Qatar Aviation College
This particular college has been struggling for some time, but the 'bottom line' is that it cannot adequately produce the goods for the country's resident airline; Qatar Airways. The current Director General of the college appears to be in total denial with respect to the training of his student pilots.
The college staff do their very best to accommodate the whims of the DG; however, it's clear that you cannot adequately provide professional flight training within a country that prevents flying training from being conducted within the constraints of the provided infrastructure; i.e. Arabic VIP movements prevent the college from cunducting flying training on a regular basis. The extreme climate is also a decisive factor for the continued operation of piston engined aeroplanes. Another issue is the requirement for the military to conduct its own training within a limited and shared airspace.
The above factors are totally responsible for the lack of continuation of flying training for the college students. The majority of the flying students recieve less than seven hours flight training per month, yet the blame for the lack of flying training is being levelled at the current Head of Training; who has reiterated the current failings directly to the DG without any other response (from the DG) other than that it is his own fault.
The situation is impossible. The DG requires more profit; yet there are far too many students for the instructors to cope with (reflected upon by the total monthly hours of each student). The current HoT is (quite rightly) at a loss to appease the DGs insistance of maintaining a steady stream of new students... Qatar Airways don't appear to be 'on side', other than to blame the flying instructors for not producing the required output.
I will totally admit that I am the previous Flight Ops Manager of the Qatar Aeronautical College, where the DG frequently blamed me for the lack of programmed student flying hours. Were it not for the regular VIP movements, or, military excercises, or, the weather conditions, I might have stood a fighting chance of delivering the goods. Sadly, he wouldn't/couldn't agree with what I had to say to him; hence, I'm now back in the UK, watching from a distance, as to how he continues to blame everyone (other than himself) for the failings of the college.
In conclusion... both myself and the Head of Training have made it quite clear to the DG that there are far too many student pilots; the DG is in total denial. Hence, Qatar Airways are now closely looking at the college as a reliable source of cadet pilots... I would agree with them!
To anyone within the Arabic world who is looking for a reliable flight training school... DO look further than the QAC!