Hey Scroggs
If it is of any help. usually every batch in the Cranfield MSc will have an ATPL and a few PPLs, all acquiring the additional qualifications of being a bean counter in times of a down turn!
Abdel
Dont undervalue the constribution of freshers in this programme. The prospectus says every student should have a "demonstrable interest in aviation " and at least in my batch, the screening processs seemed to have been successful in that way. Also the students come from literally every point of the globe and in that respect alone, the course is very good!
Tutor attention - Quite misleading since half the faculty jet set all over the world for the department's consultancy projects (not to speak of their annual vacation as well). So you will often find classess rearranged to suit the facutly rather than for the benefit of the students! This was very much in evidence in our year, in which for "administrative reasons" the forecasting elective was conducted AFTER the major case study presentation and to make it worse all the case study groups were given the invaluable post case study feedback that "your forecasting skills are not upto the mark!". Naturally, nobody had a clue when the presentations were being done, when they weren't yet taught the nuances of the subject!
Regarding carriers - the university has a careers office - but not the department (while they indeed have an admissions officer among the faculty!).
And ATM is a specialised course where networking plays a big part.
Put it this way, I reached the final round of interviews at two major airlines in my part of the world (and at that time we just had 5 in the whole country) and despite these famed industry linkages, the panel hadn't even heard of Cranfield (and this was a high level interview panel with subject specialists and not just HR people). It isn't very amusing to know this after you spend a king's ransom to get in and do the course
Employabilty and Career benefits are there, all the more so esp if as I said you are a EU native. But for outsiders (who incidentally paying 5 times the fees prop up the course and I guess some of the faculty as well), the course is poor value. Most of us who were from the latter group went back to our previous employeers (in my case , I was lucky to get my job back , because I had to resign my job earlier to join Cranfield!).
Not trying to discourage you, but dont read too much into the hype! Go and ask hard questions in the open day and dont just beleive all what the brochures say! Ask them for some alumini contacts working in the industry (and who has paid their own way for the course) who you can speak to., speak to them as well and then decide!
Good Luck!