Business ProfileforSterling Flight Training By Malone Air, Inc.

I would not recommend this flight school to anyone. I have spent around $15000.00 and my son was down there about a year and had nothing but problems from the beginning and never received his private pilot license. I was originally told that it would take maybe three months for him to get his license, and had to have $10,000 upfront for him to attend. His flights were cancelled over and over again which caused large gaps in flights, and the planes he flew broke multiple times. On one occasion the plane broke while my son was flying it and he had to land it. The flight instructor was hard to get a hold of and did not prepare him for his test. There is no set curriculum so the instructors basically decided what to teach you or show you. The instructors not only get paid but also acquire hours when teaching students how to fly. So they benefit when students need additional help. There also is no curriculum or standard for the people that give the tests. So you pay around $800 a test and the person giving the test can just decide what they want the student to do and it is only pass or fail. So these people giving the test also benefit from failing students because they keep the entire amount of money when a student fails and the student has to reschedule for an ADDITIONAL $800. This is done several times and both the instructors and the people giving the test get a financial benefit as well as acquiring flight hours. The second time my son took his test he was asked a question about a radio in the plane. He did not know the answer because his instructor had never gone over it with him because it is not often used. When I asked how that was acceptable I was told that he should just know. This make absolutely no sense and makes a perfect environment for scams to take place which is what I believe happed to us. The instructors and the owner were not helpful and did not see any issues. This program was linked with ****** college which I also dont recommend!

Hi Kinzie, it is unfortunate that you did not have a good experience with us, but I would like to clarify a few points regarding your specific situation. When your son enrolled, we discussed that we do not guarantee a price or timeline for a student as it is very dependent on how well the student applies themself and performs in lessons. On average, a private pilot student takes 3-6 months with Sterling to complete their certificate depending on how often they choose to fly. While we did encounter some issues with weather and maintenance, those alone cannot be blamed for the progression of your sons training. Also, concessions and discounts were made to recognize and alleviate the pain from those maintenance delays. Routine maintenance is a vital part of our safety culture and how we protect students, and sometimes that maintenance does stretch longer if we need to procure parts or perform additional work. As a Part 141 flight school we do have a set curriculum that is reviewed and vetted by the **** and we undergo a recertification process regularly and must maintain certain passing rates to continue with this designation. As for your son not receiving his private pilot certificate, he failed to meet the necessary requirements set forth by the *** to successfully pass his checkride with a Designated Pilot Examiner. Designated Pilot Examiners, whom you paid the $800 testing fee to, are *** independent contractors so they have a completely unbiased viewpoint when testing the student. The school receives no money from these testing fees and if a student fails, they are required to pay that *** their testing fee again for their time. We did credit him a testing fee to his account, upon failing to complete his test the first time to offset some of his training cost. Pilot checkride methods are comparable to taking a driver's exam. There are many things you could be tested on, but an examiner will not cover anything that is not in the Airman Certification Standards (ACS), and they may ask you for scenarios to see how you would react in a real-world emergency. Please remember, once a student receives a pilot certificate, they are free to fly on their own whenever they please and so the *** and school must ensure that the student is ready for anything that could happen. This is for the pilot's safety as well as others on the ground. Because your son is over 18, the rights to his privacy regarding education belong to him according to the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA), so without his permission we were unable to contact you directly regarding concerns with his training progress. Despite us holding many conversations with your son about his progress, those were not conveyed to you it seems until we were finally able to get him to agree to a conference with all parties to discuss his training, instead of continuing to charge you for additional lessons. Finally, regarding instructors receiving hourly pay in addition to flight hours, this is how the flight training industry is designed and you will see this regardless of which school you choose to attend. To qualify for ATP status, which allows you to fly for an airline or commercially, you must have **** hours of flight time. Instructors build this time by teaching other students to fly and yes, they are also paid for their work. However, it is not a scam and does not benefit them to keep the student longer as that just delays their own path to reaching their desired career. In your son's case we cannot go into specifics of his training for reasons listed above but we can say that our instructors and chief instructors had many discussions about the progression of his training and the level at which he was absorbing the training material to determine the best course of action to maximize his success. I am sorry you chose to see it this way, but our facility is not in the business of scamming people; we are in the business of evaluating and preparing students to be safe, reliable, and knowledgeable pilots. Our overall pass rate for private pilot applicants first attempt is 86%. Thank you.