For anybody out there who is considering FTE as a training school for modular or integrated, I can assure them that it is not on the brink/skating on thin ice/on its last legs etc. Yes, the average intake at the start of the year was not huge, but then the students who came were those who had been recruited by the former owners (BAE Systems).
I don't know why Angels 15 has such a chip on his/her shoulder about the place, but let me put the record straight.
1. Two ex-Prestwick instructors were given the boot. Of the others, they did not leave on Wednesday and start again on Thursday (note the use of capitals). They remained employed with BAE up to the time of the management take-over and were then re-employed after the Christmas break at the beginning of this year. It may or may not be true that they received exactly the same salary, the difference was that they lost their BAE Systems pensions.
2. The cost of integrated training is not 100000 Euros, it is 92000. A lot of money but the difference does buy a lot of beers.
3. The last airline "big cheese" who came to Jerez promptly placed 11 KLM/KLS students with the school. The students start on the 20th September.
4. It may be that the current ground school staff are not ex-RAF, but then how many other schools have an all ex-RAF staff? In any case, the background of the instructors is irrelevant, it is the exam results that matter. For anybody visiting please feel free to ask what they are - I am sure the school has nothing to hide in that respect and can probably hold its own with most other places.
5. Jerez has at least one ex-airline pilot as a flying instructor. On top of which the MCC/JOC instructors are also ex-airline. Just for the record, since the training is for a single pilot IR there is no real benefit in having a former airline driver as an instructor (this is not meant in any way to denigrate any ex-airline pilots who are flying instructors). Perhaps Angels 15 can give us the numbers and ratio of former commercial pilots employed at other schools!
If anybody still has any doubts then the best thing I can suggest is to get in touch with FlyUK who seems to be one of the satisfied customers. Alternatively feel free to PM me.