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Old December 18th 04, 10:56 PM
Matt Whiting
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NW_PILOT wrote:

I am not looking for any guarantees in the instruction or amount of time I
know that's impoosible to do, it just cought my eye and wonderd what type of
writen guarante they provided. The only guarantees I am looking for is:

That the flight instructor going to be around for a certain amount of time
to finish my training?


You will never get that guarantee. I don't think any business will even
attempt to guarantee that and in most cases can't do it legally.
Indentured servitude went out the window years ago. In our "employment
at will" system, anyone can quit when they want and be fired at any time
by their employer. This is a case of an unreasonable expectation. I
had four flight instructors during my instrument training, including one
at FlightSafety in Lakeland, FL (since closed), that was a complete
disaster. I'd heard a lot of hype about FS, but that location didn't
live up to the hype even a little. It was worse than the two mom & pop
FBOs that I used (one before FS and one after). I finally found a great
free-lance instructor and finished my rating quickly.


That the flight school is financially stable and not in a sale or on the
verge of bankruptcy.


Very few private companies will disclose their financials. The only way
to know this is to only look at public corporations that offer flight
instruction. Their are probably a few of the big ones that are, but you
won't find many.


I want my instruction and rental rates guaranteed for a certain amount of
time I don't what them raising the rates as I progress in training it has
happened once already to me they raised the rates 3 times in 2 months at one
flight school.


Again, this isn't a reasonably request given the volatility of fuel
prices, insurance, etc. The only way you might get this is if you pay
the full estimated cost in advance. You are willing to do that, right?


I want to know if they have enough aircraft if one breaks down or has a
problem it will be fixed in a timly monor or I will have another aircraft to
fly at the same rental rate and that they don't plan on getting rid of the
aircraft anytime soon.


Again, very unlikely you will ever get a guarantee on this. And, again,
you have now pretty well ruled out most mom & pop FBOs and will need to
look only at large outfits such as FS, American Flyers, etc., which come
with their own baggage.


I am not asking for to much I just want to know that I am dealing with a
honest company that's not going to use fraud or deception to make a quick
dollar.


You are expecting way too much for this business in today's environment.
You are asking for way more than honesty and lack of fraud, you are
asking for guarantees on things that no business, let along an FBO, can
provide. I can see now why you had such a bad experience on the phone
with the San Diego FBO. You problem is staring at you from your
bathroom mirror, I believe.


Matt