"Sorry Kid, You're Last in Line for a Refund"

Students of Atlantis Aviation Flight school are apparently either out the total sum of their prepaid flight training, or waiting on probate to get on with their careers, after the owners of the school died in a plane crash last March.

A few students caught the attention of local news, sharing their plight with reporters in the hopes of continuing on with their training. Atlantis Aviation is, or was, a flight school offering students the usual zero-to-hero flight training experience in addition to the standard Part 61 experience. Their Part 141 program even offered financing through a lending partner, allowing kids to come up with the $60,000+ price tag of all their ratings. Under Atlantis' program, students were guaranteed a slot to instruct and "comfortably, efficiently, and quickly earn the hours required to advance" on to their ATP license, which was included with the program.

Ultimately, when the owners of Atlantis Aviation Flight Academy died in a crash this year, they left students in the lurch as all assets of the school have now been put into probate. Regardless, students are left making payments on debt for ratings they will apparently never receive, or wait for years until the probate court pays out portions of the Atlantis estate to debtors. The owners' lawyer, Samantha Fitzgerald, had no good news for the students, noting that they fall a lot further back in the queue of payments to be made. 

"It's an extremely tragic and unfortunate situation. Since the flight school owners are all dead, the estate has to go through the legal process, and creditors are paid in a certain order. In this case, there are bank loans that are secured creditors and unfortunately, they are in a priority position over the students. It's an unfortunate situation, but the law must be adhered to."

An attorney representing 20 Atlantis students responded. "The students of Atlantis Aviation Flight Academy find themselves in a difficult position, through no fault of their own. While we offer our condolences and empathize with the family's loss, the students fear for their future, both occupationally and economically. These students now have to claw back their monies from a school that is no longer viable and whose assets are presently being marshaled. Unfortunately, the students will now be required to find another school which is properly accredited which will hopefully understand that they have already paid once for their education.

While it's not the most common situation, there's some lesson to be learned here: Limiting the exposure of unsecured funds, even as a student, is probably a good idea when dealing with the average flight school. While their pricing is often contingent upon paying for the whole kit and kaboodle in advance, there's something positive to be said for the good old Part 61 pay-as-you-go method in that respect, too. Students here may eventually be made somewhat whole, but their career tracks will have lost their precious momentum in the meantime.

FMI: www.globalatlantis.com