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When choosing a flight school, you may encounter some turbulence.
Because there are many flight schools to choose between and many
factors to take into consideration, finding the right school can feel
like an overwhelming process. Luckily, the Air Transport
Association of Canada offers the following six steps to ensure
you will have clear skies ahead:
Step 1: Determine Your Aviation Goals
Since you know you are interested in a flying as a career (as opposed
to a recreational activity), you need to answer the following
questions:
Would you like to train full or part-time?
Do you want to own or rent an airplane?
Will your flying be in the local area?
Your answers to the above questions will significantly influence
which school you choose.
Step 2: Identify the Type of School that Best Matches Your
Aviation Goals
In Canada, anyone who flies must have a pilot licence or permit.
There are two types of schools that offer licences or permits to
students who wish to become employed as pilots: schools that are
affiliated with post-secondary institutions and schools that are not.
Schools that are affiliated with post-secondary institutions provide
college diploma or university degree programs.
Step 3: Make a List of Schools
Create a list of possible schools and request all available
literature, including class outlines, copies of school regulations
and flight operations procedures. Use the Internet to investigate
schools that have Web sites. You may want to use the following
questions as a guide in your quest for information:
Do the school's philosophy, goals and objectives match your own
closely enough?
Is there housing, financial aid and additional training available?
How long has the school been in business?
What are the operators' credentials?
How many students have graduated and how many students do they
have now?
What is the nature of the classroom facility?
What kinds of aircraft are used for training?
What kinds of services are available at the airport (e.g.,
control tower, flight service station, etc.)?
Step 4: Visit the School in Person
This may be the most important step in choosing a flight school. By
visiting the school, you will have the opportunity to see everything
for yourself. Try to meet the flight instructors, participate in a
tour and ask a lot of questions such as the following:
How does the Chief Flight Instructor supervise flight training in
the school?
Each instructor is responsible for how many students?
Do you have a principal instructor or do your bookings dictate
who you fly with?
How is training scheduled (i.e., a 1.5 versus a two hour booking)?
How are cancellations due to weather or maintenance handled?
Is there a no-show policy?
How are student training records kept?
Is the ground school run continuously or on an as needed basis?
How does the school's insurance cover students, from both
personal protection and personal liability perspectives?
Does an instructor teach the program or is it self-paced?
What is the training aircraft like?
Step 5: Assess the Bottom-line Cost
Learning to fly can be expensive and most schools charge
approximately the same fees. When investigating costs, make sure you
are comparing "apples to apples." For example, some schools base
their prices on Transport Canada minimum time requirements to earn a
private pilot licence, whereas other schools base their prices on how
long it takes their students on average to obtain the licence.
Additionally, some schools include materials such as books, supplies
and examination fees in their totals, while others do not.
Most schools allow you to pay for your training as it occurs. Some
schools offer financing and connections to financial institutions
that may finance your training. You may also be able to take
advantage of "block-time" prices, which means that you save money by
buying a certain amount of training or flight time in advance.
Step 6: Make a Choice
By now, you have done a lot of research and it's time to choose a
flying school. Focus on the type of training you want as well as what
fits your schedule. Don't forget to take the personality of the
school into consideration. Like people, schools have personalities.
Try to select the one that matches your personality.
(Susanne Albrecht is a career advisor at the Calgary Youth
Employment Centre.)
Questions about an article? Contact our Online Career Advisor.
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