hey Ace
I havent got no beef with you, nor anybody else for that matter, everyone is entitled to their own opinion a point which I think you'd agree with me on.
PAC have never said they wasn't middle men, in fact that is one of the reasons why most students joined PAC, I mean, you wouldn't buy a 40k house without going to an estate agent - a middle man if you may, so why the hell not go to a middle man for your flight training? and if it saves you a bit of money and gets you into a job at the end, even the more better!
when I was in PanAm, this 'middle man' attitude helped me out no end, there were a few niggling probs with PanAm, a phone call to PAC & they were sorted. its all well & good going it alone, but for paying the nominal fee they charge, its a great deal better having the clout of a company looking after your interests. They never trained only with PanAm or only with EFT, but rather with both, if PanAm were full, then the students had the option of either waiting for PanAm or going to EFT - students best interests were always the primary concern, and if there was a problem, no matter how small or large, PAC jumped in very quickly to sort the matter out.
You reffered to Pooleys being used for the ATPL manuals - I assume you're studying your ATPL's and if so have probably come across these books. You'll be able to see that these books are very very good and is also seen the same way by the industry. To the point that BaE systems are using them (they train the airtours cadets), OATS have commissioned Jeppesen for their ATPL manuals who have actually sent them to Pooleys for a rewrite. No they havent got their own manuals yet, but have you seen how much information is in them to rewrite in your own way?!!! Thankfully I have regular contact with PAC with my studies and can actually see the things that go on, again they're a new company, with setting up a new company there are a lot of problems that need ironing out, but believe you and me, there are also a lot of things in the pipeline, things I personally feel that will make PAC one of the best training providers in the country. Yes I agree with you that they should have their own in house flight training, but did you know it can take a very long time to be approved as an FTO?
& finally the contacts, I'm sorry for you if you're suspicious, I would be too, but I think that you missed the whole ethos of the college when you came to the seminar... Honesty & integrity is what PAC (especially its students!) aim for, two aspects that have more or less dissapeared from the training industry at the moment and instead turned into a mega money making marketing game. I for one saw this & trusted them, along with a fair few others (yet to be proven wrong), and all firmly believe that we will get to that elusive goal of the right hand seat with the assistance of PAC.
