Gulf Aviation Academy (GAA) Job Guarantee?

[Nauron]

Alright so before you break out the pitch forks and torches, hear me out.

The Gulf Aviation Academy (GAA) is stating that it's offering job guarantees to their recent batches that will graduate from PTC. I myself was accepted into GAA and will start sometime late March. While there is nothing on paper that says there's a job guarantee, they assured me that there is, and from what I understood, it's not unconditional...you have to sit an interview.

I know that a job guarantee sounds a bit hard to believe, but it's not all bollocks, you can see some evidence for it.

this is from an online newspaper:


The company has signed training deals with the kingdom's two airlines, Bahrain Air and Gulf Air, as well as carriers and aviation companies in Sri Lanka and seven countries in the Middle East and North Africa region.

link (http://www.thenational.ae/thenationalconversation/industry-insights/aviation/fledgling-careers-take-flight-at-gulf-aviation-academy)


Also, it's been all over the local newspapers after the recent Bahrain Internationl Airshow that GAA and Qatar Airways signed an agreement to train 200 pilots. I can't find a link to that, but what do you guys think? Is that a contract to train existing Qatar Airways pilots, or to deliver new pilots?

And what do you think about the whole thing in general? Personally, I think it's legit.

[Airmann]

BS, there's no Job guarantee, ask the GAA graduates who are currently sitting on the ground. Guys who just graduated are being asked for money to get their type ratings and then they may join GF. As for the QR deal, its probably to train the guys they'll be hiring, there's no indication that they will be training GAA graduates.

Having said that some GAA graduates were interviewed by QR and some have joined QR. But that was after they passed the selection process, some did not pass. There's NO job guarantee, its BS.

"Training Deals" does not mean deals to get GAA graduates into those airlines. It just means those airlines will use GAA facilities, probably to train their current pilots, how do equate that quote with the idea that GAA graduates will be offered employment with those airlines? You are trying to look at quotes and whats said in the paper and your hoping beyond hope that what they're talking about is a deal to place their graduates in those airlines, and that simply isn't true.

Wish I could tell you that you'll definitely get a job after you graduate from GAA but the truth is that there's no guarantee at all. Having said that it doesn't mean that you WON"T get a job, you can finish your training like the rest of us and then apply for an airline hiring fresh pilots and InshAllah you'll get in.

[Nauron]

BS, there's no Job guarantee, ask the GAA graduates who are currently sitting on the ground.


you're right, there was no job guarantee for those guys, the job guarantee is for the PTC batches, which none of them graduated yet.

As for the type rating, I don't know about those guys, but they already informed me that I would have to pay for the type rating (and Tamkeen would cover half of it). So no surprises there.

As for the QR, I agree with you, sounds like a plan to train existing QR crew.

And like you said, Inshallah in the end I get a job, and same for all the other unemployed pilots.

[Airmann]

There are a lot of promises made and just ask the guys that finished before you. I don't know your situation or your deal with GAA, but don't be fooled and expect all promises to be fulfilled i.e. don't be naive. Look if you want to be a pilot then the GAA course in conjunction with Oxford, is a good course period. Anyone that graduates from Oxford is in a good position, its a good school. And yes maybe they (GAA) will help you get a job, InshAllah. But don't have your head in the clouds (no pun intended) and believe that everything will be taken care for you and don't EXPECT to be mollycoddled into a chushy job after you finish. Work your ass off and study hard, and try to be ahead of the curve, because there are many many boys who EXPECTED a lot and are now just sitting around doing nothing.

Check the post by Rid3r here: http://www.pprune.org/middle-east/347366-gulf-air-developments-185.html

One question, who have they been guaranteed jobs with? GF?

[CadetPilot]

Nauron,

There is no such thing as a job guarantee, believe me.
I experience this first hand.
GAA already have SO many guys that graduated and are going to graduate from Oxford, tamkeen has already given over ATLEAST 80 Bahrainis a loan to complete training elsewhere (Jordan mainly, some in the UK, some in other places), and if you really know how Bahrain works, you would agree that the GAA guys will NOT be given priority over these other graduates, who are ALL Bahrainis.

GAA helped by giving almost 50 guys interviews with QR, disregarding whether they were GAA's "Oxford" Cadets, or Cadets from other flight schools around the world, and I personally know of 6 graduates from Jordan that are coming to QR and got accepted, and 5 graduates from Oxford, that did not get accepted.
Where is this "Job guarantee"?
Gulf Air has Cadets that joined in May of last year, who have done 14 sectors of flying so far and been doing no flying for the past 2 months, where are they going to find place for the current Oxford guys, the Jordanian guys, and now this whole new batch?

Think about it. If you come back and are guaranteed a job, will the other guys that graduated atleast 2 years before you sit quietly and allow this to happen?

I would personally do my training myself (assuming you can have someone to sponsor you), or take a loan from tamkeen, go somewhere like Stapleford, where training standards are extremely good, prices are reasonable, and you get what you pay for.
Come back, and then do your job hunt.

My two cents.
PM me if you have questions, I am happy to help as much as I can.

[Mike.Park]

Nauron

Walk away from any FTO that offers a "guaranteed" airline job at the end of your training. Securing an airline interview is a struggle on its own let alone guaranteed employment! No reputable FTO will ever use the 'G' word.

Also worth bearing in mind that GAA does not conduct any ab-initio flight training. All they do is broker the relationship between yourself and their chosen overseas FTO. In essence they're nothing more than middlemen.

[Airmann]

^^ Correct, and its because of this "middle man" status that they've screwed a whole bunch of pilots. Because you have no say regarding your training with Oxford, you have to negotiate everything with GAA, so lets say something happens during training in Oxford where you are located you need to call up someone in Bahrain and hope that they understand the situation, and most likely they won't.

Don't waste your money with GAA, you can do everything GAA promises you for a fraction of the cost by yourself. Its not as though every Second Officer in every airline in the ME has come through GAA. Most have paid for their own training and have got in on their own merit. Don't let the fancy name and their status fool you, at the end of the day if circumstances change so will your chances of getting your guaranteed job.

[Nauron]

just to clear things up, they're not doing Oxford anymore, it's PTC for the next 120 candidates (so far). And it's the PTC graduates who will get this, not the past graduates.

I don't know exactly this is linked to which airline (probably GF or Bahrain Air), but it's probably something similar to what Flybe has with PTC. It might not be unconditional, but from what I read in these forums (and you guys would know better than me) ANY advantage would make a huge difference, if they get me halfway through the door (hell, just let them open the door) and I'll carry myself in. Like you guys suggested, I'll do my absolute best during my study and even better on the interview.

No, I don't believe it's literally a "guarantee", that's just impossible, but I do believe that it's a definite advantage.

[Airmann]

Either way its BS, why should someone trained at PTC be guaranteed a job while guys trained at Oxford are still sitting around? It sounds and smells extremely fishy.

Best thing is to save your money and become an engineer or doctor or do something that actually benefits society.

[Left Wing]

with any training provider there are no job guaranties .. all the training company can do is get you an interview with an airline after that its all in your hands.

just like any other courses MBA, Engineering degrees, computer science etc etc.. you get qualified and then look for a job.. its all in the individuals hand how hard they want to work :ok::ok:

Nauron thats the spirit wish more people think like you do.. rather than to blame the training provider

[Airmann]

The original poster was commenting on his belief that GAA will stick to their word about a job "Guarantee", when there is in fact no guarantee, no one is saying that GAA cadets are all out on the streets, far from it, probably the majority are flying. But why does GAA promise things that simply are not true, there's no guarantee, they will just give you a little help in securing an interview since they are a well known training institute in the gulf. So why don't they just say "we will give you help with securing an interview at the end of your training" and not lie about a "guarantee".

[Nauron]

Like I said, it might not be a guarantee, but it's SOMETHING....maybe injected with a little bit of Vitamin W ;)

[TheAnimal]

IN GAA the pilot training program is for really cheap price NO basically its a special discount with special offer its for 52 000 BHD which is 132 000 USD !! :D:D:O:D


trust me even if they say which i am really sure there is no job guarantee but even if they say YES WE GIVE JOB GUARANTEE still i wont go for it !!


i can complete my PPL/IR/CPL/CFI/CFII/MEI PLUS i can do my type rating on A320 PLUSSSSSSS i can have my 500 hours of line training done from eagle jet plussssssssss it can cover all my expenses in USA plussssssss i can party all the life with this much money PLUSSSSSSSS i can do CRM PLUSS !!!!

i think still i will be left with some cash !! and this all i can do in 4 years max !! and enjoy as a student bachelor life !!

why the hell i will pay 132 000 USD in GAA for 1 and half year plus the hard training will give me some good stress u see !! and yea i forgot to include the accommodation or lets say living expenses in bahrain !! so lets say 150 000 USD is going no where !!

so its better to take 4 year option !! alot of guys i have seen who take stress while studying plus they wanna start there career fast !! guys live a nice calm life let everything go with the flow for the FCUK SAKE !!

[Nauron]

TheAnimal,

its BD52000 including accomodations and a monthly salary of BD200, and it will be in PTC (Florida), not in Bahrain. Oh and its actually BD26000 since the Bahraini government is paying half the cost for the training, and half the type rating later on.

Like I said previously, this is the most resonable way (FOR ME) I can go to become a pilot.

oh and we're supposed to go sign the contract sometimes soon (next week probably), will keep you guys updated about the job guarantee :ok: if it's on paper, then I guess nobody can argue about it anymore.

[TheAnimal]

if it is BD 26 000 still its alot its almost 70 000USD

so in this much cash i can complete my PPL/IR/CPL/CFI/CFII/MEI , CRM , MCC , A320 type rating !!


anyways !! keep us updated !!

[Nauron]

Taras B,

its Gulf Aviation Academy...it's in no way connected to Alpha Aviation Group

[Mike.Park]

Nauron - When you say the Bahraini government is "paying half the cost", do you mean they're loaning you half of the training costs which you are expected to pay back, presumably interest-free?

Taras B - Spot on with AAG's dodgy implementation of ICAO MPL but as Nauron noted, GAA does not appear to be affiliated with AAG.

[Nauron]

Mike,

what rid3r said sums it up. You do not have to pay anything back to Tamkeen nor are you obligated to go work for them or any company affiliated with them, Tamkeen is there to spend money on Bahrainis.

Tamkeen signed a BD4 million ($10.6 million) contract with GAA and PTC to train 120 Bahrainis on the Ab-initio program.

Bahrain News Agency | TAMKEEN to Launch BD4 Million Pilot Training Programme in Partnership with GAA (http://www.bna.bh/portal/en/news/490138)



breakdown:

Ab-inito program cost: BD52,000
+
Type Rating: BD15,000
=
BD67,000 per student

Tamkeen pays half of that so:
67,000 / 2 = BD33,500

120 cadets:
33,500 * 120 = BD4,020,000

[Nauron]

In what way?

anyways I have no idea about them, I hear many of them are still unemployed, yikes!

[CadetPilot]

A total of 22 Bahrainis are coming to Qatar Airways.
8 arrived today, another 8 next month, followed by 6 in April.

Atleast 12 guys are from Oxford, others from Jordan.
But yes, lots are still unemployed..

[Mike.Park]

Bahrain Government Tamkeen will pay half of the training cost to help Bahrainis - not a loan.

So the country is so desperate for pilots that they're throwing away millions of dinars at anyone who wants to take up flight training - and there's absolutely no requirement to pay them back, and you're free to gain lawful employment with any airline.

Sound economics :bored:

[Nauron]

Well, yeah.

They're doing that for a lot of sectors, not just aviation. Even in aviation alone the initial contract between Tamkeen and GAA is to train 1200 Bahrainis, the majority of those are NOT for pilot jobs.

In the Polytechnic for example, Tamkeen offers sponsorships for Logistics, Engineering, and ICT students (not sure about the new majors that were introduced recently), but not for Business students, god knows there's a lot of those.

In addition to sponsoring education and training, they're sponsoring start-up businesses.

Money spent to benefit nationals is not wasted money ;)

[TheAnimal]

If they dont spend on there young youth than again the protest will come up u see lol !!

anyways its really good to spend on the guys who wanna study !! i like it !!

but honestly if gov is sponsoring for some good field in education than i wont go for flight training !! i will go for any program which will land me a good job in gov departments specially in MINISTRY by doing bachelors and Masters !! and than i can get away with anything i my life and have good respect !! and i will be called as

HIS HIGHNESS THE ANIMAL

FOR THE FCUK SAKE LMAO

[Nauron]

...i will go for any program which will land me a good job in gov departments specially in MINISTRY by doing bachelors and Masters !! and than i can get away with anything i my life and have good respect !! and i will be called as

HIS HIGHNESS THE ANIMAL


dude wth, working in a ministry won't make you royalty, nobody will call you His Highness. :=





They'll call you His Excellency The Animal. :}

[TheAnimal]

hhhhhh !! than wts the use !! lool !!

yea ur week is up !! did u sign the contract with them ?

[Nauron]

no, those guys really love to take their sweet ass time in everything they do. I called on Thursday but apparently they'd already left for home. I'll call again tomorrow.

[ironbutt57]

The intent behing the MPL is simple......Interview and get appointed by an airline as an MPL cadet.....complete the MPL training at a reputable organization, upon completion of your MPL course..return and go to work for your airline that contracted you BEFORE you laid out your cash for the MPL...any other course of action is risky at best, and leaves many high and dry with a useless certificate....you cant even rent a 172 and take your mates for a ride....

[WELCO]

ironbutt57,

I can't figure out why it's so hard for people to understand the huge gamble they are putting themselves at! Why the term "calculated risk" is non-existent among those aspiring pilots while considering this MPL training scheme?!

GAA has brilliantly failed to meet the predefined target for its cadets. It's very clear that GAA could not fulfill its promises to Oxford graduates! Didn't you notice that up until now they have never had the guts to officially announce the graduation of their Oxford cadets? It's because they know that the next logical question will be "& for which airline have you placed them after more than one year since the graduation of your 1st batch? The 2nd batch?? The 3rd?? The 4th?? The 5th?? Anything?!!" NONE!

Okay, they had a very messy Plan A for the cadets to work at Qatar Airways and obviously it didn't work one bit for various reasons! That's fine...But here is another couple of questions..."Where the hell is Plan B?! & where the hell is Plan C?!" What on earth are you going to do with your jobless cadets?!" The answer is... Non-existent! :ugh:

This is undoubtedly, and without any sort of exaggeration, a huge organizational failure! They have screwed around 100 cadets from Oxford and yet they are actively looking forward to screwing another hundred with MPL at Alpha!

This is what you get when you depend on a group of the most consciously uncompetitive people that you would ever see and learn about in creating "airline cadet programs" in any part of the world!:ugh:

Wake up young boys and girls....


Good luck!

[traveller93]

Regarding AAG, it has been run by a bunch of crooks from the beginning and there is living proof that they don't fulfill their employment promises, after the MPL training has been paid in full. What would that be called?

A lot of money for an useless licence....

A few threads have run on PPRuNe since 2007 and they can be checked by those interested to know what type of an organisation AAG really is. The latest threads are here

http://www.pprune.org/middle-east/423554-alpha-aviation-academy-30.html

http://www.pprune.org/south-asia-far-east/281010-clark-institute-aviation-60.html

They will promise an interview with an airline, as mentioned by their employees here on PPRuNe, and nothing else. If you fail, they will wash their hands off you.

Talking about AAG employees.... they have ordered one to move away from this forum and to delete all her posts.... others have gone silent and even those FOs from Sharjah are staying away.

Wouldn't anyone question, WHY????

Be weary, very weary about AAG's business.

[RP-C000]

Taras B.. we see you listed to attend APATS; hope to see you there. AAG management team will be there and we certainly hope we can help you clear up any open items.

See you soon in Singapore :ok:


Prove that I'm wrong.

Show us a name list of the AAG MPL graduates and where they are employed. Sir pls see our facebook page; there are MPL cadets all flying with Air Arabia / Cebu Pacific / Air Phil Express / Zest Air.. you can feel free to contact them directly and ask them questions. :ok: