Selecting flight school
Joined: Dec 2023
Posts: 3
Likes: 0
From: Manchester
Don’t fall into the marketing trap with Leading Edge. All I’ll say is go check their finances, and then you’ll know whether you want to invest £100,000 with them or not.
L3Harris have cancelled UK operations for new classes, and cancelled the 3 classes that were meant to start on the back end of 2024, (I know some of them personally) The students were left with no communication after having paid their deposit. And asked to signed NDA’s after their class was cancelled
You’re only realistic safe options would be either modular
Or Skyborne and FTE Jerez, they seem to be the only big ATO’s in the UK that actually know what they’re doing.
But as always, do your own research, and make your own decision before you chuck £100,00 to anyone
Good luck with your training!
Joined: Mar 2023
Posts: 94
Likes: 11
From: Ireland
There aren't too many to choose from for someone looking to do the traditional zero to hero path nowadays.
You should really look at all options as there are multiple paths you could take. They will generally be cheaper and not too different in terms of time.
Whatever you do, do a lot of due diligence before handing over a penny. Do not just fall for marketing or a good sales pitch. Do not fall for an assessment which passes most people.
Visit the school.
Talk to real students out of the earshot of staff. You need to find out about whether the school is meeting promised timescales, costs and whether the students would recommend the school overall.
Look out for whether the instructors/ non-sales staff friendly and approachable.
Look at the aircraft. Think whether they look in good condition or not and whether there are lots of 'inop' stickers everywhere. If it's a nice day and 3/4 of the fleet are sat on the apron, it's only sensible to query why.
Try to sit in on a class or even backseat a flight.
Look at the school's financial and operational standing.
Whatever you do, don't pay masses of money up front. Ideally pay by credit card. Debit is second best and bank transfer is the least secure option for you.
On the schools, CAE, for example, has had massive delays. They sent a lot of their easyjet students to Spain when there was basically no capacity for them to fly there. I am pretty sure most of them would advise you against it.
There are UK CAA schools outside of the UK which you might want to consider. FTE Jerez is one example and I've only really heard positive things about the place.
Take note of what the person above says too. Certain schools are on the brink and they will take your money with them when they go down.
You should really look at all options as there are multiple paths you could take. They will generally be cheaper and not too different in terms of time.
Whatever you do, do a lot of due diligence before handing over a penny. Do not just fall for marketing or a good sales pitch. Do not fall for an assessment which passes most people.
Visit the school.
Talk to real students out of the earshot of staff. You need to find out about whether the school is meeting promised timescales, costs and whether the students would recommend the school overall.
Look out for whether the instructors/ non-sales staff friendly and approachable.
Look at the aircraft. Think whether they look in good condition or not and whether there are lots of 'inop' stickers everywhere. If it's a nice day and 3/4 of the fleet are sat on the apron, it's only sensible to query why.
Try to sit in on a class or even backseat a flight.
Look at the school's financial and operational standing.
Whatever you do, don't pay masses of money up front. Ideally pay by credit card. Debit is second best and bank transfer is the least secure option for you.
On the schools, CAE, for example, has had massive delays. They sent a lot of their easyjet students to Spain when there was basically no capacity for them to fly there. I am pretty sure most of them would advise you against it.
There are UK CAA schools outside of the UK which you might want to consider. FTE Jerez is one example and I've only really heard positive things about the place.
Take note of what the person above says too. Certain schools are on the brink and they will take your money with them when they go down.
Joined: Feb 2025
Posts: 9
Likes: 0
From: London
Choosing the Right Flight School – Any Recent Feedback?
Hi everyone,
I’m looking to start flight training soon but still deciding on the best school. Lately, I’ve been researching FTE Jerez, CAE, and Skyborne, but I’d love to hear from people with recent experience at these schools—or any other recommendations you might have.
A few key things I’d like to know:
I’m looking to start flight training soon but still deciding on the best school. Lately, I’ve been researching FTE Jerez, CAE, and Skyborne, but I’d love to hear from people with recent experience at these schools—or any other recommendations you might have.
A few key things I’d like to know:
- How was the quality of training?
- Do airlines consider these schools respectable when hiring?
- What’s the state of the aviation industry at the moment? I understand there’s high demand for pilots, but is that translating into strong job prospects for recent graduates?
