What is the current state of the industry?
Although September 11th had an immediate impact on pilot hiring, the industry has rebounded and offers a positive forecast for all types of pilots in the short and long terms complimented with the forthcoming retirement of Vietnam-era pilots.

What are the employment options as a professional pilot?
There are numerous options for professional pilots including, but not limited to: the regional airlines (regional jets and turbo-props), major airlines (large commercial aircraft), corporate flight departments (Lear Jet, King Air, etc.), air ambulance operations, crop dusting, scenic flying, etc.

What is the salary potential for pilots?
The salary potential varies between sectors of the industry. Initial- first time hires should expect to earn $25,000 a year with relatively large increases coming very quickly. A professional pilot who has been actively employed for 5 or more years has the potential to earn between $50,000 and $100,000 a year. Pilots who have been in the industry for more than 10 years can see annual salaries in the $100's.

What is the process to become employable as a professional pilot?
Employers hire pilots based on the ratings they have received and the amount of experience they have acquired. The experience level is based normally on the number of flight hours logged. At Airgo, you will acquire the ratings in phase 1 of our career development process and acquire the flight hours through our paid internship in phase 2.

How does the Guaranteed paid CFI internship work?
We offer a commitment for commitment. For pilots who start from scratch or take a majority of their training with us (from the instrument rating on) and complete our career pilot course, we offer a guaranteed position upon graduation. Since we cannot offer this guarantee to everyone, we reserve that obligation for individuals who commit to the entire professional course from at least the instrument rating on. Any others who have went though some part of our program may be eligible for employment as an instructor, however they will only be considered after the guaranteed hiring pool is considered.

How long will the training take?
Because of our structure and "work-at-your-own-pace" curriculum, the timetable to complete the professional courses will be in direct relationship to your desire and work ethic. If you are motivated, you can accomplish the entire course in 9 months or less. We have had individuals complete it in a little over 5 months and have placed pilots with the airlines in less than 14 months after their first flight.

How long might I expect to be a CFI before I have the amount of flight hours needed to become employable?
The amount of flight experience that employers will consider varies depending on the sector of the industry and the specific employers in each. Currently, the industry is  again experiencing an increase in the demand for pilots , however a minimun of  1000 flight hours are still required by most regional airlines and corporations for first time hires. In the past it was conceivable to be eligible for hire with 500 hrs of total time and could occur in less than 6 months of instructing.

However, considering that the more flight time you have in total and multi-engine hrs will dramatically benefit you in getting through the initial training with the airlines, you may opt to continue instructing for a longer period of time.

What is the success rate for students getting a job upon completion of your program?
To date, our students who have completed our tprofessional pilot development program have been 100% successful in landing a professional flying job. We do have students quit on occasion, but to those who were committed and worked the process, they have all found success and are now living their dream.

Do you have any formal agreements with any airlines?
NO but  GoJet Airlines will consider our graduates first with priority over all other applicants. GoJet is a new airline operating brand new CRJ700's. Our graduates who are currently working for GoJet are delighted with the company.

Do I need a degree?
It depends on which sector you intend to work. A lot of employers do not have a formal policy on college, but it is still something they can use to weed out potential candidates. To be competitive for a Regional Airline position, you likely will want at minimum an Associates Degree.

What are Airgo's options for a degree?
We have an affiliation with a local college where our students receive college credit for all of their flight ratings at no additional charge and immediately upon completion of each rating. We feel that this may be the best, most cost effective pilot degree program available anywhere.

Do you have on-staff examiners?
Yes. We have an examiner on staff . This will be an advantage as this will save you time an money , not having to travel to the examiner's location

How does the financing program work?                                            You can finance as much (or as little) of the training costs, and you can include living and housing expenses. The programs will defer the payments until after you have finished training so that you can allow your new career to pay back the educational loan that got you there.

Does your cost estimate include housing expenses? This depends on your wishes. International students will receive a flight training estimate that will indicate the amount to budget for housing.

What are the housing options?
We have several furnished apartments that can be rented to our students. This can be a shared or single occupancy. Most of the appartments are less than 5 to 10 minutes from our facility. Centralia has a relatively low cost of living index. You can budget $300 to $500 a month for very comfortable arrangements.

Why is there such a diverse difference in pricing between the different training organizations?
The bottom line is that you will need to get your basic ratings no matter where you train. Some programs do not provide, what we consider, a realistic price estimate. They leave out a lot of the incidental and secondary costs that will be money out of your pocket. Secondly, some programs have big names and they tout a "guaranteed" interview - considering that it is not a guaranteed job, just an interview, might be of concern to you. The prices associated with these programs may run as high as 40% to 100% more than Airgo's.

Is the cost estimate I receive realistic, or should I expect to pay more?
We understand that the FAA minimums are just that; minimums, and that most people need some additional training to enhance their skill and knowledge in order to pass the final stages of training. We think it is a disservice not to consider this, so we examined our past students and established a realistic, attainable, all-inclusive price. It is conceivable and likely that you will complete your training in less than what we estimate - it happens all the time.

How big is Airgo?
By some standards, we are quite a bit smaller than some of the "bigger name" flight schools. However, we are very, very involved in our day-to-day operations and do our utmost to make our school the best in the country. We are not looking to be the biggest; just the best.