[SOURCE]
https://www.pprune.org/south-asia-far-east/547616-scam-asian-institute-aviation.html
As much as we love discounts, discount offers from aviation schools are sketchy. If the standard training price is worth about , and a school offers it a marked down rate of say, 800 thousand, then by all means double check the credibility of that school.
Legitimate aviation schools charge expensively because of the facilities that will be involved in the training aren’t exactly low-cost. Remember that you will be taught how to fly so these schools must have state-of-the-art equipment to simulate the flying experience as close to the actual thing as possible. Of course, there will also be times that you will be working on the real thing and that entails costly expenditures.
Pilot training doesn’t come cheap but it’s an investment that will bear fruits in the long run so might as well put your money where it will count the most.
For the past few years, there is a group of agents in Malaysia that take students to overseas to undergo flight training at cheap rates. Most commonly in nearby countries the fees range from RM 250-300k. Way cheaper than flying license in Malaysia. By this, the students who go to him, are attracted by the sweet promises. You should first understand that in Malaysia FAA is not approved but only EASA. If you do a FAA license & when you come you still have to spend another 150k to do the conversion. The conversion is called abridge course. Some of the schools are not AFTO’s so make sure to do a web search before registering. Their rates are usually in USD.
You can usually meet them at Education Fairs in a Small Booth. Please roast them if you have ever met them. Ask as many questions until they give up. They would say better do it abroad rather than doing in Malaysia. If you are really passionate follow my advice, not theirs. But most of them don’t know that its almost impossible to convert to Malaysian license and the hidden course behind it.
1 – They are sweet talker, they will present you they are one of the best school in Philippines ( In general yes, Flight and Ground Training ) But, very very bad management. They never mention that you will have to do a conversion to work in Malaysia.
2 – Contract stated 212 flying hours, but they will only give you 160 hours in total ( the remaining hours will be conducted in a simulator, but they will never tell you this )
3 – They take 2-3 months to get your SPL ( No update will be given unless you call them)
4 – Exam ( PPL, CPL, ME), they are gonna take forever to get the documents ready. I know some of the students waited for their exam for almost 2 months and more. ME is Multi-Engine.
5 – Contract stated entire course will be finished within 10-12 months, but in fact, formal students took 24 months of finish their CPL/IR/ME
6 – Accommodation is covered but electricity bill is not ( did not mention in the contact but it will be billed into your account )
7 – They told parents transport is provided by the school whenever students need to go down manila for the exam, visas, etc, but the truth is students have to take public transport and reimburse to the school. ( FYI – reimbursement take 3-4 months or maybe more )
8 – Mr A is the manager of this school, he never picks up your call unless you ask for bank account number!
9 – They offer CPL/ME/IR, but they don’t have a regular ME instructor, formal students had their ME training maybe once a week with a part-time ME instructor.
10 – Most importantly, they said this is a job guarantee program with A320 First Officer. In fact, there is no such thing ever exists.
11- This is actually a no-brainer and the surest way to confirm if the school is legitimate or not. Don’t shy away from asking certificates such as those from CAAP (Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines). If you want to check if the school you’re eyeing at is certified, check Air Transportation Office’s (ATO) official list on this page. The list has all of the approved flight and maintenance schools in the Philippines.
12- They also say once you get 400 hours you don’t have to do a conversion. Who the heck will do 400 hours in just flying school. Even 200 hours takes just 2 years to be completed.
To Avoid getting conned by local agents, please do a survey around from experience people. By this, you can save money and time. The agents might claim themselves as doctors and captains but they are conman actually. They do this in order to get a commision from the flying school whenever a student is sent. Take my advice and don’t regret it later. I have contacted many of their victims who went to Philippines. Currently, they are undergoing license conversion at Malaysian AFTO’s.
If you are still not convinced. Go ahead and join the school and welcome back to Malaysia. Hope to see you in one of the flying schools doing ground subjects. Ask yourself why the Company like Malaysia Airline and Air Asia are not sending their cadets to Philippines. There must be some reason behind it right. Take our free advice
There are several other agents as well. But this is a famous one. The latest news states that no school wants to take abridge anymore.
