having been a past student of PRI/CAA i thought i would add my experiences to the onging debate.
for prospective students this is what you need to know about the company:
- for each of the three years of its the existence the company has changed its name. (i wouldn't want to speculate why however anyone with anything between their ears can realise the significance of that)
-i believe 21 students in total have studied with or are currently studying with PRI/CAA and to date only one student has finished the course. while they were some students who indeed were not dedicated enough to finish the course i can assure they were plenty who were. (i was one)
-out of those 21 students none have gained employment through PRI/CAA
-for the fixed wing course the company charges around the 65000euros (100,000 dollars) mark i believe. a canadian would be charged around 37000 dollars for the same course in the same flight school(as of few months back)
-of course every company has to turn profits however PRI/CAA are purely motivated by profits caring little about the type of pilots they want to produce. if a student wanted to leave the course for whatever reason they can expect nothing in refunds even if they had done little flying. i know one student who left the course having paid 35000 euros, cost the company in total (and being generous) 7,000 euros received a refund of pittance. (the case is ongoing so cant really elaborate there)
-for 75000 euros a student can get a conversion to the JAR system however no one has ever done a conversion with PRI/CAA and you can be assured that they would make every mistake possible before getting it right.
it would take an extra 8-12 months for all theory exams and flight conversions, who pays for food, accom and transport during this time period.
-after you pay approximatley 63,000 dollars for food, accomodation and transport you can expect a job instructing.
-as of the beginning of 2008 instructors in Algonquin Flight Centre ( AFC, where you would do your flight training) were getting paid 150 dollars a wk base pay and 20$ per hour of flying. around 8000 p.a. they told me. (thats why there is plenty of instructing jobs in canada and why you would mostly likely get a job instructing on your own)
-after paying 75000euros for something that costs roughly 45000e (taking into a/c conversion) you will have to hand over another 8000 dollars for your instructors rating. in middle of 2008 PRI/CAA was offering its irish students 100 dollars a wk base pay to be instructors and perhaps a watch or something if you do well.
(no $ for flight time)
-PRI/CAA did offer us jobs in Africa instead of instructing but that was just another empty promise.
-on the rotary side of things PRI/CAA offer their course for around 80000 euros (120,000 dollars) i believe. the same course can be got for less than 50,000 dollars. check out helicopters canda in north bay want to check the prices out. they used to take the rotary students from PRI/CAA but that relationship soon went sour like most PRI/CAA's.
- one PRI/CAA student just finishing the rotary course was told to
off! by the company when he asked about employment as per his contract. to be fair they told him to go home and come back in 9 months when they will have a job for him which guarantees no hours flight time. again
PRI/CAA
- the one shinning light with PRI/CAA was the fixed wing flight school (AFC) they have an affiliation with. i felt the flight training itself was very good however PRI/CAA has recently bought shares in the school so im sure it will be operated more like a business rather an aviation orientated school.
-as will all prospective flight schools you should talk to present and if possible past students. however you should be aware of "planted" students like winto22 and ricardo for this company. they care only for themselves, hoping to get students over so they get flight time as instructors, and dont concern themselves with the consequences of students taking out such large loans for no good reason.
in the end aviation it is a very difficult road to walk through however rest assured PRI/CAA will not help you get to end of the road in good shape. all they want is your money and once they have that good luck trying to get anything from them then. your negotiating tool is gone. canada itself is a great country with great people so i wouldnt be too worried about going over there without company. people should be wary of paying lump sums in adavance for flying for with they way the industry is at the minute people will get burned with schools closing because of high fuel prices.
sorry if i rambled on, its been another night of restless sleep thinking about how PRI/CAA
me over