Bad experiences with Egnatia
What i received from students from different periods of study:
1. Wizz Air Cadet Priority: The academy prioritizes Wizz Air cadets over others. This means you might only get to fly a handful of times each month, dragging out your training to over 36 months. Many of us finished way later than promised—some after nearly three years.
2. Constant Money Demands: Be ready to shell out an extra 15k-20k euros beyond the official price. They take all your money within the first 9 months, asking for €12,500 every two months. After that, they’ll continue demanding more for various “reasons.”
3. Stressful Training Program: The training is designed to be stressful, forcing you to pay more. Their “Special Report” program makes you repeat flights if your performance isn’t up to their standards, costing you €300 per hour on the DV20 and €650 per hour on the DA42. With over 200 flight hours logged, repeating flights makes no sense—it’s just a money grab.
4. Unstructured and Inflexible Training: The program isn’t tailored to your needs; instead, it feels like they’re constantly setting you up to fail just so they can charge you more. The schedule is chaotic, and they often delay your training with no valid reason.
5. Terrible Living Conditions: Kavala is not a good place to stay, especially for Muslim students. There’s nothing to do, no halal food options, and anything you need requires a two-hour trip to Thessaloniki. Getting home is a nightmare too, with no direct flights and much higher travel costs from Thessaloniki.
6. Unethical Practices: The academy holds meetings to strategize how to take more money from you. They’ll schedule flights when they know you’re on vacation, ensuring you miss them and have to pay penalties. It’s a never-ending cycle of them finding new ways to drag out your training and empty your wallet.
7. Decline in Instructor Quality: The best instructors have left the academy, and many of the current ones were just students themselves not too long ago. The quality of training has plummeted as a result.
8. Aircraft and Airport Mismanagement: While it may seem like having a lot of aircraft and their own airports is a good thing, it’s actually a disadvantage. These factors only lead to more wasted time and money, especially during IFR training, where you’re constantly shuffled back and forth to Kavala.
9. Hidden Fees and Extra Charges: They’ll hit you with all sorts of hidden fees—whether it’s for additional ground school sessions, unexpected exam fees, or surprise maintenance costs on aircraft. None of this is made clear when you sign up.
10. Poor Communication: The administration is terrible at communicating with students. You’re often left in the dark about your training schedule, and any complaints or concerns are either ignored or brushed off.
11. Unreliable Scheduling: They regularly cancel or reschedule flights at the last minute without any explanation, making it impossible to plan your time effectively. This leads to further delays in completing your training.
12. Limited Support for International Students: If you’re coming from abroad, don’t expect any help from the academy. You’re left to figure out housing, transportation, and even basic living arrangements on your own.
13. Overcrowded Training Facilities: The facilities are overcrowded, with too many students and not enough aircraft or instructors. This leads to long wait times for flights and limited access to simulators.
14. Lack of Accountability: The academy takes no responsibility for their shortcomings. If something goes wrong, they’ll find a way to blame it on you, even if it’s their fault.