With the spiraling costs of integrated flight training you have to ask yourself, is Is Integrated flight training worth over £100,000?
Good question, and a very subjective one. As a business which all FTO (Flight Training Organisations) are, a product is worth whatever people are prepared to pay for it. If we look at the high-end of modular training costs then we are looking at a cost of around £65,000 where as if you shop around figures like £40,000 are totally possible. This is £35,000-£55,000 less than an integrated FATPL (Frozen Air Transport Pilot Licence) course which at the time of writing is around £100,000.
Does a fATPL course offer £35,000 – £55,000 more in value than the modular course? I think it’s hard to say it does. Please note I am comparing this to a fATPL course not the current MPL’s which come with airline sponsorship. The MPL’s are different as they come with a conditional job offer which at least takes away some of the uncertainty of finding a job after training.
Modular flight training also allows you to do things like keep a full-time job and fly on the weekends or after hours. This allows you to have an income coming in, something that is vital for flight training because we all know how expensive it is. For a lot of us modular flight training is the only way due to the costs involved.
Integrated offers you a full-time intense study with no distractions, that is the main benefit I see with it. The big flight schools also have hold pools in which they try to place their students with partner airlines. You need to decide for yourself if this is worth the additional premium you pay over the modular route. Do not go into a course thinking that you will go in the hold pool and definitely be placed 2 months after finishing.
So the question is integrated flight training worth over £100,000? Well quite frankly no, not really. If money is no object then of course go integrated. However for a lot of us money is a huge object and in that case I think it’s hard to justify the additional cost for a £100,000 flight training course with very little guarantees attached to it.
