Moncton Flight College has gone into receivership

[joppdal]

Bad news for MFC. Hope it all works out.

Heres the link for those of you who speak french http://www.radio-canada.ca/regions/atla ... lege.shtml

[Troubleshot]

http://www.cbc.ca/canada/new-brunswick/ ... rship.html In English

Wow, all those foreign students and Chinese government money streaming in and they still aren't payin the bills.

I guess we should have seen it coming, the CEO split and TC shut them down for a week last year...they are a stand-up operation, maybe just to big to fast.

Good luck to all involved.

[Cat Driver]

What a sad situation for flight training and the people working in that industry.

[michaud535]

http://www.cbc.ca/canada/new-brunswick/ ... rship.html In English

Wow, all those foreign students and Chinese government money streaming in and they still aren't payin the bills.

I guess we should have seen it coming, the CEO split and TC shut them down for a week last year...they are a stand-up operation, maybe just to big to fast.

Good luck to all involved.

I work here, TC didn't shut anything down... at least not in the past 3 years that I've been around.

[AtlanticTour]

That is a real shame. I did my training at MFC, and received some top notch instruction. Although I have been gone from there for a couple years, I'll always treasure the time I spent there, plus the friends and contacts I made. I hope it works out, and they can get reorganized, from making a few phone calls today it seems like they will.

[Pirate Pilot]

Since 1929? Man oh man....as a Chinese friend of mine is very fond of saying "busmess is busmess" Isn't New Brunswick where our firearms registration centre is located? They are gobbling up "millions of dollars" per year. Perhaps they could cut loose a few bucks to put the school back on track?

[Doc]

I'm going to miss all their cute ads with all the cookie cutter students in their oh! so cute white shirts and little epaulets! Maybe instead of being all cute and cuddly, they should trim the fat, and get back to the business of training folks to fly?
BooHoo

[toelessjoe]

I'm going to miss all their cute ads with all the cookie cutter students in their oh! so cute white shirts and little epaulets! Maybe instead of being all cute and cuddly, they should trim the fat, and get back to the business of training folks to fly?
BooHoo

Oh Doctor Feelgood, this is why we love you. That and the short shorts.

[Doc]

I'm going to miss all their cute ads with all the cookie cutter students in their oh! so cute white shirts and little epaulets! Maybe instead of being all cute and cuddly, they should trim the fat, and get back to the business of training folks to fly?
BooHoo

Oh Doctor Feelgood, this is why we love you. That and the short shorts.

Sumer's just around the corner budd! Wondering when I'm headed out to pick up the "new" van!

[toelessjoe]

[/quote]Sumer's just around the corner budd! Wondering when I'm headed out to pick up the "new" van![/quote]


-The a/c doesn't work.
- The auto pilot is broken.
- It's 75,000 hour inspection is past due.
- The altimeter is actually just a drawing of an altimeter. (My kid drew it).
- It comes with the balance of the last guys training bond .
- It has a two and a half bladed prop.
- It smells like Rosanne Barr.
- The bondo to paint ratio is 70/30.
- The maintainence control manual is written in crayon. (My other kid wrote it).


In short - waaaay better than the last one!

- Toeless.

[tsgas]

Not to worry. It's nothing that can't be fixed with yet more taxpayer money.

[Gino Under]

Tax payers money!!
If it's true, and they're in receivership, then let their partner CAE foot the bill.

Tax payers money my arse.

[bizjets101]

MONCTON, N.B. - The Moncton Flight College has hit some financial turbulence.

The company is in receivership after failing to pay a debt.

The firm Ernst & Young is acting as a trustee in the case.

Last year, the school received a provincial loan worth $1.5 million to help it meet its contract to train Chinese pilots.

An official in the province's Business New Brunswick office confirmed today that the loan is still outstanding.

Moncton Flight College was founded in 1929, and employs approximately 160 people at its campuses in Dieppe and Fredericton.

Source

[keepemturnin]

Wow, all those foreign students and Chinese government money streaming in and they still aren't payin the bills.

Good luck to all involved.

That's one of the problems...chinese gvmnt werent respecting the payment amounts or due time

[Troubleshot]

http://www.cbc.ca/canada/new-brunswick/ ... rship.html In English

Wow, all those foreign students and Chinese government money streaming in and they still aren't payin the bills.

I guess we should have seen it coming, the CEO split and TC shut them down for a week last year...they are a stand-up operation, maybe just to big to fast.

Good luck to all involved.

I work here, TC didn't shut anything down... at least not in the past 3 years that I've been around.

Look, I don't want to kick you while your down cause believe me I've been there. That being said I believe last year MFC stopped operation for a week or so due to TC concerns, on the outside it may have looked voluntary but I know for a fact it wasn't. It was more of a "you do it, or we'll do it" senario.

Anyway man, I am sorry you guys are on shakey ground right now....sucks. I'd say someone in the community will step up and right the ship.

good luck.

[Tim]

http://nbbusinessjournal.canadaeast.com ... le/1380593

CANLink Aviation in talks on flight college

FREDERICTON - Operations at the Fredericton campus of the Moncton Flight College won't be affected by the school's namesake operations being placed in receivership.

In fact, the operator of the Fredericton school, CANLink Aviation, is now in talks to manage both locations with an eye to eventually merging the two companies.

Mike Tilley, president of CANLink Aviation, said Tuesday that he is talking with the receiver, Ernst & Young, to take over operations in Moncton by week's end and then negotiate a purchase and sale agreement.

"We believe in Moncton Flight College, its brand and its history. It's definitely worth salvaging," Tilley said.

CANLink Aviation is a partner with the Moncton Flight College and operates the college's franchise at the Fredericton International Airport.

The Moncton college, which was run by a volunteer, not-for-profit board and operates out of the Greater Moncton International Airport, was put into receivership by the Royal Bank of Canada on Monday over an unpaid loan.

"The plan is not to bankrupt the operation and strip assets," Tilley said. "The plan is to transition MFC into a private ownership, better positioning the company for the future."

He described it as a restructuring.

Operations at the school continued as usual Tuesday, he said, and employees are being paid.

"When we became aware MFC was going to need a change, we offered to become involved," Tilley said.

"MFC's got a great name, it's got partnerships around the world and it's doing innovative work with CAE."

The Moncton campus became the beta testing ground for the Montreal firm's multi-crew pilot licence program last year. The CAE cadets that were training at MFC have gone through the training there and there are currently no CAE cadets at the school.

"A lot of the key building blocks are in place - it just needs a new structure," Tilley said.

Tilley said the not-for-profit volunteer-based organization that has shepherded the company through tremendous growth since 2006 just isn't the right one for the company now.

"A transition to private ownership will allow the company to better capitalize. We hope we can bring some of that stability to the company."

"It's hard for a not-for-profit to go out and raise money, very difficult."

Matthew Harris, of Ernst & Young, confirmed they are in discussion with CanLink about taking over management in the short term and merging the operations over the long term.

"We are discussing them managing the Moncton operation, and we expect that that agreement will be in place by the end of the week," Harris said.

The two campuses have a contract to train up to 360 Chinese students every year. Combined, the campuses currently have about 240 students from around the world and 160 employees.

The province also has a stake in the operations. In January, 2010, Business New Brunswick approved a $1.5-million repayable loan to help fulfill the terms of several existing international airline and university flight-training contracts. It's a move the province said would help maintain 120 jobs at the Moncton college.

The school also received $184,000 from the Department of Post-Secondary Education and Labour to subsidize wages for 41 employees.

The Moncton Flight College traces its roots back to 1929, when the Moncton Flying Club was formed. The early club members were instrumental in building New Brunswick's first airport and setting up mail and cargo flights around the Maritimes.

Al Pendergast, who took over as principal of the college last August, could not be reached for comment Tuesday.

Mike Doiron, the former principal of the college who retired last August, would not comment on the financial difficulties, but hopes the institution will continue to operate in Moncton.

"Mergers are common in the aviation industry and pilot training is a tough business with razor-thin margins," Doiron said. "There will be a continued need for pilots around the world. The business is there and CANLink has a very smart business team. The MFC is an amazing institution and I hope it will stay in operation in Moncton."

Doiron said pilot training is a very tough business because of the high overhead costs of planes, facilities, simulators and instructors.

"Most of the training is one-on-one with the instructor and the student, as opposed to a university,where there are 200 or 300 students to one instructor. And it's a mobile classroom. As soon as you turn the lights on, you're spending $40 per hour in fuel and insurance and everything else. It's a very tough industry to survive in."

In a 2008 interview, Tilley said the Chinese appreciate the setting Canada offers to train pilots because of its established infrastructure.

Proportionally, China has few airports and they're all far more busy, and the clean, clear air offers better training for first-time pilots.

"We can accommodate them. We have manageable traffic, we have good schools and training programs, and we have clear skies. The air (in China) is so polluted they can't do their initial flying."

- with files from Canadaeast News Service

[Bobby868]

Last year, the school received a provincial loan worth $1.5 million to help it meet its contract to train Chinese pilots.
Source

In a market flooded with students, flooded with flight schools and pumping out 100 times more commercial pilots than there are jobs available both in Canada and overseas we really have no business as tax payers keeping a business under these terms a float.

They couldn't survive last year on their own and after getting this loan they still ran into financial difficulties. Beloved school or not it's time to face the financial realities.

Let the business fail and transfer the students to a school that is surviving without tax payer money.

[ehbuddy]

I just drove by the school and the parking lot is full of cars and the doors were open..............

But............its a blue sky day and I have seen none of their planes flying at all.

[flaps operator]

I fly into Moncton quite a bit and on clear days we used to have to stay high till the last minute to avoid the dots littering the TCAS. As of recently its been eerily quiet in the area.

Its too bad what has happened here, I hope the school works everything out and gets some competent administration going. I graduated from there a little while back and minus the typical flight college attitude you'll find at all like establishments across the country, I received some top-notch flight and ground training and have many fond memories of my couple years prior to entering the real world.

Someone needs to take over this school, shrink its ego and student capacity, spend less money buying 0, 1 and 2-bar epaulettes and get it back on track to being the flight college it once was.

my two cents.
FO

[Prairie Chicken]

Troubleshot, I recall the same thing ... but I think it was back in 2008. MFC are (were?) SMS and if I recall correctly, they ceased operation for a week to conduct a safety analysis of the numerous incidents that had recently occured. Like you, I suspect TC "suggested" a safety analysis was in order.

There had been rumors of insolvency for some time ... real sorry to hear they were true.

[Beefitarian]

Wow, all those foreign students and Chinese government money streaming in and they still aren't payin the bills.

Good luck to all involved.

That's one of the problems...chinese gvmnt werent respecting the payment amounts or due time

Is this forum going to just allow such slanderous accusations toward a benevolent Government such as the one in China to go by with no defensive response?

[simplyput]

Goodbye Fredericton Tower.

[Redwine]

WTF. 1.5 million is nothing these days...

[mcrit]

Is this forum going to just allow such slanderous accusations toward a benevolent Government such as the one in China to go by with no defensive response?

Not sure if you are being ironic there or not. If you are being ironic then I shall reply:

If you were being serious I shall reply: Tibet, Tiananmen, Falun Gong (whom I'm told you can see at the 'Bodies' exhibit in Winnipeg right now.)

[KAG]

I find it funny that people get bent out of shape about 1.5 million of "taxpayer money" but say nothing about Harper spending 1 billion of those same tax dollars on what could have been done with a video conference call.
Good luck mfc I hope it works out for you folks.