When faced with the difficult prospect of selecting somewhere to train it can be overwhelming given the number and variety of choices worldwide but in our experience no matter where you decide to gain a commercial license certain factors hold true every time.
Q. Will the training and the licence I hold at the end of it be attractive to my future employers?
From AAT the answer is a resounding yes! The Fiji Licence issued by the Civil Aviation Authority of Fiji is a fully recognised and audited ICAO licence. Airlines and other aircraft operators are interested in your experience gained during and after receiving your CPL MECIR, by selecting AAT and Fiji you will have already shown a desire to go the extra distance and receive training in a challenging and varied environment.
Q. I’ve seen websites for schools with very grand sounding names claiming that airlines look to them for their future pilots, why isn’t AAT advertising this?
That’s simply because these claims are false, what airlines and general aviation employers are interested in is you the person and your flying experience. No private training organisation has the direct line into a major Airline. What we achieve is to give the student the right tools i.e. licences and experience to go and start their careers within the minimum amount of hours mandated by ICAO anywhere in the world.
Q. Does the size of an organisation make any difference to the training I receive?
Without doubt, the bigger the organisation the further you are as a student from the experienced instructors. In effect you may well end up receiving training from someone with only a few hundred hours more than yourself. At AAT, Wayne Hinton is one of the most experienced instructors in the business and you’ll be flying with him regularly. With Deborah Hinton overseeing training, we have an experienced ATPL Metro training captain assisting and monitoring your progress. She is someone who has actually been there and done it, again experience that is hard to find at other training establishments.
Q. Does where I live make a difference?
That’s a bit harder to define, remember for up to 12 months you’ll be studying hard and flying most every day so there is little chance of earning an income. The cost of living in Fiji is very reasonable e.g. a rented 2 bedroom house costs on average F$700 a month in Nadi and food, travel and entertainment are cheap too. Also studying here gives you a great opportunity to live in one of the most beautiful and friendly places on the planet. The Fijian people are extremely friendly and with English spoken by everyone, communicating is straightforward. There has always been an international flavour to Fiji and different cultures and peoples are welcomed here.
Q. What’s the weather like for flying?
The west coast of Fiji really only has 2 seasons a year, the dry season in winter with average temperatures of 25C and the summer season, which technically is the wet season but this side of the island does not see nearly so much rain as the east. Very few days are lost due to weather and the climate is very pleasant to live in.
Q. Can you guarantee me a job at the end of the course?
The answer is simply no; any such offer made by a training establishment should be viewed very carefully. Training in Nadi, a truly international airport will expose you to a very busy commercial scene. With tourism and demand for flights in the area on the increase, there are undoubtedly opportunities in this part of the Pacific and Worldwide. Being a part of that from the very beginning of your training would definitely be an advantage.
