Hello Everyone!
I'm in need of your advice: especially of those of you who work in the Lufthansa group and/or those who did their licenses at European Flight Academy.
My question in need of an answer is: WHAT ARE THE REAL ODDS OF BEING HIRED BY A LUFTHANSA GROUP AIRLINE AFTER HAVING COMPLETED EUROPEAN FLIGHT ACADEMY'S ATPL PROGRAM?
Here's briefly my story to give you a better picture: becoming a pilot has always been my lifelong dream, however I didn't get my chance to embark on this journey until now. I spent the last two years gathering information, and I hopefully plan to start my training in 2020.
However, I don't have all the required funds to complete a full ATPL course at the moment, so my only options are getting an unsecured loan (nearly impossible in Italy, where I come from), get accepted into a Cadet program (either sponsored or offering a secured loan), pay for it myself while working or enrolling in a program that offers financial aid.
For these reasons, I sent my application to European Flight Academy's ATPL course. This choice seems very appealing to me because of the good reputation of the school, the ability to "finance" the course by paying it off later on when you are hired in the Lufthansa group and of course the job prospects.
In the school presentation they said "we haven't had a single student so far who completed our program and didn't get hired by a Lufthansa group", however this is not a cadet program and nothing is guaranteed.
Moreover, should I be accepted into this course, I would have to relocate away from home for about two years, and being an integrated course it would be nearly impossible to work and study, so this means I should take into account no less than an extra 20.000 euros (non eligible for funding) for housing and living expenses.
My other main alternative is a modular course from an FTO near where I live. I visited the school and I was left with a very good impression: their offer is very solid, the cost is about the same as EFA's ATPL, however should I go for this route there would be no need to relocate: I own my house so I would pay no rent/mortgage, have a normal life while doing the course staying close to my friends and family, and I could PROBABLY be able to work at the same time in order to finance it.
Moreover, I was told that from 2020 on they are planning to offer a financing option via an affiliated bank, so this makes this program even more appealing.
However, after completing the program I would be on my own when looking for a job (actually, I was told that the school is discussing an agreement with a well known low cost airline to recruit FOs from the graduates, but it's not confirmed yet).
So the bottom line is, should I be accepted into both programs, the most important thing I will take into account my decision would definitely be the odds of finding employment, and given the overall more costs involved (relocation, ecc.) I would go on with EFA only if the chances of landing the first job would be sensibly higher.
I'd like to know your opinion over this, and I thank you in advance for your time
