Complaint Review: The Airline Academy TRUSTED BUSINESS | Ripoff Report Verified™ …businesses you can trust. The Airline Academy has been recognized as one of the finest aviation training facilities in the world. The Airline Academy trains at the Daytona Beach International Airport by carefully selected instructors. The Airline Academy focuses on the students and provides the most comprehensive training available. - Daytona Beach Florida

Oh my goodness I'm shocked that this so called academy is still in business!! I fed finitely feel for the poor souls, who fell victim to this establishmentoo it's been 10 years for me but I can see that little has changed. I stayed at the Sun N Surf but my class was told that we were to be the last class to stay there because they had sold the property and were moving to a new location down the strip (I think it had a genie theme or something Arabian, don't really remember) But I do remember the less than pleasant accommodations. After leaving Florida I came home to surprise and applied to Comtinental Airlines, was interviewed and hired.

Years later I would move back home securing a position with Northwest who them merged with Delta. Each airline trains their employees, NOTHING I learned at the Airline Academy was helpful. It was a waste of money!! Less than the almost $7000 it is now but still rather pricey. If I can give any advice, safe your time and money, apply directly with the airline. Many of them have open house-type interviews all they the country pretty often. with Northwest I found out about the open interviews, went to one with my résumé, after a brief 20 minute chat they sent me down the road to have a drug test and I was hired 1 week later!! Just have confidence and go for it, you'll be so happy you did!! Good luck to all ;-)

The Sun N Surf Motel has been providing housing to our students since the year 2000. We did move them briefly to the Seascape Inn (for roughly 2 years), but moved them back to the Sun N Surf when students began to complain that there were limited restaurant and entertainment options in the vicinity of the Seascape Inn.

In contrast, the Sun N Surf is located on the beach in the central tourist district of Daytona Beach and is within easy walking distance of Ocean Walk (restaurants/movie theater), Peabody Auditorium (venue for musical theater productions), the Ocean Center Covention Hall, Main St. (primary venue for Harely Davidson Bike Week), Daytona Lagoon (waterpark, laser tag, go carts) and the Boardwalk.

I don't know where you are getting the impression that our housing changes on a regular basis, but if it is because you find current pictures of the Sun N Surf unrecognizable from those posted previously, this is strong evidence to support our claim that many positive improvements have been made to the property. Thank you for your feedback!

Whoa horsey!

I don't know anything about that Sun N Surf, but I daresay this complaint was filed long before you were even using that hotel!

Kind to think of it, I noticed how you change hotels almost every couple of years. No offense to the school or anything but anyone would find that type of behavior suspicious.

Just saying!

Please visit our blog with current photos of where our students lodge during their training. Our housing representatives have done a excellent job making the rooms comfortable for the students. I have no doubt that our students will enjoy their stay here! Please call the main office with any questions or concerns. 

http://sunnsurfstudents.blogspot.com/

~ The Airline Academy 

Student Services 

Attention to anyone thinking of attending this place. Save your money!!! You are not required to attend a place like this to become a flight attendant nor will anything they teach you help with your endevors to become one. Do not listen to their sales pitch. Its BS. The airlines dont care. In fact, they want your training to come from them, not some shady outfit like this place. Seriously the job requirements to be an FA are simple. Have a pulse, a little customer service and a lot of flexibility. That is it, nothing else is needed. Give it shot, look on Indeed or individual airline websites and just apply. Every regional airline is pretty much hiring FAs right now. Airlines like Express Jet and American Eagle will even fly you to the interview. The Airline Academy is a complete scam. Im a former Express Jet FA and can tell you, its not rocket science, easiest gig I ever had. No experience needed. Good luck. 

It is absolutely true that all airlines are required by the FAA, (Federal Aviation Administration), to train their candidates on their own equipment and procedures. We make no secret of this. Unfortunately, a sizable number of new hires (25%-35%, including college graduates),routinely fail their airlines in-house training, resulting in their dismissal.

The Airline Academys 3-phase program was developed with input from several airlines to produce trained candidates who have already mastered the most rigorous aspects of airline in-house training.  For the past 7 years, the safety and evacuation portion of our training has been contracted by JetBlue University in Orlando, FL and was previously provided for 10 years by Delta Airlines in Atlanta, GA. 

As a result of this training and preparation, 99% of hired Airline Academy graduates have successfully completed their individual airlines in-house training. This is why airline representatives visit our campus monthly to recruit from our graduating classes. They are confident that our graduates are a safe investment.

Like any company, The Airline Academy aspires to achieve a 100% approval rating. We want all of our customers to be happy. Unfortunately, this is an unattainable goal.

Even so, since the inception of our Flight Attendant/Customer Service program in 1996, we have graduated roughly 5,000 students.  Of these 5,000, we can confirm that a minimum of 85% went on to pursue airline careers through the benefit of our training and the efforts of our placement staff.  We are very proud of this accomplishment.

In contrast, only a small few have come here to voice complaints about their experiences.  These complaints have been spread out over the course of three years and focus primarily on the optional housing accommodations rather than on the program itself.  (Housing is offered in a vintage ocean-front motel for around $26/night. This price includes transportation to and from the Daytona Beach Airport, where phase 2 of our training takes place, each day for students wishing to take advantage of this modest, but cost effective, choice.) 

Although we are genuinely sorry that these customers had a negative experience, overall we view this remarkably low number of public complaints, along with our A+ rating with the Better Business Bureau of Central Florida and the placement of our graduates with over 60 airlines, as a mark of success and as evidence of high customer satisfaction. 

Out of respect for our students and for their privacy, we will not address the particulars of their complaints in this public forum. We do appreciate the feedback on the housing accommodations and have addressed and corrected the issues.

Should you wish to get a fuller picture of how our students feel about us, I invite you to visit The Airline Academys Facebook page which features stories and photographs from our graduates and current students; at school, at the motel, and on the job in their new airline careers.  

I would also invite you to review our course catalog online at our website: www.theairlineacademy.com. In this catalog you will find a full history of our program as well as a list of our credentials.  

So apparently the "academy" is trying to look as though it improved. I'm very shocked to learn that it has not despite the location and house parent changes.

Also, I am pleased that someone has finally provided some evidence to prove my case. Thank you!

I can attest to the above, the entire company is a scam, and in turn, a pyramid scheme designed to pull anyone interested in FLIGHT in. I would like to be involved in the class action. If the OP has any questions please message me or email me, I will give any info needed, I WANT MY MONEY BACK!!!

I attended The Airline Academy in the fall of 2011.  I can attest that everything the original poster reporter is accurate.  My personal experience is much too long to post here I but do have a blog page with a complete account and pictures included of my experience during the time frame of Sept/Oct of 2011 (see below). 

For those who are interested in a career in the airline industry PLEASE do your homework.  Don't be impulsive, it will cost you.  I highly recommend learning everything you possibly can about the industry even if it means going to the airport to ask airline employee questions. 

In regards to doing your homework on The Airline Academy be particularly careful of the rave reviews.  Ripoff Report is one of the only websites that provides an honest outlet for consumers to critique businesses.  Finding any valuable information about The Airline Academy is very obscure so I'd recommend taking the good review with a grain of salt.

[url]http://theairlineacademyreview.blogspot.com/[/url]

Being trained prior to applying for any job greatly enhances the possibility that you will be hired, especially if the competition for that job is intense.

The Airline Academy has placed thousands of young women with major airlines, and is well respected by all of the recruiters who seek Academy students for hire.

Is it possible that an Airline Academy graduate did not get hired, or is having trouble getting hired? Of course! But that is the exception and certainly not the rule.

The person who complained about the condition of the hotel may be happy to know that the Academy has changed housing venues, and living quarters are greatly improved. However, have you ever seen a college dorm? Have you ever seen a teenage girls room? 

Without exaggeration, the Academy places 85% + graduates with major carriers, with unbelievable starting pay and benefits for an 18 year old.

If you don't believe The Airline Academy can train and place you, try doing it on your own and see what happens.

I have heard that the value of the academy is moot, since the hiring airline requires the new candidate to be trained, at the employers expense (not the candidate). So why bother with the Academy and the expense? Better to invest in a community college for real credit that leads to a real degree.

Please note I attended this school in 2009, not 2010. Chances were they made a lot of changes since the year is now 2011. Also, I have heard a rumor that the rude houseparents from before are no longer part of the program. Correct me if I'm wrong, but that's what I've heard.

Also, if you think this review is false, you are mistaken. I would not have posted this here if it was false.

This is an old report. Information changes over time, so therefore I believe this school has.

I attended The Airline Academy late 2010. I was hesitant at first, but when I arrived I was greated by the house parents who were very lovely. I was brought to houseing from the airport which was located on Daytona Beach. It was clean and comfortable.. but directly on the beach!! We (the students) basically had the whole hotel to ourselves. It wasn't posh but it was clean and had our own kitchen. The school was at the airport!! It was so cool. The teachers were very helpful and for me.. I don't learn very fast.. they really worked with me. I thought it was a great opportunity to be able to graduate and have my choice of jobs. I was trained for customer service (ticket counter), reservations or flight attendant. I really wanted flight attendant, but it was nice that I had options. In the last week we had two airlines come to interview the class.. I WAS HIRED!! I am now working as a flight attendant base out of Atlanta, GA and I can't thank The Airline Academy enough. There were 7 other of my classmates that were hired with me. I see the other reports above and I can tell you there not true. I keep in touch with my instructors on Facebook. They even have a Facebook page for The Airline Academy and all the students post their pictures and talk to you. So if you want the real story... go to their page and talk the graduates!  Again.. I loved it.. It changed my life...

I recently read some more information on a few websites other than this one. One review board had at least two people with a similar experience to mine. I also encountered a comment on an unrelated forum talking about becoming a flight attendant, which had The Airline Academy in its contents. That person also commented it was a scam.

I have also encountered a profile comment on a social networking site. The one who posted it mentioned that he is also unable to find a job.

The real reason people are successfully hired after graduating from the academy is due to an acceptable age, prior college experience, seniority within the workforce (work experience), excellence in high school, or an impressive application. Alumni who lack those things can do little to impress the employer into arranging an interview. Even The Airline Academy as a course listed on the resume alone cannot describe how well the applicant will work. It is nothing more than a label.

There is a post by a former airline employer on a forum discussing The Airline Academy. He told the person who posted the topic that he is only interested in the person and their hands-on experience- not what course is on the resume.

Even if one attends the school, they still have to go through airline training regardless of the course. They cannot begin working on only three days of flight-attendant training. It takes weeks, which the airline requires them to take once they are hired. The airlines are obligated to paying the employee for their training (it is part of the job), and not the employee.

Technically I lost around $8000. I want to clarify the real amount scammed separated from the amount I had to pay on airfare.

I lost around $7000 or so to the airline company. And then I had to pay for airfare (I had to change one of the dates).

However, they cost me near $1000 when it came to the airfare.

I recently attended the same school and they are a rip-off. The hotel rooms were as exactly how you described them and the house parents were rude so i know you're telling the truth. I'm glad that someone else has experienced the same thing i did and spoke out about it.