Expert: D. Norkus - 1/15/2004

Question
Hi Dottie
I've been doing some research on schools for flying, but since there are many schools to choose from and different pricing. I was wondering if you could give me a suggestion in which school would be good if I only have 55 hours of flying. I looked into Delta Connection Academy and Embry-Riddle, and both schools trains students from zero hour to flying jets. I am considering going to Delta Connection since they have 97% of their graduates to get hired by an airline. Now, I am not sure if I should trust their ad when they say "Guarantee a job Interview" What do you think about this school and which school would you recommend?  

Answer
Leo

Getting all your ratings is a costly endeavor to be sure, and the DCA is one of the costliest ways to go. I seriously wonder how they come up with that 97% figure. I wouldn't trust their ads either. True, they guarantee an interview upon graduation but NOT a job! The academy flying route is where you go if you have a lot of money to spend and ERAU is where you go if you have a lot of money to spend and need a 4 yr degree too. I personally never considered the academy route. Too much money, lots of hard sell. I chose the od fashioned way and went to the local airport. I did do classes with ERAU extended campus, but did my flying elsewhere.

There is no way I could acurrately and completely address all the factors and bits of information you would need to make an informed decision by this simple reply. Since I get questions on this topic frequently, I created a website to help anwser it. I included anwsers to the FAQs I get, plus included every link I think is helpful reading on the net for aspiring pilots. I suggest you read my page and go to it's associated links for the information you really need to know. It will be a few hours worth of reading to get through it all, but that's the information you need to be aware of to help you make informed choices about aviation as a career.

www.geocities.com/av8trxx99/FAQ.html

Flightinfo.com and jetcareers.com are both excellent pages that have message boards where you can read many posts on specific schools and get personal experiences. In addition, www.studentpilot.com has a message forum with a post on DCA in their careers folder that may be of interest. Let me know if you have more questions after digesting the information.

Dottie