Atlantic flight training Cork
 

some recent review about them over here?

Is hard to get information from ex students and reviews in general. There were some threads on pprune some years back, but I am looking for more up to date information.

Seems to be a very professional organization with good reputation. all the training is carried out at Cork international airport. with highly experienced instructors. they have been training some pre selected cadets for air astana throughout these years.

The price of integrated is about 62000 eur with Mcc included which is not so bad, bearing in mind that modular is other option and would be obviously considerably cheaper. However, the weather in Ireland may become a serious issue,causing delays in the training , Cork city has an average of rainy days of 160 per year...:eek:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9OS0nFvsuO8

Any idea, suggestion or rumours about them are appreciated.:)

Hi nalt24,

AFTA is very good. 2 1/2 years ago I was looking for a flight school for my son (I preferred to do the selection being in a more objective frame of mind), and I selected AFTA after careful consideration and due diligence, and I have been proved right. I followed my son's progress since he started - he has now finished - and I'm quite happy of having chosen this school. They don't make any false promises like they'll find the student a job, or that they have close ties with airlines.

The instructors are knowledgeable and they are very rigorous in their training. The fleet - made up of Cessna 172 and Piper Seneca - is well maintained, and they have just recently acquired a B737NG fixed-base simulator for the MCC/JOC course.

Yes, they do have a batch of Air Astana cadets and they also have quite a big batch of Air Lybia cadets too. But their planning is good and not detrimental to other private students. You can also check with them that this won't affect you, if you want.

Obviously, the weather is not perfect. A course that you would finish in 16 months might go to 18-20 months because of this. But their professionalism far outweighs this.

As for the debate whether to go integrated or modular, or to go only on a tagged scheme and not self-sponsored, or to go to CTC/OAA/FTE Jerez because they have ties with airlines, there are ample posts on this forum which treat these subjects.

Good luck in your search (it took me 4 months of browsing the net every evening and going through numerous websites of different schools in various european countries and different fora like PPrune!). But you'll have to make up your own mind after weighing the pros and cons and doing your own due diligence.

PS: By the way, the price of Eur62,000 is a bit old - that was 3 years ago. It's nearer Eur70,000 now.

Thank you Pigeonvoyageur for your reply.:)

I am swamped .This is a very tricky and important decision especially due to the high financial risks involved. and every little detail must be taken in consideration. But anyway after months searching and looking for information ,like you did 2 years ago for your son, I have realised that this is a combination of so many factors that you can´t control all them, that nobody has a magic formula that will work for everybody and that everyone has to figure out by it self what is the more suitable option, depending of your personal situation.

However if you don´t mind I would like to get some adittional info , but if you don´t want to answer is completely understandable, but be aware that for a wannabe with common sense the following questions are a big important part of the gig.
Did your son receive some support after graduation in order to find his first interview? did he get some contact during his time at the school? did he gain employment throughout these years?

Regarding the price, I have contacted with atlantic and as I already have a PPL, I get a reduction of the total amount, which is currently 69000 eur, adding up around 62000 eur after the reduction.

Thank you for the information shared. It really helps.:ok:

I couldn't recommend them highly enough. Great staff, great operations and a very good fleet. Training is to an extremely high standard, and as has been said, they do not make false promises in relation to job opportunities or affiliations with airlines. They have Air Astana and Air Libya cadets currently training at the academy, and ive heard on the grapevine that there are at least two more national airlines sending cadets to Atlantic to be trained this year and next year.

As for the weather, no it's not ideal but it trains you to pay closer attention to the weather and meteorological conditions, and in my opinion contributes to making your skills at that bit sharper. I speak regularly to the Libyan cadets there and they seldom complain about the weather or flights being cancelled, there is a brilliant system in place there to ensure that all students fly the maximum amount of hours possible throughout their course.

You should get a flight to cork and have a look at the school and their facilities, I'm sure they would only be delighted to show you around before you make your decision.

whilst I don't have any opinions regarding the school in question, I wanted to comment the 160 days of rain situation - for some 70-80% of those days it will rain only for an hour or two, they are not your continental rainy days with low cloud that lingers around for days... weather in Ireland (and other North-West European coastal countries) can change pretty quickly

Martin 123 makes a very good point.

Also, the instructors at Atlantic in Cork are very capable and familiar with te weather at Cork, they obviously have minimum conditions that thy cannot fly in but they are not deterred by low cloud or rain so long as the ceiling and visibility are within the assigned limits and they will ensure to get you flying whenever possible.

nalt24,

Regarding your questions, I can't comment since my son has just finished and he'll start looking for a job at the beginning of this year. We'll see how it goes. Let's look at it this way, it doesn't mean that if you don't go to Harvard, you won't get a job.

Thank you guys for all your comments and support: ok: I will make a decision throughout this week.

Was at their seminar this evening in Dublin, very informative with plenty of guest speakers from previous graduates now flying biz jets to RYR captains. Their total price for their Integrated course is €63,000.

Integrated Course
 

PigeonVoyageur,


Out of interest, how much of an issue did your son find the weather to be? Did his course run over the 16 month time period they advise?


When you say "their professionalism far outweighs this" do you have any examples of how they cope with the famous Cork weather?

Hi Flyer_46,

Concerning the weather, it wasn't much an issue - a little bit annoying only when he had a flight scheduled and cancelled because of bad weather. Yes, because of this, he took 20 months to finish.

When I say "their professionalism far outweighs this", I meant that the quality of training that one gets from the instructors there outweighs the fact that one has to have flights cancelled because of bad weather - even if this means that the course might overrun the original quoted 16 months.

How do they cope with the bad weather? When the weather is bad, it's bad and one can't do much about this, but when it's good, they have the students fly from dawn to dusk even on week-ends - my son had quite a few early morning and week-end flying.

Anyone have any updates or know anyone who has recently been hired by an airline after graduating from AFT? would consider going there myself. Thanks

Have you asked the school about accommodation? They have a lot of apartments rented in the Arcadia complex for the Libyan and Kazakh students, might be able to get you something there. You could also try the likes of the CIT/UCC student accommodation places such as deans hall, parchment square etc, there's a couple of them in bishopstown and more on college road.

Maybe try Ballincollig also but rent isn't cheap there, nice location though.

I'm starting down at AFTA in July too, my course is starting on the 27th though.

Yeah cork is turning into a bit of a nightmare to find accommodation. Worth trying the Univeristy (UCC/CIT) areas, would definitely be good to find cheap short term accommodation until Sept with all the students gone for the summer. City centre seems to have a good bit of accomodation too. Depends on what you are doing for transport (bus/car etc)

Feel free to drop me a PM man

Hi Guys,

Subject to me passing my renewal for my class one medical in the next two weeks, I will be joining you in the next integrated class too, starting 27th July.

From speaking to Sharon at AFTA she advised getting short term accommodation in the likes of Deanshall, Eden hall etc. for the first month in order to just settle into the course before getting into more long term lease agreements.

If anyone wants to drop a line you can send me a PM also.

Might be beneficial to set up a private/closed facebook group to easier communicate, if someone hasn't already.

Talk soon guys!

Hi Guys,

Ive a few questions about AFTA if any of you have time do you mind if I drop you a PM? just vary basic questions regarding accommodation and ht school itself.

cheers

Accommodation/cost of living
 

Hi Guys

I am hoping to commence training at AFTA this September for the integrated course.
I Have a few questions needing answered if someone could help!
I will be funding the training through finance and I am concerned about the cost of living for the 14-16 months I will be based in cork.. Has anyone an idea on the cost of accommodation, day to day living , general budget to get by?
Also are there any hidden costs in the 72,000€ integrated course?

Appreciate any tips or guidance
Cheers

I am due to start the ATPL theory course in July. Accommodation could be from €400-500 a month. There is also a website that compares the city you are living in now to Cork. Just type it into google and it will give you an idea. It is a little bit less expensive than Dublin.

Thanks for the reply.

It looks like it will cost another 10,000 just to get by for the 16 months down there. Probably looking at about 85,000 to get through the whole process. Really having difficulty with the banks though at the moment trying to get the finance. Really thought would so many job prospects with airlines at the present time banks would be willing to help finance the training but seemingly a lot of them were badly stung before in giving out unsecured loans to training pilots.

@Gretsey - Yeah it is a grey area with a lot of people trying to finance it themselves.