"Law of silence" ??? / Why not to train at PTC - an insight from the inside
To Halfwayback :
Why would posts (such as the one from Sept. '11), just pointing out facts about PTC, be deleted by moderators ? You say "due to the content". What kind of reproach can you make to such a post, apart from being very bad publicity to PTC ?
I've been there. I spent almost 2 years training with PTC. Those 2 years were 2 years of fighting to get something I had paid too much money for.
WHY NOT TO TRAIN WITH (or against) PTC :
- over priced : selling American flight time at European price. For a plane that costs 180$/h to operate (all inclusive except instructor)(and you will notice I'm speaking in DOLLARS), what YOU pay : 525€/h
- material/personnel : massive shortage in planes and instructors. Some get grounded for WEEKS before they can get to an airplane.
- CUSTOMER relationship : "at PTC, we tend to work as an airline". Fine. That's a very noble goal with regards to training. That's not when you're the management staff, student support staff or anything else than an instructor. First thing I was told by basically the head of the school who was there by coincidence when I made a remark to them : "you wouldn't say that in an airline". FINE again, let's work as an airline, PAY ME and I'l just shut up and go to work. They abuse of that commercial argument to manipulate students and make them do what THEY want them to do. They "forget" that the students are CUSTOMERS before they are students.
- instructors : even though PTC are a "professionnal flight school", training "professionnal pilot" who put "professionalism" at the top of their ads, WHO is professionnal pilot among the team there ? When I was there 1 year ago, TWO instructors were, only ONE having been engaged in real world ops on a jet, and they managed to fire that very guy. Except those two, NOT A SINGLE GUY who had ever flown a plane bigger than a 2x180hp Seminole !!!
They say they train us "like professionnals", but NONE OF THEM has ever been in the commercial world, apart from a flight attendant !!! The instructors were really nice overall, some were quite good, but they just have NO CLUE of what flying commercially is like.
- cadet pilots contracts : they way PTC students were split when I was there was :
~50 independant students, paying for their course
~150 cadet pilots from an Eastern Europe airline
Needless to say this contract for 3/4 of the students affected the treatment you received depending on wether you are a cadet, or an independant. Some of these guys were violent to other PTC students => not a problem. Some were drinking underage in the US => not a problem. Some caused a lot of trouble on the US campus => not a problem. You would do HALF of it while being an independant, your visa was cancelled, go home, good bye, see you in Hell !
To finish on something positive about them : facilities in Ireland are great. The planes are just 5 wrecks that should be in a plane cemetery or recycled as Coke cans, but the houses and the new building are nice.
To make it short, there is no longer a single reason to sign with PTC. Ah, yes, maybe the fancy uniform with overrated stripes on your epaulettes and the nice pics you'll upload on facebook to show off to your friends. That's all.
PS 1 : These are just FACTS, from someone who has been there, not just rumours or "I hear that..". I hope this post will be seen by others, who will take it as valuable information before they sign with PTC. Otherwise, that says it all about PPRuNe.
PS 2 : no offense meant to anyone personally, this is just about PTC as a (dis)organisation.