I have family down in Jamaica and there is a flight school down there that costs $13,800 instead of $100K+ in the USA. That school is not recognized by the FAA. People who have went to schools not recognized by the FAA, were you ever able to transfer to the major airlines here in America?

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gromm93@reddit

Aircraft cost, fuel, and maintenance are 3/4 of flight school costs, so even if their mechanic is paid in coconuts, I don't see how it can be that cheap. A lot of places under-quote how much the endeavour costs to look good to prospective students. Mostly by using bare minimum hours for all your ratings, which about 1% of students actually achieve.

Be very wary of any flight school's quote on these things.

As for comparing it to the cost of zero-to-hero schools, well, that's the other way to get ripped off.

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brucebrowde@reddit

if their mechanic is paid in coconuts,

I don't drink coffee, but this still made me spit it. 😂

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TwoEightRight@reddit

This place?

First, look up how easy/difficult it is to convert the JCAA licenses they’ll give you to the FAA ones the airlines will require. IIRC, converting a foreign PPL is fairly simple, but higher certificates you have to basically earn all the certificates again.

Second, add an instrument rating to your list (it’s kind of important for airline flying), and enough time building to actually meet the minimums for that CPL. Otherwise you're probably not making a fair comparison to wherever you're getting that $100k number from.

Just going by what's on their website, I don't think you're going to save as much money as you think.

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BirdLawMD@reddit

Time building is $290/hr in a 152!

My club is $55/hr, even wet with an instructor is like $160/hr

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PrestigiousTraffic98@reddit

Dang! Where is your school? $55/hr solo or sharing?

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BirdLawMD@reddit

Solo, if you join the club at $250/month

https://highsierrapilots.club/n5213q/

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Sushi_Simon@reddit

Ah there is the catch. Too good to be true

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Wooden_Customer_318@reddit

Still comes out to $80/hour solo if you fly 10 hours/month.

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Sushi_Simon@reddit

That is still pretty average for solo rates. Not that good of a deal to be honest.

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wayofaway@reddit

Yeah, looking over it, seems like it won't actually save any money over just going to a school in the states.

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reidmrdotcom@reddit

If it's that place, even their commercial tab says 70,000 USD.

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YamExcellent5208@reddit

Realistically I doubt that 13,800 would even cover the cost for fuel, maintenance etc. for the planes to get an equivalent rating. Not to mention all the flight instructors would work for free and there can’t be any landing fees or other charges…

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12kVStr8tothenips@reddit

They’re referencing all the 141 schools out there that go 0-CFI in 9 months. They’re trash but they make good on the promise if you show up everyday.

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PhillyPilot@reddit

9 months? We do it in 6, lol

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12kVStr8tothenips@reddit

That’s not the norm. Easily done in the 91 world and flying everyday. But most 141 will only commit to 9 months. As a person that spent a lot of time in this world, I don’t think only flying in 2 seasons is enough to be a well rounded enough pilot to teach as a CFI.

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PhillyPilot@reddit

I agree. I took the long road. 6 years

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Philly514@reddit

It’s 60K USD from nothing to CPL (includes multi, night, IFR) Canadian he would be better off to go North

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omalley4n@reddit

Just for context, I spent $62k getting to CFI. That includes an instrument rating, since that's required to be an instructor. CFII and multi added another $10k.

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OpheliaWitchQueen@reddit

I had a similar cost at $75k for PPL through MEI

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life_appreciative@reddit

International scam? Maybe...

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livebeta@reddit

If one is stateside then go to ATP to be scammed domestically! /Jk

Actually what if the Jamaica school was also doubling as a narco pilot funnel...

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life_appreciative@reddit

Interesting experience though!!

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Ok-Lawfulness3305@reddit

Could you move to Jamaica and get a job with the national carrier? You could move to Australia or NZ and be certified here. I've met some pilots who ended up working for Asian carriers. Air Asia based in Malaysia or Jetstart Asia based in Singapore.

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exsnakecharmer@reddit

You could move to Australia or NZ and be certified here.

Why would he do that? (Wouldn't it be more expensive than just doing it in the States?).

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iiifly@reddit

An hour is an hour whether it's in Jamaica or US. So you log it it's fine, whatever it takes to convert isn't a big deal

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Ambitious_Bee9564@reddit

I think you found a great way to spend $139k on your FAA ratings instead of $100k.

Next up, get your law degree from the University of American Samoa. Go Land Crabs!!!

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ScathedRuins@reddit

for christ’s sake. an online course? what a joke!

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polar-berin@reddit

But slippin’ Jimmy with a pilots license? It’s like a chimp with a machine gun!

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yawara25@reddit

He DEFECATED through a SUNROOF!

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pudding7@reddit

Chicanery!

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bigmoneyapollo@reddit

I AM NOT CRAZY!

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Throwawayyacc22@reddit

Check your front shirt pocket chuck

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AlexJamesFitz@reddit

I got a great deal on a law degree from Colombia, I don't know why people say that school is so expensive.

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teamcoltra@reddit

"and now they want me to get one from America"

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AlexJamesFitz@reddit

Six seasons and a movie.

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teamcoltra@reddit

I see you're streets ahead

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ALandWarInAsia@reddit

Oh the Sensai from my online karate class went there!

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Throwawayyacc22@reddit

If it sounds too good to be true….
Don’t know why you’d spend 100-140 in the states, pt61 will have me finished through CFI-I for just under 60, maybe 70 if I don’t get the ratings in the min hours, already 125TT and only about 27k deep.

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rocketspeed12345@reddit

Pilot (im speaking airlines) is generally a square peg in a square hole job. Thousands have come before you on generally the same couple paths. Those paths will be the easiest. Most of the folks I know who try to stray, save a couple bucks by not paying for prep, weird training, blowing off a job in a lazy way that sticks with you, don’t make it.

Invest in yourself and make yourself someone they can easily say yes to.

If you are Jamaican, grew up in Jamaica, and went to flight school there, then converted your licenses, had a couple good US flying jobs, instruction, regionals etc….Great! Interesting twist on the normal path. Are you an American who went to Jamaica to get cheap flight training? That you then had to do conversions blah blah blah big mess, that’s weird. I’m a stuffy hiring manager and I don’t like that.

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hutchman3@reddit

BUMBACLOT

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Affectionate_Ask4364@reddit

Maybe get your private license FAA and build hours down there. Could maybe even do some of the IFR training and multi.

Then could fast track ratings when your back.

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Interanal_Exam@reddit

That school is for treetop flyers...

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IHATEY0UALLS0MUCH@reddit

You’d be better off finding a good school with cheap rates here in the U.S. and time building during IFR and CPL with another student. You could very well finish the primarily 3 for 40k ish. Where I’m Doing my CFI now, you could do it for 40k-50k with time building. Then CFI another 5-6k, multi another 5k or so, you’d be out 50k-60k total. That’s going to be ultimately cheaper, faster and better than going abroad.

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droopynipz123@reddit

You can get your PPL recognized from different countries but any commercial level licensure must be redone in the US. Your hours still count, but potential employers would favor candidates with hours in the U.S.

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DefendTheStar88x@reddit

If a school isnt accredited, the 'degree' i e training isnt recognized.

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iPullCAPS@reddit

Weird. My part 61 flight school wasn’t accredited.

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Clemen11@reddit

You might be better off just buying a plane in the US and flying it to hell and back

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anaqvi786@reddit

All your foreign hours and experience will count. However. You will need to take every checkride again in the US after Private. So Instrument, Commercial, Multi, and CFI/II.

If you’re proficient then it’ll probably not cost you more than an extra $10-15k to get everything transferred. You’ll just be waiting for a checkride date and will need to get your instructors to sign you off.

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Nonstop777@reddit

I fly out of here every couple of months. I’m familiar with CATC flight school that was at the same airport. I used to go there until it shutdown and the planes got repo’d. I would find out how many planes they have and how long your training would take realistically. Everything in the Caribbean is on island time

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Arx0s@reddit

I spent around 63K for Private through CFI, including Instrument at a smaller 141 school. I doubt you’d be spending 100K plus unless you go to one of those big pilot mills.

You’re going have to spend a ton of money to convert your commercial to FAA anyways. Just go to a US school and avoid the hassle.

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Nightcr4wl3r@reddit

This! I've also gone to mom and pop flight schools and have seen similar prices. No bells and whistles or advertising costs, just flight training!

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Shuttle_Tydirium1319@reddit

There’s a great mechanical engineering program at the South Harmon Institute of Technology.

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Hemmschwelle@reddit

It's a gamble, but you might buy your first 20 hours cheap in Jamaica, then transfer to the US. US PPL minimum time is 40 hours, but students take 65 hours on average. So you don't need to ask for FAA 'credit' for the first 20 hours in Jamaica. You can acquire skills in any country.

On the other hand, those 20 Jamaica hours could teach you bad habits that will cost a lot to undo in the US. Your first 20 hours in the US could also give you bad habits as instructional quality varies.

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CapeGreg767@reddit

Do you really think that you are going to get the quality training needed to fly airplanes for a living? There is a very good reason this school is not recognized by the FAA, because they don't meet the basic standards for flying airplanes safely. These standards have been derived from MANY accidents and deaths over the decades. But feel free to save some money, you will just be another statistic in a smoking hole at some point. There are no short cuts in this business and the decisions you make will determine if you live or die, and this is one of them! There is no substitute for quality training.

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Curious-Owl6098@reddit

The United States has the best pilots, best military pilots, and best training period. The only other country that might make sense is Canada but I’m sure costs are the same. Why do you think all these foreigners come to the US to fly from other countries or airlines? I don’t know much about Jamaica. But when you take a look at other countries like Indonesia for example and their airlines and past airlines (Adam air) they have a less than stellar safety record to say the least

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rFlyingTower@reddit

This is a copy of the original post body for posterity:

Edit- PPL, CPL, CFI together will cost $39K. The school is called Aeronautical School of the West Indies.

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