Flight school delays - Covid19

[clairvoyant]

Are all FTUs accross Canada closed?
Also, are all those flight examiners "grounded"?
Thank You

[Skysurfer_1980]

Just got an email stating the Ottawa Flying club will remain open for flight training, sim training and LOFT training with the exception to ground schools being postponed.

And they shut down the kitchen? Doesn't make sense.

Thoughts??

[broken_slinky]

Just got an email stating the Ottawa Flying club will remain open for flight training, sim training and LOFT training with the exception to ground schools being postponed.

And they shut down the kitchen? Doesn't make sense.

Thoughts??

They had a post on Facebook yesterday that they were staying open. Now the post is gone. Wonder if it was due to backlash or the gov't telling them in not so pleasant terms to lock the doors?

[RedBarn]

Does anyone know why Calgary Okotoks Flights School is still flying when all other schools are not??

[Skysurfer_1980]

Just got an email stating the Ottawa Flying club will remain open for flight training, sim training and LOFT training with the exception to ground schools being postponed.

And they shut down the kitchen? Doesn't make sense.

Thoughts??

They had a post on Facebook yesterday that they were staying open. Now the post is gone. Wonder if it was due to backlash or the gov't telling them in not so pleasant terms to lock the doors?

Probably. Completely Irresponsible to remain open.

[Blowin' In The Wind]

I think everyone should shift their focus a bit more long-term. For sure once people start flying again after the lockdowns and social distancing relax a bit things hiring will start to turn around and there'll still be factors like attrition at play, but I think the past few years of quick upgrades and low time pilots flying turboprops with no ramp time etc is over. There's gonna be a lot of pilots with experience competing over jobs, and training departments everywhere will be swamped trying to rebuild what they've lost.

When I started flying post-9/11 you couldn't pay someone to put you in the seat of anything. It behooves anyone coming into the industry now to be realistic and honest with yourself, and while things will recover, it will take time and it will be a slog. Steel yourself for the challenges ahead, and you'll get through it. If you assume that things will be red-hot again when you finally do finish your training after these delays, I think you're setting yourself up for heartache.

[Roel]

Hey guys, it's great to see all the aviators gathering up here. So I am enrolled at Pro in BC. Barely been a month that I joined and this virus dawned upon us here. As rightly said this is something we don't have control over and we have to take our own precautions to evade from this menace. To my luck, our school has been great in terms of revamping up their ground school course and putting it up online that takes place 4 times a week live with an instructor. This keeps most of us going and at least working towards getting ready for the PPL written.
Also what you guys are using to prep for PPL?
I am using From the Ground up and the course notes from school.
Do provide your inputs so this way we keep the rest informed.
Cheers and happy studying

[Oxi]

Hey guys, it's great to see all the aviators gathering up here. So I am enrolled at Pro in BC. Barely been a month that I joined and this virus dawned upon us here. As rightly said this is something we don't have control over and we have to take our own precautions to evade from this menace. To my luck, our school has been great in terms of revamping up their ground school course and putting it up online that takes place 4 times a week live with an instructor. This keeps most of us going and at least working towards getting ready for the PPL written.
Also what you guys are using to prep for PPL?
I am using From the Ground up and the course notes from school.
Do provide your inputs so this way we keep the rest informed.
Cheers and happy studying

I heard that school took a much slower approach to social distancing etc vs other FTUs in CZBB, before revising their training.

[shamrock104]

Lets get back to the original topic of schools closing down and our second guessing in when they might open again. Flight school owners and management are no different than any other non essential businesses out there at present. On a bigger scale it appears that both the Federal Government as well as Provincial level are running by trial and error. This has caught everyone out and in the grand scheme of things it shows both our lack of knowledge in how to deal with pandemics especially the unknown.
The rules around COVID are changing on a daily basis worldwide and in my opinion we certainly haven't seen the worst of it yet in this Country. Even as things start to settle down I can see the social distance thing remaining in place and that may be a good thing in the prevention of flu etc etc. We all have colleagues who show up to work sick and this has to change.
I believe travel restrictions will be in place even longer when all is said and done as not every country will be coming out of this outbreak at the same time which may hurt this Industry even more.

[Civic]

Lets get back to the original topic of schools closing down and our second guessing in when they might open again. Flight school owners and management are no different than any other non essential businesses out there at present. On a bigger scale it appears that both the Federal Government as well as Provincial level are running by trial and error. This has caught everyone out and in the grand scheme of things it shows both our lack of knowledge in how to deal with pandemics especially the unknown.
The rules around COVID are changing on a daily basis worldwide and in my opinion we certainly haven't seen the worst of it yet in this Country. Even as things start to settle down I can see the social distance thing remaining in place and that may be a good thing in the prevention of flu etc etc. We all have colleagues who show up to work sick and this has to change.
I believe travel restrictions will be in place even longer when all is said and done as not every country will be coming out of this outbreak at the same time which may hurt this Industry even more.

I’m guessing August at the earliest to resume flight training, maybe September!
Sad times!!!

[the future of flight]

Hi guys! I'm new to this forum, though I've been lurking for a little while. I noticed this thread and was really curious why all the flight schools are closed down. I started training about 4 weeks ago and have had no problem getting bookings or flights with an instructor. In fact, I'm already up to 12 hours! The school I'm at has no sick people, and we clean the planes after every flight, so I don't know what the big deal is. All the other schools at the airport are closed (suckers!), so there's never a problem getting circuits too. I know some governments are trying to say flying is non-essential, but I really disagree. We'll always need new pilots. At least I know that my flight training is not being delayed.

[tombrooks]

Hi guys! I'm new to this forum, though I've been lurking for a little while. I noticed this thread and was really curious why all the flight schools are closed down. I started training about 4 weeks ago and have had no problem getting bookings or flights with an instructor. In fact, I'm already up to 12 hours! The school I'm at has no sick people, and we clean the planes after every flight, so I don't know what the big deal is. All the other schools at the airport are closed (suckers!), so there's never a problem getting circuits too. I know some governments are trying to say flying is non-essential, but I really disagree. We'll always need new pilots. At least I know that my flight training is not being delayed.

Spending over an hour at a time flying dual in a small enclosed space like the cockpit of a 152 doesn't sound like my idea of fun right now, as much as I want to get going with my PPL. You can't social distance and the main issue is that you can easily transmit this disease whilst being asymptomatic yourself, so either you or your instructor could get it (and then pass it onto others) without you knowing. Not sure how you can be sure that there are no sick people at your school and that you're perfectly safe when this disease is transmitted by people showing no symptoms?

I'm happy enough to wait it out a few months and focus on ground school until then.

[the future of flight]

I see your only going for a PPL, so I guess that's your choice if you can delay your training. I'm on a career program and like my instructor says, I'll be ahead of all the other students who aren't flying right now. and since the airport is quiet with the other schools closed, we don't get delayed by ATC or anything.

Also, the school won't let you fly if your sick, so I'm not really concerned about getting anything from other people. We wipe down the inside of the airplane so I know its clean. Its all common sense if you really think about it.

[final28]

You don’t seem to understand that people can have the virus and spread it without showing any symptoms, or several days before actually becoming sick. That’s why we have the “physical distancing” rules which you cannot follow in the cockpit of a plane.

[the future of flight]

You don’t seem to understand that people can have the virus and spread it without showing any symptoms, or several days before actually becoming sick. That’s why we have the “physical distancing” rules which you cannot follow in the cockpit of a plane.

If that's really true (there's no real proof - maybe we all have it and the sick people are just weak), why would my school still be open? No one has shut us down, cuz we're doing everything right. My school couldn't be certified if they were breaking any rules, right? So while the rest of you are on the ground, I'm getting my hours. Thank goodness theres common sense somewhere.

[ONCastor]

It not smart that we only rely on what the regulations/government says. legal =/= smart
In the past, some people didn't see "proofs" for flying under some risky conditions. Thus, all those regulations came in throughout the years afterward.

It is "good" that you are still flying but be EXTRA Careful (limited the communication with your peer and hopefully your instructor only takes you as a student) if you got seriously sick. It can end your career too. (Not even saying it can be spread to communities yet. some people just don't care about external cost)

Enjoy flying, be safe!

[final28]

I am surprised to see any flight school still operating. A COPA e-mail from February 24 has an article with the following link to minutes of a TC meeting:

https://copanational.org/wp-content/upl ... -Final.pdf

According to this document "Flight schools and training are not deemed as an essential service"

[Oxi]

You don’t seem to understand that people can have the virus and spread it without showing any symptoms, or several days before actually becoming sick. That’s why we have the “physical distancing” rules which you cannot follow in the cockpit of a plane.

If that's really true (there's no real proof - maybe we all have it and the sick people are just weak), why would my school still be open? No one has shut us down, cuz we're doing everything right. My school couldn't be certified if they were breaking any rules, right? So while the rest of you are on the ground, I'm getting my hours. Thank goodness theres common sense somewhere.

There is plenty of proof! Where are you training?

[TwinOtterFan]

You don’t seem to understand that people can have the virus and spread it without showing any symptoms, or several days before actually becoming sick. That’s why we have the “physical distancing” rules which you cannot follow in the cockpit of a plane.

If that's really true (there's no real proof - maybe we all have it and the sick people are just weak), why would my school still be open? No one has shut us down, cuz we're doing everything right. My school couldn't be certified if they were breaking any rules, right? So while the rest of you are on the ground, I'm getting my hours. Thank goodness theres common sense somewhere.

This is a joke right?

[Blowin' In The Wind]

He's either a troll, or an idiot.

[TwinOtterFan]

He's either a troll, or an idiot.

I'm leaning towards both.... On top of that his username makes me nervous...

[Turboprops]

You don’t seem to understand that people can have the virus and spread it without showing any symptoms, or several days before actually becoming sick. That’s why we have the “physical distancing” rules which you cannot follow in the cockpit of a plane.

If that's really true (there's no real proof - maybe we all have it and the sick people are just weak), why would my school still be open? No one has shut us down, cuz we're doing everything right. My school couldn't be certified if they were breaking any rules, right? So while the rest of you are on the ground, I'm getting my hours. Thank goodness theres common sense somewhere.

Getting your hours? First time seeing people say that in training...

[final28]

Influenced by an instructor who’s getting hours?

[Squaretail]

Influenced by an instructor who’s getting hours?

To be fair, I have heard the "getting in the hours" or some variant of, from at least half of the students I've and prospective students I've talked to over the years. The layman's concept of flight training is something like this:

1. Start training
2. Get in your hours
3. ?????????
4. Licensed pilot!

On the extreme end, I've been too frequently queried about "banging out" the 45 required hours over a weekend. You know, because there's 48 hours over a weekend, so lots of time....

[the future of flight]

http://www.cfc.aero/index.php/covid19

'Nuf said.