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  First rate training standards
Why?
Equipment
Instructors
Location(s)
Jar-fcl
The lowest prices
Why?
Training cost
Flight restrictions
Weather
The hiring game has changed
Why?
Career prospects
School reputation
Job guarantees
Assessment
 First rate training standards
Sometimes customers associate low prices with bad quality. This is not always the case. Let's try some examples:
Discount airlines: Before discounters were around we were used to paying 5 times more for an airline ticket.
Although discount service levels are lower, the price/quality ratio is absolutely stunning.
Webshops: Before webshops like PDAshop came about, we all went to mainstreet and paid 30% more.
Conclusion? A new businessmodel can definitely lead to customer savings without planes dropping from the sky.
Why?
Fleet
-We use an approved "full motion Six-Axis" B737" simulator for our Jet Orientation (JOC) & Multi Crew Coordination (MCC) courses and an FNPTII simulator from Alsim for our instrument rating & and night qualification training. In addition we are the only school offering a Microsoft Flight Simulator (FSX) unit featuring 3 screens, Matrix triplehead2go and a TrackIR unit that creates a stunning virtual reality experience.
-Twin training is done on DA-42 Twinstar aircraft with a full Garmin 1000 glass cockpit. This airplane burns only 40 Liters of cheap JETA1 fuel.
-We are, as fare as we know, the only company offering training on a state-of-the-art Mooney M20E, which is considered the fastest in the single engine piston class. This beauty is fully equipped with Long range tanks, Speed brakes, Autopilot and an HSI.
Instructors
-Our team is very senior. Many have more then 10.000 hours of flight experience in both the airforce and the airline industry.
-You will not find last years freshmen that just completed their FI course as your instructor!
-Our staff does not consist mainly of airline pilots on active duty which means you will have the same instructor for every flight instead of a different one for every lesson. Getting used to a different instructor every time is hard on students. It leads to confusion and will prolong your learning curve (hence cost) considerably.
-Our approach is student centered, non-authoritarian and "unhurried" which leads to a pleasent learning climate.
Location(s)
-We train directly at low density IFR airports with night VFR capability, giving you every flight a wealth of exposure to professional radio communications and real-life procedures. Most IFR airports in Holland are either saturated or 1 hour flight away. So you save a lot of money. Furthermore, night VFR is not allowed in Holland, forcing you to fly abroad first while the meter is running.
-All aircraft come with a full landing subscription, including IFR approaches and night VFR operations instead of the common "pay-per-landing" deal in the Netherlands. This saves you a lot of money.
Jar-fcl
-All our training is JAR-FCL compliant. The EU has devised a very strict set of rules for flight training in 2001 through their agencies JAR-FCL / EASA. As we speak, every 15 minutes of training or briefing has to be logged & accounted for from Iceland to Turkey. So our training is heavily audited & inspected and 100% the same as everywhere else. (See more below, under the header "School reputation")
The lowest prices
Why?
We outsource a considerable volume of our fleet operations to neighboring lower-cost counties about a 2 hours drive from Holland. For students not limited by families or employment that wish to go for the most affordable option we propose facilities in Texas. (US)
The nett flight-cost is as much as possible passed on to the students without a mark-up. However, you are trained by Dutch and English speaking EFA staff in order to guarantee quality and consistency. For these flying services we charge the normal Dutch rates enabling us to make a profit. The result is a high quality but very affordable training package!
Training cost
The low countries are among the wealthiest countries in the world. Furthermore, the introduction of the euro has been seized upon by Dutch companies to increase their margins at the expense of the consumer. Right now prices quoted in euro are basically the same as they were before in guilders. But as we all know, the euro is 2.204 times more expensive. All this impacts you since it increases overheads. These macro-economic facts in combination with the facts stated below make Holland one of the most expensive countries for flight training in the world. Most Dutch flightschools charge around 110.000 euro for an Air traffic Pilot Licence (ATPL) and 15.000 to 20.000 for a Private Pilot Licence (PPL).
Attitude towards General Aviation
There are very few voters that are pilots and the General Aviation market is not very well organised in Holland. General aviation is seen by the general public as a highly polluting hobby for the elite that disrupts commercial aviation. In reality, planes have the lowest emissions & fuel burn per Km of all modes of transport. (Imagine 300 passengers driving with their car to Karachi instead of taking a plane.)
Fact: the carbon /pollution footprint of general aviation is totally insignificant compared to all land transport, industry and energy pproduction facilities. Anyway, as we will see below, this negative attitude towards GA affects your training adversely in many ways...
Taxes
We have seen above that general aviation & airplanes are considered toys for rich people instead of an important backbone industry. As a result this market is literally taxed and restricted to death. Holland can afford to do this because it has no significant aviation industry left: KLM was and is unable to compete with the discounters and managed to escape bancruptcy by selling itself to Air-France. Fokker tried the same with DASA but failed and went bankrupt. Actually aviation gets the same treatment as the car industry. The taxation on cars (BPM+VAT) doubles the ex-works price of a car. Fuel prices and road tax are among the highest in the world. Pay per mile will be introduced soon. Imagine this in Germany, the UK or France which have large and vibrant automotive and aviation industries.
Landing fees
The International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) clearly states that non-controlled VFR fields do not need a towercontroller. All movements are at pilot discretion, which is ideal for training. Not in Holland. Even non-controlled fields are fully staffed and you pay the bill: 15,-to 50,- euro per landing on a small field is common but 50,- to 250,- euro per landing in say Eindhoven or Rotterdam is not exceptional . Imagine the cost when you are in circuit training, landing every 5 minutes... Other European nations still have 1 annual landing fee subscription for homebased aircraft while many small aerodromes are free! Many countries do not charge anything if the wheels do not touch the tarmac during an (IFR) approach whilst in Holland there are approach fee's even for being in the airspace of a particular airport. These fees need to be paid and require you often to land for payment...
VAT
VAT has to be paid over flight training costs while it is waived for the public school system. This adds 19-20% to your bill...
Fuel prices
In many other countries flight training is seen as commercial aviation that qualifies for lower-taxed rates. This means fuel prices for AVGAS or 100LL are 2,25 euro in Holland instead of 1,05 euro per liter in some other european nations.You will burn 20 - 80 liter per hour,
depending on aircraft type and training received. ATPL students need 200 hours...
Flight training margins
Viewing the above, you understand that most Dutch flight schools outsource all or a part of their training to lower cost countries which results in (very) large savings. However, these reductions are not passed on to the students that become debtors for life. For more info about this topic check out our Finance page. So prices for an ATPL still hover closely around the 100.000 euro mark. Note: This amount is excluding the cost of living for 2 year, insurances, accumulated interest and a typerating which can easliy double your initially quoted training investment.
Flight restictions
-Holland is small. The Shiphol area already covers half the country. Then there's the other airports, military aerodromes and the no-fly zones (military, nature reseves etc.). Every airport or modification to procedures needs a MER report. (Milieu Effect Rapportage) Night VFR is not allowed. Al together, flight restrictions are so severe that it is practically impossible to carry out flight training.
-General aviation was abandoned to the "polder" in Lelystad. Then the governement cancelled all IFR approaches in Lelystad due to environmental- & noise restrictions. This means that all IFR flights need to be flown in Groningen or Rotterdam, IF these airportsare not too busy or need to restrict flight movements due to their quota. You understand the real cost to the environment and to your wallet. Also consider the missed training opportunity of flying in a non-controlled VFR field as opposed to a "real" international IFR environment in terms of radio communications and "real-life" procedures.
-Flying visually during night time (NIGHT VFR) is a compulsory part of pilot training. The only problem is that this is illegal in the flattest country in Europe, so you need to do it abroad.
-ICAO states that night time starts 30' after sunset and ends 30' before sunrise. Not in Holland. Don't try to do any circuit training after 18.00 while all movements must be stopped at 20.00 even with sunset at 22.30 in summer.
Weather
Yes, we all know that only the UK beats us on this one... It makes flight training schedules unpredictable and longer. So together with the other restrictions, it causes investments to be written of over 60% of a year instead of the entire year. Note that nothing in aviation is as expensive as airplanes not flying but sitting in the hangar. Companies as Ryanair are able to offer their deep discounts mainly because of a very high score on aircraft turnaround times.
The Hiring game has changed
Why?
Despite all promises, no commercial flight training organisation has the capability to guarantee your job or training investment after graduation. Only KLS (KLM Luchtvaart School) and the Dutch Air Force (KLU or Koninklijke Luchtmacht) can make true on this promise. So always try to get in there first!
Career prospects
However, before you get your hopes up, be aware that the financial crisis and discount airline competition is forcing KLM to reorganize and shed cost. (meaning planes and pilots.) Holland has not been a warring nation lately, so government cutbacks have and will continue to have a severe negative impact on military recruitment. We estimate that both organisations put together need to reduce flightcrew instead of hire new pilots in the coming years. Imagine what this means for the selection process... Anyway, if you manage to get in you certainly have "the right stuff" and your worries are over! All others, read on!
Other aviation nations (Germany, France, UK) and emerging markets (Asia, Turkey) have a thriving aviation industry with Germany being no. 2. in the world and the UK plus France 3 and 4. THE AMOUNT OF WORK AND THE SHEER SIZE OF THEIR AVIATION INDUSTRIES IS INFINITE IN COMPARISON TO HOLLAND. Most dicounters are from these countries and they are the only ones hiring now. So creating your network abroad is definitely a big plus.
School reputation
-In the old days before the liberalisation of the market, the so called "flag carriers" like British Airways, KLM and Air-France were the only
option to fly for both pilots and travellers. If you did not come from the right school that was owned by, or close to one of them you were in trouble; If you did not graduate from p.e. KLS, Sabena Flight Academy or NLS you simply could not get in. Everyone knew that, so those schools could charge big bucks. Today, the situation is completely reversed: KLM has been sold to Air-France, Sabena went bust and the discounters are determining the market and they enjoy a rapid growth. These airlines have the jobs and a strictly merit based hiring policy: ONLY your performance during the SIM check and the assessment counts.
-Before 2001, flight training was an open profession in Holland and abroad. Basically, everyone had a lot more freedom and could work as an individual instructor. Students did not even have to attend a school but assembled hours with private instructors and took state exams.
Naturally the methods, training standards and quality differences were huge. The EU did not think it was a very good idea that training for one of the most responsible professions was virtually unregulated compared to the legal- and medical professions. So today flight training is one of the most strictly regulated educations around. All flight training organisations and operators must adhere to a very strict set of rules called JAR-FCL / EASA. Every 15 minutes of training or briefing has to be logged & accounted for in exactly the same fashion from Iceland to Turkey.
Assessment
KLS (KLM Luchtvaart School) and the Dutch Air Force (KLU or Koninklijke Luchtmacht) either pay for your education or give you a job guarantee.
You understand that this is why their selection process is very tough. They need to reduce their risk. Now, the commercial flying schools are in a different position: They carry 2 hats: They need to select the right candidates but they also need your business. You understand what this means for the selection process. But there is a catch, most airlines assess their applicants in roughly the same way as KLM / KLU.
Now the following problem arises: More then half the applicants are able to obtain their licences and ratings, given time and motivation. However, this is not the case for the airline assessments. So the streets are lined with ATPL's that never get hired. The importance of an independent assessment cannot be overstated. As the saying goes: "It is better to be safe then sorry ".
Conclusions
Is it all bad? No of course not! But "think before you act" is especially true when it comes to flying(training). To help you find your way we have some well meant advise
-Get an independent & thorough aptitude asessment
-Train abroad in order to benefit from much lower prices and to be close to larger jobmarkets
-Weigh the financial risk against the job prospects & your flight aptitude
-Pay as you go without commitment, forcing the school to serve you well. If they don't, you can always go elsewhere
-A second mortgage is often a lot cheaper then a student loan
-Keep your debt as low as you possibly can. Even work during your study
-Think carefully if you want spent a large part of your life away from family and friends
-Accept that you will need to build experience and hours, perhaps as an instructor before you will even be considered
-Know that the aviation market is very cyclical. High tops followed by deep lows. You should treat flight-training as an investment portfolio and invest anti-cyclical: If you start training when the market is up you will be ready the moment it falls apart. Start in a low and be ready (Graduated, 1500 hours total time + 500 multi-engine) when the market is picking up.
Plan ahead for this and network. Remember: "It is not what you know but whom you know"
-Take the modular training route instead of an integrated course. Modular training is a lot cheaper and getting ratings and licences step by step leaves you in control in case you do not like the school after all.
-You can save a lot of money by selfstudy (p.e. ATPL theory by distance learning.) Ofcourse you need to be right type; self- motivated with the right educational background
-Get advise from insiders.
Questions?
The above is just a limited selection of all issues that play a role. We also know that at this stage every answer generates more questions.
If you are note sure what to do and need independent, personal advise contact us. Don't worry, we will not start charging you the moment we shake your hand.
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