It feels strange having to call you African Drunk, but I don't have a choice, do I?
Your comment about how I run my business, interesting!
If you mean, a 100% safety record, highest standards of training, a most enviable first time pass record, surviving adversity (e.g. JAA harmonisation, 9-11 & the hurricanes of 2004) witnessing the bankruptcy of major companies who took students for thousands in the UK, watching several large companies come and go in the US with CAA/JAA training, and last but not least, having to endure certain personal attacks that forums like these allow - then I suppose I am very proud at the way in which the business has been run and been so successful.
Nevertheless, I have obviously upset you at some time in the past, and it seems at least 20+ of your friends - perhaps more!
What is lacking is a sense of fairness, I am perfectly willing to acknowledge that my way of doing things historically might be too abrasive for some - but your comments today do NOT reflect reality, and do NOT give wanabees a true sense of what is real.
The 2004 hurricanes completely destroyed our buildings some aircraft and to no small extent, dented our desire to go on in flight training - there are some who will gloat at that prospect!
Despite this, today, myself my wife and a small group of dedicated people, are busy completing training for a group of students who enrolled over a year ago, who paid all their monies by June 2004, who were due to complete training just as the hurricanes hit.
Post hurricanes, with all the logistical nightmares, the attraction of giving up was real, beleive me after 25 years in the industry it was attractive! But the right thing to do was to go on and not have them lose hope and potentially a lot of money!
So even though you feel justified in warning all potential prospects to stay well away from IFTA, if you are a genuine ex-customer, and now a professional pilot, I see no reason why we cannot settle our differences.
I agree, those genuine wanabees deserve good honest information - so why not start now?
As a matter of public record, the CAA have authorised me as a Flight Examiner for PPL, CPL, IR, and FI, the latter approval gained in 2004 - this would not happen if there was any doubt about my integrity & honesty in business or in my professional flying roles.
To those new students that continue to enroll at IFTA, they will be getting first class training and a no-nonsense approach to what is expected of them both financially and in their work ethic.
Since the collapse of SFT & others I understand why 50% of our customers pay as they go - that option has always been available, our competitors offer the same choice many of them at a higher price - so I still wonder where the real problems lies!
I posted some weeks ago a response which was critical of the potentail of this forum to put off customers to such an extent that the industry and the customers are harmed - choice is all important - after all where would the wannabees be if the US option wasn't fought for and won in 1995 & 1999 by me as a pioneer and others that followed - 60,000 pounds per course I would hasten to answer.
Today customers can get the equivalent at EFT for only $59,000, and at IFTA for slightly less than that - so even those that in the past complained about a $250 fee for the examiner to be avialalble for them to test, were far better-off.
I see a recent a posting that discourages people from coming to the US because of the TSA - what next?
I remain avaialble to anyone who wants to talk to me directly about any issues.
Stephen Fisher
President, IFTA