Trainee pilots lose tens of thousands after flying schools collapse

Trainee pilots who mislaid tens of thousands of pounds erstwhile their flying schools collapsed are calling connected the aviation regulator to instrumentality action.

Three UK flying schools person closed successful 2023, leaving students who had paid fees successful beforehand facing dense losses.

The British Airline Pilots Association and Wings Alliance, which represents pupil pilots, are starring a campaign.

The Civil Aviation Authority (CAA), which oversees flying schools, said it was "looking cautiously astatine the issues".

But it has been accused of being "asleep astatine the wheel".

Jane Tucker and her hubby Alvin remortgaged their location successful Worthing to rise the £90,000 needed for their girl to bid arsenic an hose pilot.

Mrs Tucker said that contempt being connected humble incomes themselves, they wanted to assistance their girl realise her dream.

The 19-year-old signed up with Shoreham-based flying schoolhouse FTA Global past year. She had to marque a down-payment of £10,000, past wage a further £4,500 each month.

But successful precocious May the schoolhouse went retired of business. That near her parents with losses of £45,000 - and wondering however they would wage for their girl to implicit her qualifications.

"We are astir apt going to person to get much money, oregon get from family," said Mrs Tucker.

"But we are going to person to find it. Being a aviator is each she wants to do," she added.

Similar misfortune befell 23-year-old Zac Chiswell, a trainee aviator from Lanark.

In 2019, helium enrolled with Tayside Aviation, a long-established formation schoolhouse successful Dundee. His program was to summation an Airline Transport Pilot Licence - the benignant needed to alert ample commercialized aircraft.

At the aforesaid time, helium could survey for a degree, done a concern betwixt Tayside Aviation and Middlesex University.

But his grooming was derailed - archetypal by the pandemic which prevented him from completing his mentation studies, oregon crushed grooming wrong the required time.

That outgo money, arsenic helium had to re-sit exams. But worse was to come. In April, Tayside Aviation went into administration.

Because the institution had continued taking payments upfront during the pandemic, the bulk of his fees had already been paid. As a result, helium mislaid £35,000.

Mr Chiswell said helium volition present request to rise immoderate £40,000 successful caller funds to implicit his training. But helium is disquieted astir the hazard of losing adjacent much money.

"It's a hard position," helium said. "Who bash you spot astatine the extremity of the day? When I was looking for determination other to train, I really spoke to FTA Global. Then they collapsed arsenic well. It frightened me."

The demise of Tayside Aviation and FTA Global followed that of different formation school, Bournemouth Commercial Flight Training, successful November past year.

Now determination are fears that others could follow. Insiders accidental schools burned done currency reserves during the pandemic, leaving them susceptible - and struggling to repay accumulated debts.

The run radical has written an open missive to the Secretary of State for Transport Mark Harper to telephone for enactment from the government's hose manufacture regulator the Civil Aviation Authority.

Among the signatories is Alex Whittingham, managing manager of Wings Alliance, arsenic good arsenic caput of Bristol Groundschool, which provides mentation grooming for pupil pilots.

He said the CAA had been failing to supply capable oversight astatine UK-approved formation schools - successful breach of its statutory duties.

"The CAA person been dormant astatine the wheel," helium said. "They request to hole the strategy truthful this doesn't hap again."

BALPA agrees. "Flight schools going bust is financially devastating to hardworking students who merit to person their wealth amended protected from formation schoolhouse failures," said wide caput Miranda Rackley.

"Pilot grooming is amongst the astir costly grooming of each professions, and dissimilar different careers specified arsenic instrumentality and medicine, determination is nary pupil backing available," she said.

The run is calling for enactment to guarantee that successful aboriginal formation schools volition beryllium incapable to instrumentality beforehand payments oregon deposits successful excess of £5,000.

It is besides calling for an manufacture strategy to beryllium acceptable up to support pupil aviator funds.

The CAA said: "We cognize that erstwhile formation grooming organisations participate a play of fiscal distress this tin beryllium peculiarly concerning for each those who person paid monies to that organisation".

It added: "We are looking cautiously astatine the issues that person been raised with america and volition supply an update successful owed course".