Alright, so a good friend of mine from college will soon be finishing up a degree in a non-aviation related field. He has expressed interest in flying for a long time, actually did major in aviation for a while and earned his private license, but, decided the degree was worthless, stopped flying, got married, and changed degrees. Well, he's got an itch to fly again, this time without the university programs of course, but he also doesn't want to miss out on the hiring boom that's going on currently (nothing worse than being left behind) He was thinking of some of the pilot factories (particularly ari-ben) as it was the most "affordable" career track pilot program that he found, was wondering what the consensus here was. I know the reputation that the pilot factories have, and how it's viewed by people who see it as "paying" for your job, but i told him i'd post it on here to get a vibe from the rest, and see what advice others would have to offer him. Thanks, sure he'll appreciate it...now, let the fun begin.

Where he gets his licenses doesn't matter... they all look the same to the regional airlines. Personally, I've run into a couple shady guys that came from ATP and even more shady from some small 61 schools in BFE up north. I did the 4 year aviation degree and I can say that I know a lot about the industry that the average pilot doesn't know about -- but that won't help with a flying job!! Not a worthless degree if you want to do something other than be an airplane jockey. I know a few Ari-ben guys and they're excellent pilots. What you guys have to realize though is that 3 months will turn into 12 months very easily -- especially in FL. There's a shortage of CFIs and the weather can be crazy sometimes depending on your scheduled blocks. If he's expecting to finish in the advertised time... HAH... I'd also recommend that he stay away from the places that concentrate on JAA licenses... many reasons that I'd probably get flamed at for posting on here so I'll shut up.

Ari-Ben...you mean Scary-Ben. It is to be avoided at ALL costs!! Did some time-building there (scariest flying hours of my life) and realized what a joke, a shady, and dangerous operation it is. And their Pilots leave MUCH to be desired.

After that awful experience I enrolled in ATP's 2-week CFI course. I felt much more confident in ATP than I did most anywhere else - this is not to say they're perfect, but they'll get you your certificates and an Airline Job real quick...

Buuuut - any Certificate-Factory is going to leave you high-and-dry as far as knowledge is concerned. Just expect to play catch-up while flying the Jet LoL

Thanks for the input...i had a friend and previous flight instructor who went to ari-ben for their time-building program in the duchess. He did say they had a gear problem once, and the guy who he was splitting the time with was flipping out, because he apparently didn't know how to open the pressure release valve to allow the gear to free-fall, down/locked.

I think his hopes are to finish in the "minimum" time that's listed, I just don't want to tell him to head off to a pilot factory if in his current situation it'd be best to try to stick it out at an F.B.O. or others, also, i'd like for him to finish things as quickly as possible, but not have someone steal a bunch of cash from the guy also...another note, i believe he's attracted to the factories because of financing options as well...Least if i was in his current situation, i'd be considering how to get the money, so i'm sure he is.

Tell him to check out PAS. www.prairieairservice.com