Air Transat Ascension Academy pathway program

[co-joe]

Like the Flair pilot program and the Jazz Approach program, I just don't understand who the target market for this type of cadet program is supposed to be. How many 17/18-year-olds have access to $160,000 to pay for such a program in today's economy? Even with assistance from the bank of Mom and Dad, that's an awful lot of money. Are they banking on international students filling out the majority of the positions?

What's the first-year FO pay at Air Transat - $64k/year? How long will it take you to make a return on your investment?

If you take what I paid for flight training and a college diploma in the 90's and adjust it for inflation, this is about 40 grand more than I paid, give or take a few bucks. Now, if you had the fountain of youth, and offered my my 20's and 30's that I spent chasing this seat back for 40 grand, I'd be on my way to the bank right now. Sure it built character, whatever. A seat in a 737 straight out of school, no eating shit for 30 k a year up north? No paying 6 grand for an instructor rating for a job that pays 14 grand a year?

Remember with the Jazz program, you have to have an undergraduate degree in hand to apply. Those don't come cheap...

[currysonic]

I think a CAE ran program is going to be fantastic and your going to become a quality pilot coming out of the program. But anyone doing training in the US should be aware that parts of the program syllabus may or may not have 2 pilots logging PIC at the same time, allowable up to 50hrs I believe (please crosscheck). Transport Canada will recognize your CPL conversion, but when it comes time for your Transport Canada ATPL application, depending on how you document your PIC time, may not recognize a portion of your PIC time. This means even if you get PICUS with an airline in Canada you might be short a significant amount of hours you need to find a way to build yourself.

I still think its a good deal, but people should be informed so they can ask the right questions to the program administration so they can make an informed decision for themselves.