Unfortunately for those who are trying to be optimistic about BAA, I have to agree with almost everything written on here.
Let's begin with the positives:
Ground School (Vilnius)... Very good. Structured fantastically and with ample time to sit your CAA exams every few months.
IFR (Spain)... Very good, Cessna 172s are in great condition, FIs are brilliant and bring a wealth of experience.
MCC (Spain)... Very good. Great sims and fantastic facility in Barcelona, FIs also, albeit all 15 hours are squeezed into 3 days.
Some of us avoided the Lleida winter fog for 4-5 weeks as we were the guinea pig group for the Castellon base.
The Head of Training in Spain will go out of his way to help students.
And for the rest...:
VFR (Spain)... Shambolic. Students being assigned as flight dispatchers, and if you were from a particular country in Southern Europe, you'd get preferential treatment. Tecnams always in maintenance, and if you were to have an engine incapable of idling on LY-FTMayday, who's fault is that? You, the student. So get prepared to pay 230EUR per hour if you require to retake a lesson (or fail a check). Speaking of prices, 315EUR for the C172 and 460EUR for the MEP are the going hourly rates. I wouldn't be surprised if BAA charged you more for a Tecnam SEP than you would pay to hire a 747.
MEP (Spain)... This I can only describe as a spectacular disaster of monumental proportions. 2 multi-engine aircraft, that for much of the year, are either grounded or occasionally grounded. Going through the MEP phase is like wishing upon the heavens that something doesn't go wrong in those 8 hours of flight. Turkish Airlines cadets (who have more priority than the Queen of England), ATC Controllers from Vietnam, Tapk Pilotu (Lithuanians only) and then the rest known as "normal students"(Wizz, Smartlynx, Avion, LOT, indepedent students, modular students), for just 2 aircraft. Some students took 2-3 months to complete the MEP phase, some took 3 weeks. Not to mention, you now have to complete MCC BEFORE sitting your CPL & MEP exams. I guess the money that could have been invested in more aircraft was used for the 2 new Avia Solutions buildings and the random big bull statue in Vilnius.
But the worst of all is the attitude from the hierarchy at BAA Spain. Too many managers and no one takes any responsibility. The Ops Director who's lack of experience adds to the fact that he is as useful as a getaway car with a flat tyre. Admin staff who are not always polite to you, and let's not forget the 2,350EUR price tag for PBN and AUPRT that goes up by 100EUR every so often.
Get prepared to be pushed down the pecking order on the sims if a client who's not paid yet decides to do a MCC course or type rating.
And finally, don't buy in to the fallacy of being recommended to a "partner airline", unless you wish to wait for a disguised pay-to-fly scheme like Smartlynx or Avion Express. Wizz Air are lacking pilots and already have type rating dates, yet BAA tell you that they're not hiring until next year. Please correct me if I'm wrong, but I don't know a single independent student who's got into Wizz, perhaps BAA will use the COVID19 excuse for the next 20 years.
Last edited by FreedomAirways; 25th Jan 2022 at 22:55.