San Diego Flight Training International

i have done most of my flight training at SDFTI but couldn't be more disappointed. the instructors are very nice and good pilots, but the people that run the school are the ones you really need to watch out for!



they will lie to you as much as they can. don't believe a word they say especially if it comes out of Phil Thalheimer's mouth.



if you give them your credit card number they will most likely charge extra on it for things like maintenance on the plans hoping you will not notice, so make sure you keep a good eye on it. and charge you for longer times than they should.



the planes the school uses are in very bad shape and in a dangerous condition. the owners of the school force the instructors to fly in them anyway because they are to cheap to fix them and are money hungry. they will not care if its a safety hazard.



if you are an international student like i was, you really need to watch out! if after you get there you are unsatisfied (which will happen) and want to switch, they will threaten to get you kicked out of the country and try to do anything they can to get in your way and make it difficult for you, which is what happened to me!



if you start complaining they will either be very rude and not care or they will lie to you saying they will fix the problem (for example something is broken on the plane) but they will never do it.



sdfti has the worst reputation in the area. there are many other very good flight schools at the same airport which is what i would recommend going to and have heard many good things about.



definitely take a look at other flight school at the same airport. here are some of them.



-learn to fly

-ATP

-coast flight

-california flight academy



i couldn't wait to go back home after this horrible experience, flying is supposed to be extremely fun but they found a way to make it not fun at all. it's changed my view of flying completely. don't let it happen to you.