Flight centre behavior

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Flight_Student
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Flight centre behavior

Post by Flight_Student »

Hey Folks,

Just wanted to run this trough with some of you who have more experience with flight schools.

I got in touch with a small flight centre a few weeks ago and asked for an intro flight with the instructor they recommend.
Was told that senior instructors do not do intro flights, and talked me into getting a regular dual lesson instead, that I can use towards my flight training if I'm quite sure I want to start anyway.
I had nothing against that, though I made it clear that I will not commit to the school (not paying membership fees, ground school fee, etc.), until I had the chance to do that one flight and think about it afterward.

Well, on the day turns out the weather wasn't great so, when I showed up, they gave me and billed for one-hour ground training (briefing? some slide shows and an aircraft inspection) instead without checking in advance if that's ok.

Didn't think much of it at the time but, now I'm wondering, was it appropriate? Is it normal to switch on a prospective (not enrolled) student and offer something else instead of the flight?
I can see how that makes sense if you're already mid-training, you don't waste the time since you're both already there. But now if I decide not to go ahead with them, I can't help but feel that hour was wasted.

What are your thoughts?
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digits_
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Re: Flight centre behavior

Post by digits_ »

Even with an intro flight, we used to do some ground training to explain what would happen etc. It would usually be part of the intro flight package though. Even intro flights count towards your training, although it doesn't really matter much in the end.

Doing only ground school for a first flight seems a bit weird to me, but it is hard to judge based on your post. Did they know in advance the weather was too bad? Did the weather change during the briefing?
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telex
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Re: Flight centre behavior

Post by telex »

Sounds like you got the "regular dual lesson" you were talked into.

I would not invest too much energy in worrying about one hour wasted before you have even started training.
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photofly
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Re: Flight centre behavior

Post by photofly »

Ideally they should have contacted you beforehand to let you know the weather wasn’t good, and to rebook for a better day.
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rookiepilot
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Re: Flight centre behavior

Post by rookiepilot »

Ouch....not cool.

How about naming the school?

That's how things change.
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Last edited by rookiepilot on Sat Aug 08, 2020 2:46 pm, edited 1 time in total.
455tt
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Re: Flight centre behavior

Post by 455tt »

There is an old saying: "A fool and his money are quickly separated".

The familiarization flight is very standard at most flight schools. It is sort of like a test drive before you purchase a car. A fam ride is not a money maker for the school; it is a sales opportunity to showcase their product. The fact that this particular operation sees it as beneath them to offer one is a big red flag in my view, and is very revealing of the school's true motives.

I would recommend that you "get the hell out of Dodge" and find an alternate operation that follows the standard protocol of providing a low cost fam flight with eagerness and pride to be given the opportunity to present to you as a potential customer all of the reasons they would be a good fit for you.
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Flight_Student
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Re: Flight centre behavior

Post by Flight_Student »

Thank you all for the answers.

While not particularly nefarious, it seems that this approach does raise some eyebrows.
Together with a few other red flags I observed, it does make me rethink this centre for my training.

Rookiepilot I won't name the school as it's not necessarily that they don't offer intro flights, just that they caught me unprepared and agreed to something maybe I shouldn't have. Happy to PM though if you're concerned you might come accross them.
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2R
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Re: Flight centre behavior

Post by 2R »

Did you learn anything ?
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200hr Wonder
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Re: Flight centre behavior

Post by 200hr Wonder »

If your about to spend a significant amount of money, shop around. Go to each school in your area and have a chat. Then make a short list and do a fam flight with one perhaps two.

What they did was skip the shopping part and sales pitch and gone onto collecting money.
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photofly
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Re: Flight centre behavior

Post by photofly »

A flight school isn't *required* to give you a joy-ride ("intro flight"/"experience flight"/whatever). I don't know if you've flown in a small plane before, but if you have, there's little to be gained from an "intro" flight. You can't tell much about the instructor, because he's not going to instruct you.
It's not unreasonable to offer you a first lesson, instead. Then you learn something, and you get to fly too. If you like it - come back for more. If you don't, no hard feelings, and certainly no commitments. And hopefully you did learn something, too.
Was told that senior instructors do not do intro flights,
That's good. Senior instructors should be instructing and supervising junior instructors. Not being aerial tour guides.

I'm going to guess that nobody bothered to check in with you about the poor weather, and reschedule. The poor instructor has been booked with a new student, so what's he or she going to do?

Like I said, you should have been rebooked. Either by phone, or when you arrived. Not doing so was a mistake. At the least they could and should have said when you turned up "the weather's no good, so we can't fly. We can get a head start on the lesson if we do the ground preparation, then we can book you for the actual flying part tomorrow/whenever". Or we can skip the whole thing today, and do it all another day." I'm sorry you weren't offered that choice. Or, maybe you were, and the message didn't get through. Whatever. What's done, is done.

I don't see that comments like these are justified:
What they did was skip the shopping part and sales pitch and gone onto collecting money.
I would recommend that you "get the hell out of Dodge" ... very revealing of the school's true motives.
A flight school made an error in customer service. It's not the worst mistake ever made in the history of flight training.
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200hr Wonder
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Re: Flight centre behavior

Post by 200hr Wonder »

photofly wrote: Sun Aug 09, 2020 6:26 am A flight school made an error in customer service. It's not the worst mistake ever made in the history of flight training.
I also didn't suggest that the original poster runaway, like perhaps if they wanted upfront payment for a big chunk of hours vs pay as you go. That being said, I still often get the feeling people are not shopping around for flight schools. If you are lucky enough to have a nearby airport with more than one school, I think it behooves you to at least walk into all of them. Although, really you need to do your research and ask the right questions.

Things I would ask:
  • Aircraft Availability - Ask to see there bookings. Are you going to be able to fly when you want? If you get your work schedule the previous week, and they are 95% booked two weeks out, might not be the place for you.
  • Cross Country - How long can you take a plane for? Minimum Hour requirements per day when you do multi-day trips? Where will they let you go?
  • Ratings Availability - Can they do your IFR, Night Rating, CPL, Multi etc. Not the end of the world if no one at your home field offers it, but could become a burden down the road.
  • Maintenance - Do they have there own maintainers on site? Some schools don't and this can lead to excessive downtime if they are a smaller school with few aircraft.
  • Ground School - Will there work for your schedule or will you need something else?
  • Instructor Tenure - How many Class 4s, 3s and so on. I would be worried if it was a gaggle of Class 4s and one Class 1 or 2 to supervise.
  • Overall Feel - How do you feel you are being treated in general? Remember your the customer, but flight training is not a typical customer/provider relationship.
I am sure I am missing a whole lot.

As I said above, flight training is not a typical customer/service provider relationship. When you take your car in for an oil change, other than getting it done on time you have really no responsibility. When you learn to fly, you are taking on a large responsibility to become a safe and courteous pilot. Will the school you go to help you meet your goals and work with? That is the biggest question.
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Cheers,

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photofly
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Re: Flight centre behavior

Post by photofly »

I’d ask whether they keep statistics on how many hours students take to solo and to pass a flight test. Actual hard data, from previous students, not fluffy answers like “it should take you...”
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2R
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Re: Flight centre behavior

Post by 2R »

I usually charge 50 dollars per answer to questions at the airport , correct answers are 100 dollars . Dumb looks are still free :)
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