Airways has always put on a good show at events. Even their buildings have all the trappings of a good company. When they first took over AFT at Coventry, they gave the place a new lick of paint, new carpets in the foyer, pot plants, new uniforms, flash new website etc., decals and signage everywhere but in the background, . In fact very little changed, if anything things got worse.
Large turnover of staff, at one point, the records showed more staff had gone through the school than students.
The image they portray is all smoke and mirrors. Mr Atalla (The original owner of AFT) has tried to turn things around and injected considerable sums into the school. But reading what is written in Companies house records (annual financial reports and filings), then the school needs much greater throughput of students to be a viable concern. The school tends to take on riskier students from North Africa and the Middle East (Libya and Kuwait mainly). These students do not wish to learn the intricacies of flying or the theory,( just what button to press and when to press it, not why do I need to press that button and what happens when I press it) . They dominate the school and the school "cow tows" to them to the dissatisfaction of European students. I friend of mine whilst working for them in UK, was asked and they attempted to coerce him into signing students off as having completed the requisite attendance and training and falsely sign to say they had passed the school exams to a satisfactory standard so that the students could be entered for their CAA exams. He did not agree and left the company shortly afterwards.
I am not surprised that they had lost their training approval, if the CAA had done a check on them, I'm sure they would have found a multitude of problems. The company tried a few years ago to change things around by moving to Oxford, just few hundred metres from CAE OAA, this time calling themselves Airways Aviation Oxford (AAO). Hearing that CAE OAA were holding open days, they would coincidently hold an open day and intercept potential students and try and wow them with the smoke and mirrors act. They offer low cost courses (designed to undercut CAE OAA) but it turns out that with recourses and additional costs etc, the cost works out similar or even more expensive in the long run. The move to Oxford was at a cost, big newer building on expensive real estate with high lease costs and overheads which is all listed in the annual returns (some of which were filed late resulting in charges). They do have some success (offering military to civil crossover courses, willing students with military funded training allowances) and should be expected for them to achieve their ATO status. But when you look at the numbers, they are far fewer than the reputable schools. Most of their flying training is moving (or has moved) to Huesca in Northern Spain. Cheaper to run operations there.
So overall, be very careful when looking at this school. Take a look under the carpet and behind the scenes, look for the rubbish that has been swept under the carpet and the cracks that have been painted over. Ask lots of questions and make sure you get answers. At stake is a lot of money, you're hard earned or borrowed money. Make sure you are getting a satisfactory deal. One question should be: Who is the Authority they are operating under, and what is the current state of the approval, are they EASA or CAA compliant?
Last edited by Stn120; 13th Jan 2019 at 13:27.
Reason: spelling