Stay Way Clear
I joined Leading Edge Aviation as a modular student to complete my MEP, CPL, AUPRT, MEIR and APS MCC after L3 stopped accepting modular trainees. I was told the course would take around 6 months, and that modular students were not eligible for accommodation, so I had to arrange and fund my own. In reality, the training took 15 months due to extensive delays, increasing my living costs by over £10,000 beyond what had been budgeted. To add to the inconsistency, the other modular student in my intake was provided accommodation.
During my induction in early August, I was told I would not be placed on the schedule until September, meaning I had pointlessly paid a full month of rent and bills before starting training. When I did start, my first 5 flights were with contractors, and when I introduced myself to my assigned instructor, he was unaware I had even been allocated to him.
Throughout the course, scheduling was the single biggest issue. Instructors appeared to have significantly more students than they could manage, and flying frequency was often around once per week if fortunate. The limited multi-engine fleet was frequently unavailable due to maintenance, with multiple cancellations due to basic technical issues where engineering delays meant the lesson slot was missed.
Raising concerns was extremely difficult. Discussions had to go through instructors who had little control over scheduling, and engagement from management was minimal, with concerns regularly dismissed. In practice, dialogue only seemed to occur when the possibility of withholding instalments due to a lack of progress was raised.
Operational policies also added unnecessary complexity, as approaches/ circuits could only be requested the day before, often leaving very limited availability. A particularly negative experience occurred with the operations manager, Mike Craig. After unsuccessfully trying to secure approach slots at five airports the previous day, I was advised by another operations assistant that ops would call again in the morning. When I approached him to request an ILS at Oxford as instructed, he became aggressive and began shouting, despite me simply following prior guidance.
The training timeline between students was also notable, as despite widespread delays, students on the Leading Edge funded instructor pathway progressed far more rapidly, with integrated courses completed within 18 months and at least one student competing their MEIR in a week, which took me 6 months.
There are also crippling administrative issues as 5 months after leaving the school I am still waiting for my end-of-training report required for airline applications despite repeated assurances. Modular students are also excluded from graduate services unless paying a substantial additional fee, preventing access to airline tagging schemes despite already self-funding accommodation.
Excluding this my primary instructor delivered a high standard of instruction, and some instructors were clearly doing their best within a constrained system. However, communication was non-existent, and instructional quality varied significantly.
The APS MCC course is strong, however the simulator had frequent technical issues and for the entire course we had no usable left-side projection and during one session only the centre projector was functioning.
Finally, as a modular student who completed ground school elsewhere, the lack of accommodation and infrequent flying made it difficult to build friendships or integrate with other students, adding to what was already a prolonged and stressful experience.
Overall, I felt Leading Edge has enrolled more students than its operational capacity can effectively support. Which has resulted in extreme delays, increased costs, and significant frustration. While there are capable instructors and some strong course elements, my modular experience left a lot to be desired.