This Review Overall Rating
I took the modular route to fATPL and attended this ATO in 2018 for CPL / MEP / MEIR. I decided to go here after speaking to friends who had gone to various schools, including this one, Diamond (in Sweden) and others in the UK, so I arrived at Bartolini knowing roughly what to expect. My main reasons for choosing this school were the competitive price and relatively short time to complete the course which I remember was quoted at 8-10 weeks at the time.
When I arrived, there was one course of 5 or 6 CPL/MEP/MEIR students starting each month. I was in a group of 5, which was ideal for the classroom, as well as spreading us across available instructors / aircraft.
When it came to the flying/sim, this was broken down as follows:
- 2 initial familiarisation flights (SEP, 3hrs).
- Multi engine training (MEP 6hrs).
- CPL training SEP (SEP 15hrs).
- Simulator (35hrs).
- ME/IR (MEP 15hrs)
- CPL training MEP (5hrs)
We were sent an email during the first week detailing who our instructor was for each of the bullet points above along with their contact details and left to get in contact with them to arrange our own schedule. I have to make it clear that the school themselves had virtually no involvement in this process beyond sending the initial email, it was entirely up to the student and instructor to arrange the flights together; if your instructor wanted a day off but you wanted to fly then that was tough... this system was good for instructor consistency for each stage of the course however it seemed to lead to different individuals on the same course progressing at different rates depending on how much your instructor was able to fly.
My personal experience with this was that my first couple of instructors were available and happy to fly every day (sometimes even two sorties in the same day) so initially I progressed fast and was on track to finish within 8 weeks. However, my final 2 instructors both took almost 1 week holiday each just as I was meant to be starting with them, which pushed my programme back. By this time, the next intake of students had started and had booked slots in the Twins and were also competing for slots with the instructors- now my total course time was looking like it was going to be more in the region of 11 weeks+ despite the fact that I had been proactively managing my schedule to finish in 8 weeks. As my total time ticked toward the 10 week mark there was no sense of urgency from my instructors. At this point I arranged to speak to one of the owners of the school (who I must add were all excellent), he had no idea that me and others from my intake were running over the 10 week mark and quickly arranged to have us prioritised. The issue was resolved quickly and easily but I do think that the school should take more responsibility in ensuring the programme stays on track, especially given it was them who had quoted the 8-10 week completion time.
In terms of the flying instruction I received, it was all of a high standard. Their main simulator instructor is somewhat infamous for their ‘old school CRM and teaching technique’. If you know what to expect and don’t take anything personally then this won’t be an issue; that being said, honestly speaking it is probably time they replaced him with someone whose teaching style is more in line with what you would expect to find in a modern day airline.
I stayed at the ‘Salsa’ student accommodation used by most attendees at Bartolini and also by university students in Łódź- it was a nice room with desk, en-suite, kitchen with electric hob and fridge. Very reasonably priced and situated conveniently near the centre of Łódź. It was easy to walk into Łódź, there’s also a good tram system, bikes for hire and plenty of Uber taxis (which were super cheap and my preferred way of getting to/from the airport).
Overall, I’d say it was a very good course. For the price it is surely one of the best you could get. The aircraft were all new, well looked after and in good serviceability. Me and my course mates all passed all aspects of the groundschool and flight tests 1st time. Łódź was a nice enough place to stay, with very low living costs. In total, I spent 11 weeks out there, which was slightly longer than I had hoped but I enjoyed my time there. I would recommend this school to others, just understand that it will be up to you to manage your schedule and you may need to push the school if your programme is slipping or if you are struggling to get enough flying booked with your instructors. I was hired by an airline within 6 months of completing the course, all of my course mates were also successful in being hired into their desired pilot roles.
Course(s) taken:
General
Aircraft
Simulators
