Choosing a Flight School.
An important decision to get right!
Choosing a flight school is one of the most important decisions you will have to make in your early aviation career, and likely one of the biggest ones you’ve had to make so far!
That said, it can be an extremely difficult one to make, especially when you take a look at the core of what is on offer from each of the main ATOs.
For the purposes of this we’ll take a look at UK Integrated ATOs and their offerings, as this provides a much more even comparison.
On the surface, its important to remember that if you are undertaking an Integrated ATPL course, you will conduct the following (albeit in varying sequence)
13x UK/EASA ATPL Theoretical Knowledge Exams
Air Law
Communications
Principles of Flight
Airplane Performance
Mass & Balance
Radio Navigation
General Navigation
Flight Planning
Procedures
AGK: Systems, Engines & Electrics
AGK: Instrumentation
Human Performance & Limitations
Meteorology
Single Engine Piston Flying
Commercial Pilots Licence (Either SEP or MEP, although most schools offer MEP)
Muti Engine Instrument Rating
UPRT Course
APS MCC / APS JOC
This will grant you a fATPL (Frozen Airline Transport Pilots License). The courses will be very similar in terms of content learned and covered. This is due to the fact that any integrated course must follow strict guidelines and cover content set by the CAA (and previously EASA)
Furthermore, even though the costings of each school will vary, they are often in the same ballpark. I would strongly urge you to not be swayed by price when it comes to choosing your flight school. Choose based on your experiences and research.
School visits are a crucial part of forming your decision. Visit as many schools as possible, ideally in succession so you can ask similar questions and form a valid opinion. It’s important to visit schools even if you’re not sure. I wasn’t sure about my ATO until I visited them, and I already had my heart set on another, but from the moment I visited, I changed my kind and new that it was the right place to go to. And I haven’t looked back since, it was without a doubt one of the best decisions I’ve ever made!
Here are some important things to consider when working evaluating flight schools:
Thorough breakdown of the course
What courses do they offer
UK CAA
EASA
MPL
Airline Tagged ATPLs?
Locations
Ground school
Exam room – some schools have an approved exam room on site, others have to send their cadets to another site which can be disturbing during exam weeks
Flying – SEP/MEP/UPRT/
Sims – are they onsite/owned or outsourced
Cost of the course
Is it likely to change?
What does it cover in terms of exam fails / extra flight training needed
Selection process
Fleet
Sims
Online Teaching Material
Graduate Placement Opportunities
Course sizes
Course Timeline
What’s included in the course?
iPad
Accommodation
Uniform
Fees
Its also important to remember that everyone is looking for something individual from their ATO. It’s a personal choice and you need to be sure that you are going to be happy there and able to achieve the best of your ability. Flight training is tough work and can be both physically and emotionally demanding on trainees. You need be happy that your school will support you when you need it. However, this can also be a fine balance…
One word of advice would be to be cautious of schools that seem to be too ‘family orientated’. Whilst this can be a great thing, it is also the job of an ATO to prepare you for a hard working career which will be mainly in an operational environment. Unfortunately, as tough as training may be, the school cannot make the hard work go away, but instead support you through it. This can often be identified in the schools selection process. Whilst some schools run rigorous selection processes, this is to assure you and them that you have what it takes to complete training and become a successful airline pilot.
If you have any questions about choosing a flight school, don’t hesitate to get in touch!