Can anybody give me some info about Comair

[Guest]

I'm really looking into joining their academy down in Florida and I was wondering if anybody knows anything about how good the school is. Sorry to be asking it here but I really do not know any pilots that can help me with this question. I am interested in any flight schools if somebody has a suggestion also. Thanks!Dave

[Guest]

I have heard that Comair's is supposed to be as good as any, and they seem to have a very high rate of new hires from the school graduates. Also a friend who is a CFII told me about PanAm Academy, which I have seen many times in Plane and Pilot/Flying. I'm not a pilot, but from what I understand they are supposed to have a very airline-like atmosphere from day 1. Worth looking into...Best of luck,Marc

[Guest]

If i may make a suggestion. Try asking your question on www.flightinfo.com; the board there is frequented almost exclusively by real world pilots (mostly career pilots) and you may recieve a better response. If I recall, there are several threads there already regarding comair. -Rob

[Guest]

Do not waste your money on a 141 school until the hiring environment is better. Goto a 61 school and get your ratings there. No one is hiring right now unless you have around 2000hrs with 500multi time.Comair/PanAm/etc will cost twice as much as a good 61 school. Afterwards you will have spent twice as much money with nothing to show for it.Gulfstream Aviation Academy advertises 400hrs to put you into a right seat of a CRJ. What they don't tell you is that your looked upon badly by other pilots as lowering their wages (Gulfstream 400hr grads make only something like $7/hr and take up slots others want when the going FO should make around $19/hr) and will be very hard pressed to find another job.If you don't believe me, look at www.flightinfo.com 's message board for the regionals. Everyone is complaining about the lack of jobs. It doesn't matter where you got the ratings from....time is what matters (especially multi). These 141 schools will razzle/dazzle you with 3hrs in a citation (ATP), etc. however it is all a charade. Read Comair's fine print...the 98% hire quote is the instructors that are hired back at Comair. You're only guaranteed an "interview" with ASA, ACA, and Comair. Well....ASA stopped hiring this year, ACA isn't even hiring the people they promised jobs to earlier this year, and Comair wants 4000hrs.The only decent 141 school is Embry Riddle and that's because of its esteemed reputation. Riddle grads tend to look out for other riddle grads when hiring comes along also. Finally, at Riddle you get a four year degree also.Another good site is www.aviationinterviews.com to see about what airlines are really hiring nowadays. You'll see it is not what 141 schools advertise.

[Guest RiddlePilot]

As a student at Riddle, I'm going to chime in here. As previously stated, it really doesn't matter where you get your training. What does matter is the environment in which the training is conducted. From day one as a student here, you are required to follow procedures to a T. If you don't, you are going to kill yourself or one of your classmates. Daytona Beach Intl. is CRAZY, to say the least. Not only do you have the 75 Riddle aircraft (of which 50 are in the air on any given day), there are at least 4 other large FBOs on the airport, not to mention the many others at the smaller uncontrolled fields that come into the Class C for instrument approach practice. Like I said, if you're not on the ball at all times, someone will get hurt.Another thing the students hate, and I can't understand why they do, is the Student Ops Manual. Within this 200+ page book is every rule and regulation that we have to memorize. No shows bring a $100 fine for the first offence, $200 for the second, and $300 for the third and final, which results in removal from the flight program. This may seem rediculous, but in the majors, I believe its 2 strikes and you're out, no questions asked. Dress code...long pants and no open-toed shoes. Again, professionalism.Now, stepping away from the flight line. In the classroom, we study aerodynamics, turbine engines, flight physiology, transcontinental flight navigation, electronic navigation, and many many other courses that I have yet to take. If any Part 61 school offers these, forgive me for bragging about Riddle.If you wanna learn how to fly an airplane, go Part 61. If you wanna learn how an airplane flies, go to Riddle or any equivalent Part 141 school.

[Guest]

Thanks for the replies everyone! I'm starting to look into more part 61 flight schools now.Davehey riddlepilot do you know if riddle takes tranfers from other colleges. I'm currently in my second year.

[Guest]

My two instrument instructors went to Comair (PP Inst. and CFI/I). They were both good teachers, and pilots.Comair is an excellent school located in a VERY busy environment, central Flordia. Also good is ATP, my buddy did his CFI/I there. He said he loved it and will go back and instruct with them in April. I'd recommend if you can afford it to go to a flight school with new aircraft (172 R/S/SP/ME's) if possible. Getting used to the technology is a large hurdle for most students who did their private off campus and then came here to fly with new airplanes.I'll be graduating from ERAU in the summer. Some of the classes they offer are excellent, and are very helpful. However, I believe now that I would rather of spent my days of college at a non-aviation school and studied business or something. If you just read the books, you can learn the stuff we learn here without having to pay for it. It's the same material.However, I've already made my decision, and I stuck with it. I don't believe the instruction you get here is any better than other places, and in most cases it will be of slightly less quality due to the university in-breeding its own instructors. However, as said above, it more closely resembles an airline in its Ops Manual (which you'll have at ANY 141 school) etc. etc. You also get a lot of B.S. which students have to put up with.

[Guest RiddlePilot]

Dave, Riddle happily accepts transfers. I've come across many that come during their junior and senior year.

[Guest]

Dave,Where are you located? I may be able to help you depending on where you are.

[Guest]

More great information guys! Riddlepilot one more question: How many hours do pilots who graduated from riddle usually end up with? By the way Chickenhawk I live in Spartanburg, SC.Thanks everybody!Dave

[Guest]

Uglypigeon,Our 61 school is in Concord, NC (just up the road on 85). We can help you definitely after your private (don't know if you'd want to commute from SPA for that). Actually, the guy who runs the place commutes (he flies) from Spartanburg. We have accelerated instrument/commercial/cfi/multiengine programs here that could help you though.Give us a call at 704-784-1295 for some info. FYI, I spent $28g and got my PPL, Instr, Comm, Multi, CFI/II/MEI with 450hrs (140 multi). We can finance through Sallie Mae (the bad thing about a 61 school is you cannot defer the interest cost on a loan, i.e. you must start making payments on the loan immediately: unlike a 141 where it is more like a college loan).If you do decide to come up here, I'll only request that you bring me a cheeseburger and onion rings from the Beacon. I love that place.

[Guest]

Thanks Chickenhawk I will definitely call and get some info from you guys. I might be heading up to Concord Mills (I think thats the name of that big mall) in a week or two, and I will check out the FBO if it is near there.I will be sure to bring up a cheeseburger-a-plenty on my way:)Dave

[Guest]

DONT DO IT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! That place will make you a $100,000 dollar private pilot wonder with no promise of a job anywhere. Look into Embry if anywhere or South Eastern State in Durant OK. Those are good breeding grounds for aviation careers. The regional outlook right now is fairly poor, however in the next few years, there is the forcast of mass retirements from the airlines due to a large number of pilots reaching 60. Since 9-11 about 30% of the countries flight schools have dried up due to the tight economy and the events that transpired. I came up through a mom and pop type flight school myself and currently flying and teaching Gulfstream II III IV and V. One thing i have seen through my short but extensive career, (about 7.5 yrs now), is that no preference is really given to anyone who goes to an aviation specific college. You are just as well off getting a degree at a regular college that has a flying club as well, or even go and support the mom and pop type flight schools. Another thing i have noticed recently are the guys that have gone to aviation specific schools and recieved aviation specific degrees, that have been furloughed are the ones unable to find work because they did not have a diversified background with something to fall back on in these times of pilot surplus. Aviation tends to go through cycles about once a decade or so, of extreme ups and terrible lows. In my opinion, my advice to someone starting out, is to get a degree in a seperate field and learn to fly somewhere other than a place such as commair academy, the truth is they are more than happy to take your money, but there is no real garuntee with anything. Several friends have expreienced exactly that, so be careful with it.MaxGulfstream 1159, IV, V

[Guest]

Uglypigeon,We're ISO Aero in Concord, NC. Take Speedway Blvd. past Concord Mills until it T's. Take a right and go down about a mile and a half. The airport is on the right. Turn down Aviation Blvd. and when you reach the terminal turn right. We're in Hangar C.FYI, Concord (KJQF) is the NASCAR O'Hare. If it's a thursday or sunday it is extremely busy with NASCAR traffic (Beech 1900's, and bizjets).

[Peter Z KCLE_EDDN 335]

Hi there,I'm a bit surprised about the negativity on the hiring status from great schools such as Embry Riddle and Comair. I'm a Comair student and love every minute of it. The airplanes are OK, our maintenance is great, and each and every flight instructor is awsome.The best place to learn the whole nine yards (which I also heard about Embry Riddle). I'd absolutely say go for it. I don't know about any other pilots but Flight Instructors here at Comair still get hired by either Skywest, Comair, or any other Delta Connection carrier.Sure it's not as easy as it was before 9/11 but it sure isn't as impossible as you may think. Study hard, very hard or even harder, being among the best is very important to be competitive! But again I think it's worth every penny. And most likely 97% of Comair students will be hired as Instructors and then you earn at least a few bucks while you're building time.We're getting more and more students here and with the name change from Comair to Delta Connection Academy we'll probably have even more students to teach by the time I'm a flight instructor ;-)Just my two cents,Peterhttp://members.aol.com/pzsoulman/myhomepage/logo.gifAthlonXP2000,AbitKX7-333(latest4in1),512MB/2700SDRAM,WinXP,DirectX8.1,Geforce3TI200(128MB)(Det.30.82),SBlive(WDM5.1.2601.0)