Oxford Aviation Training
I went to Oxford for one of their open days and then later for assessment. At the time I was keeping my options very open to what route I was going to take. I can't deny I was impressed by what OAT had on display. Nice clean modern facilities, their own range of 1st class ATPL texts, initial training in the USA, a modern fleet of aircraft, links to all the airlines, a little uniform and a name badge for you to wear, a 737 sim for your MCC......................bloody hell, hold on here.......after 3 years working for a sales and marketing company I was ready to take the 'Oxford sales and marketing model' back to my employers...these guys were damn good!! They had all their best students on parade that day (incidentally 3 of them that I met now have jobs with BA - I know this from looking at Oxford's student Alumni site) and they all seemed to have been briefed on what and what not to say! We had a fantastic motivational talk from one of their head honchos, who spoke of this miraculous employment boom and of the global pilot shortage. OAT's long standing history with the airlines was highlighted again and again, and my favourite line of the day, "when you go to major airports like Heathrow and Gatwick, the majority of pilots that you see there are Oxford men and women!"
By the end of the day, I would say that if you had given about 90% of the people who attended the open day a piece of paper and a pen, they would have asked "where do I sign?" And this was, I must admit, all done with very little mention to COST. Sure HSBC loans were spoken about, and the 'play it safe figure' of £60,000 was banded about, however what wasn't mentioned was the cost of everything else. Living expenses, travel, and heaven forbid should you need them; exam and test resit fees, extra lessons, and finally, the pres de resistance, the £20,000 for the TYPE RATING that you will probably have to shell out for!!
Anyway, being a dunderhead, I was hooked and signed up for assessment. It was after all, the number one FTO; it would give me a better chance than any of getting a job. After all I would sale through the training with no problems what so ever with this lot!
Well, I went back for assessment a few weeks later and the rosy Oxford picture didn't seem so rosy. This time, all their students were on parade, and some weren't so happy. I spoke to some who were struggling a little and felt they were being left behind. Some others told me to forget budgeting for £60,000 - it would take £80,000+; especially if you were living away from home. And all this trooping around in uniforms reminded me too much of school!
Sure, I spoke to others that were loving it; they were off to Phoenix in a few weeks and were doing well. I met a few guys who already had been forwarded to BA for interview and they hadn't even done their MCC yet! But one thing that I couldn't get out of my head was what if I didn't do so well here, what if I struggled, what if I got left behind? Would Oxford be interested then? Well to be perfectly honest, I'm not so sure? As a result, I gave up on Oxford and the whole integrated scene after that. It wasn’t for me, and I’m not sorry about it!
Last edited by Callsign Kilo; 28th Nov 2006 at 10:49.
Reason: context