the flight hours you flew first year for the airline mentioned as "flight training paid for".

"Tuition Net of First Year Earnings and Reimbursement
Per flight hour $14 (based on 733 hrs.) $10,536
Summary of Tuition and Earnings:
Course: Fast Track CRJ 200 Training Program $32,000
Less: Airline Funded Indoctrination and Operations Course $2,565
Less: Airline Funded CRJ 200 Systems Course $2,565
Total Course Price $26,870
Less: Estimated Fast Track Earnings as a CRJ200 First Officer $14,872
Less: Estimated Per Diem (Travel Expense Reimbursement) $1,462
Net Tuition After Earnings and Reimbursement $10,536"

WOW, that is really all I can say. Hey you work your a$$ off for us will make you an airline pilot but you still owe us $10,500, thats all... Oh ya your based in MSP.

Yes it is industry wide. New student enrollments are down for everybody. The FAA reports student pilot applications (3rd class medicals) are way off. Many flight schools that were not in the overseas flight training business before have moved aggressively into it (to survive) because of the drop off in US students. Flight schools are offering "fixed price” programs. This is always a sign of desperation. Lastly, Key Bank has all but left the professional pilot training financing business. From 2002 to 2005 they drove a tremendous amount of money into the business and fueled much of the growth. However, their default rate, both student and flight school, has been unacceptably high (we know why!).

It’s starting to show up at CFI level. Two year CFI’s are non-existent. At my old flight school, the only one left is the Chief Pilot. He’s doing all the CFI instruction. He will hire any breathing wet-ticket CFI he can find. He told me that his CFI’s are gone by 600 hours to one of the regionals.

There are approximately 92400 active airline pilots in the US. According to the FAA pilot database as of this month 79611 pilots hold a ATP certificate with a 1st class medical. Another 24537 pilots hold a comm/me/inst with a 1st class medical for a combined total of 104198 pilots. That means the employment rate stands at about 90%, which is getting back into the range of pre 2001. About 7000 pilots out of the 92400 are officially furfloughed, but many (unknown) have either found other flying positions (and therefore are double counted) or have left the industry.

No Sympathy
 

I don't feel sorry for anyone who enrolls in a PFT program. If someone is stupid enough to pay out the nose for a job that offers little in return, I say let them.

Everybody wonders why wages are so low and why everyone's starving while flying 80 hours a month? This is your answer. When people are willing to pay an airline for an expense that the company should be paying, management knows that they can get away with paying whatever salaries they want.

When will this practice stop? It never will. I remember in the mid-90's when several pukes I flight instructed with decided to pay $10K+ to any airline that would hire them. And here is the kicker: there was a lot of hiring going on at places that DID NOT require you to pay for your training. These morons thought they would get a leg up by paying for a job instead of earning one. Guess what? Most are still there.

And before anyone chimes in, NO, this is not the same thing as getting a Masters Degree to further your education. When one earns a degree, they pay the institution, not the employer.

Well, this is a nice sign. Maybe it's the beginning of the end of everybody racing to the bottom and cutting their throat (as well as every other pilot's) in the process. Good riddence. Earn your stripes and demand what you're worth.