Flight Schools Going Bankrupt and Devastating Future Pilots - Shields Aviation Corp.
Joshua Woodruff
I am 22 years old and recently gave up everything in my life here in California to
attend a flight school that promised 270 flight hours up to the status of Advanced
Flight Instructor, Advanced Ground Instructor, and commercial instrument
multi-engine pilot with a turbine course. The school was Shields Aviation Corp. in
Jacksonville, Florida. I sold everything and pulled every string possible to get
there, and convinced my Aunt & Uncle to cosign a $20,000.00 loan from an outside
education loan agency that was recomended to me BY THE SCHOOL for me to attend. The
cost of the school, which was to last about a year, was $19,750.00.
I drove to Florida by myself, and had pre-paid the cost of the school approximately
8 months in advance. Between the time I paid and the time I attended, the school
had (without my knowledge) filed chapter 11 bankruptcy, which still allows them to
operate, but means their not doing very good. I arrived there, got my "guaranteed
housing" (a dirt hole), and after a month of intense training the school filed a
chapter 7 conversion, closing it's doors for good.
Now please don't get the idea I'm some dumb idiot who has a rich family, wanted to
fly and picked the first flight school I found. My family is fairly poor, I scraped
to get the money. I researched this flight school intensely - no reports by BBB, no
complaints from consumer affairs, recommended by FAA, and in business for 17 years.
I waited about 2 years to make my final decision. This was a career path for me
that I wanted to make sure would be a success.
After they converted, my only option was to file a proof of claim with the
Jacksonville Bankruptcy Court. Wow. If you know bankruptcy, you'll know I will be
lucky to get pennies back on every dollar I paid. LUCKY. I have to PAY $400.00 A
MONTH FOR THE NEXT FIFTEEN YEARS OF MY LIFE TO COVER THIS LOAN FOR ABSOLUTELY
NOTHING. This has all but ruined my chances of becoming a full time pilot in the
next five-ten years. With this size of a debt behind me already, I find it hard just
to pay rent and buy food and gas, let alone start pilot training again.
IF ANYONE OUT THERE HAS ANY SUGGESTIONS/HINTS/ADVICE/TIPS/SUPPORT/DIRECTION TO GIVE
ME I WOULD APPRECIATE MORE THAN EVER. I AM AT A TOTAL LOSS, AND LOVE TO FLY. MY
ONLY WISH IS TO CONTINUE MY FLIGHT TRAINING AND FULFILL MY DREAM. MY EMAIL ADDRESS
IS jo...@premenos.com.
Thank you so much for your time in reading this. Please respond either to my email
or to this article. Thank you so much.
-Joshua Woodruff, Future Professional Pilot
Joshua Woodruff
Allen Miller
Joshua Woodruff <jo...@premenos.com> wrote:
[...Sad tale...]
>IF ANYONE OUT THERE HAS ANY SUGGESTIONS/HINTS/ADVICE/TIPS/SUPPORT/DIRECTION TO GIVE
>ME I WOULD APPRECIATE MORE THAN EVER. I AM AT A TOTAL LOSS, AND LOVE TO FLY. MY
>ONLY WISH IS TO CONTINUE MY FLIGHT TRAINING AND FULFILL MY DREAM. MY EMAIL ADDRESS
>IS jo...@premenos.com.
If this story is correct, and they have really filed Chapter 7, I'm
afraid your prospects of ever seeing more than pennies on the dollar
are very small. Unfortunately, it will also likely take months or
years before you ever see any settlement at all. You will be in line
with all of their other creditors. I hate to endorse the legal
profession, but I think you would be very smart to spend a few hundred
more dollars and visit a lawyer experienced in bankruptcy proceedings.
This first thing someone from the net told me when I was gathering
information about learning to fly was "Never pay in advance." The
general aviation industry is just too volatile, and FBOs and flight
schools come and go. There might be a few extremely well established
flight schools, such as FlighSafety, that aren't likely to go Tango
Uniform within the next few months. Aviation programs run by
universities or community colleges are also likely to be stable. In
this case it looks like you learned an old and difficult lesson.
IMHO, the question I would ask myself if I were thinking about
enrolling in one of these schools is "Would I buy $20,000 worth of
stock in this outfit?" The risks are similar, and I would want to see
financial statements, reports of assets versus debts, cash flow, etc.
Items such as these are not usually given in the recruiting
brochures. On top of the basic cash flow problems, there are many
other factors that can conspire to shut down a flight school.
Insurance rates can change drastically and part 141 operations can
have trouble meeting FAA requirements.
--
Allen Miller PP-ASEL KB0NDD mil...@lamar.colostate.edu