MBA/MSc programmes in Air Trasnport Management
Being an alumni of Cranfield ATM programme and being from India here are my inputs. Some of this may not be what some guys posting here asking for information would like to hear but then truth may not always be palatable
1 Embory and Cranfield are still the best bets or a full time programme. City is of course wll regarded but unless things have changed it is still a part time programme for working executives. Most of the others are a waste of time and money.
2 Specific to Cranfield, facilities are good faculty is okay but when I was there they seem to have the first priority for their own research than to the students. Also they hold a lot of "short courses" who also get preference of the faculty time. A very good library with good access to databases - the best part I guess of the programme.
3 Placement assistance is mediocre to say the least. If it is a boom year (and aviation is wonderfully cyclical in that regard), a few companies may come along, if it is a bad couple of years - we had 9/11 and SAARS coming in successive years - then forget it you are on your own.
4 The economics for people from my part of the world particularly if you have financed the course with Bank Loans is NOT IN YOUR FAVOR ,especially if you are a fresher. Of course many of my country men now have a lot of money to throw around - in that case it is not a bad choice - better pay that bit extra to go to Cranfield than Buckinghamshire or Inverness but again that is no guarantee you will get a job back home. There is a university in India which offers a similar programme at less than half the cost and with a much better placement record.
5 With virtually every teeny weeny country asking me to get a visa in my advance even for a casual visit thanks to my nationality you can imagine what the situation is with regard to work permit. Air Transport managers are not a scarcity occupation in UK (indeed because of the recession half the natives are going to places like SIN or Middle East where a lot of my country men find work so competition is stiff even there), but a Indian nurse who is not even a graduate will find it easier to get a work permit in UK than an Indian MSc graduate from Cranfield since nursing is a SCARCITY occupation . So except for a lucky few hardly anyone gets a work permit in UK after finishing this course
6 Indian job scenario is not bad but you mostly have to get in on your own. Waving a Cranfield qualification most times will not even get you an interview for the simple fact that most of the decision makers have not even heard of it. The department does hardly anything - most major employers hardly boast of 2-3 Cranfield alumini. Harvard boasts of an impressive alumni network, the management programme at Cranfield (The MBA school - not the Air Transport Dept) does much better but the ATM course is zero in this regard with regard to India. Most people I know who have got placement here (and it is hardly a couple of dozen) were either experienced and who got in by their OWN HARD WORK in some cases waiting for a couple of years with non existent placemeent assistance or got lucky in graduating in a boom year. The Indian course which I am speaking about has no such problems as they are aggressive in promoting their course and actively seek placement assistance for their students. Their students are everywhere from GDS to airpots to Airlines but the ATM department is still not bothered .
To sum up, unless you are well established financially (and even then think twice) or have an industry experience of a few years, it is not worth taking this course especially if you are a fresher. And bank financing for this course from India is strictly to avoid. For the same money you can put yourself through IIM (Indian Institutes of Management) and your placement chances in the aviation industry in India will be TEN TIMES more than the Cranfield ATM programme. Ofcourse there is one major difference - competition to get into an IIM is 100 times more difficult that getting into the Cranfield ATM programme. Just because you are an aviation enthusiast doesnt mean that you will die without doing a specialized aviation programme- indeed in the Indian context the smart thing to do is graduate from IIM , get a placement in a good aviaition employer anywhere not just India and after a couple of years your employer will gladly finance your course at City or Cranfield or Embory and you will be much better off than graduating from Cranfield.
Cheers
Balamurali - if I have to revert to you please turn your PM facility on.