Warning About Venture North Aviation's CFI Course (And Possibly The Entire School)

Hi All,

I recently made a post looking for recommendations as I am trying to decide which CFI course to attend. I received many positive review about VNA's program and my heart was set on attending, but apparently there have been significant changes as of last week.

I emailed the owner back looking to enroll and a few days went by without any response. Strange because he was initially very responsive. I followed up again and got an email back within an hour from someone who is related to the owner and they listed out a host of changes, primarily that they were now booking 7+ months out (instead of the initial 3 months quoted during the week prior) and that they are no longer offering back-to-back CFI/CFII courses. The person said I could call them with any questions, so I did because this seemed quite strange.

They seemed quite reluctant to share the reason why the changes occurred so suddenly. I asked a host of questions which they seemed to dance around. Finally, I straight up asked the person if the owner, Bill, had lost his DPE designation and they finally shared that he had suffered a serious medical event the week prior. They stated that they were unsure when or if he would ever get his medical back but that it would be "at least" six months.

I asked if they could guarantee a checkride date for the next six months and they said they would be unable to. He shared that they could still schedule customers with the other DPE they use but the first opening would be July and that his schedule was much less flexible so if the weather was bad and we needed to reschedule, the chances were pretty good that I would need to leave and take the checkride at home which defeats the purpose of the whole program and why I decided it would be worth paying the premium.

He was telling me this because he wanted me to sign up for their "train with us and then go home with your endorsement to take the checkride elsewhere" option which I ran by multiple graduates and they advised me not to do, especially given the expense and lack of a guaranteed date to take the checkride.

I also got an an email from them last night stating that "due to extreme demand" they would not be booking any more checkrides until July and they they would be offering "$1,000 off" their CFI program for a "limited time" to train and return home. I can certainly understand that their business and CFIs are in a tough spot with such a sudden and tough situation, but I saw this email as quite dishonest, especially the way that it was written, and I want to alert people to the real reason behind the change.

I am not sure what other programs at VNA might be affected by this change, but if you are planning on attending, please be sure to ask lots of questions and know what you are getting into given these new details.

I wish Bill a speedy recover and I hope all of the employees are able to find alternative employment if the business ultimately shuts down.

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