Trainee pilots count cost of Tayside flight school collapse

Zac Chiswell said he had lost about £35,000 in upfront fees

Students at a Dundee-based flight school said they have lost tens of thousands of pounds after the training centre went into administration.

Tayside Aviation Limited, which was founded in 1968, ceased trading last month with the loss of 22 jobs.

About 60 trainee pilots paid fees in advance and now fear they will not have the money returned.

Trainee pilot Zac Chiswell is one of those affected and said he had lost about £35,000.

• Tayside Aviation goes into administration with loss of 22 jobs

He told BBC Radio's Good Morning Scotland programme that some students had lost upwards of £50,000.

He said: "There was a £10,000 deposit when I joined.

"My parents weren't able to afford the massive fees of an upfront cost, so we paid on a monthly basis.

"But you still had to keep the monthly payments up, even if you weren't actually using the money."

The firm provided courses for private licences to full commercial licences and delivered the RAF Air Cadet Pilot Scheme for more than 30 years.

Tayside Aviation was founded in February 1968

Mr Chiswell, 23, said he only found out the company had collapsed after seeing an online news article.

He said: "Some of the stories are heart breaking.

"For instance, someone messaged me this morning, he lost £6,000 pounds five hours before the flight school went under.

"They took £6,000 off him for his training."

Geoff Jacobs and Blair Nimmo have been appointed as joint administrators.

The company was bought in December 2021 by Tony Banks, the founder of Balhousie Care Group.

'We've lost a massive amount of money'

Mr Chiswell said: "The administrators made it very clear that it was very unlikely that any students would see any sort of funding coming back their way, which is disappointing.

"Without the funding, there's no government support that allows you to do this sort of job.

"It's very difficult to become a pilot, so therefore I'm having to look at maybe other options as to how I'm able to get funding to be able to go to maybe another flight school."

The administrators said that at the time of the purchase, the company had a significant liability for prepaid flying courses which affected its ability to generate income from new sales.

Mr Chiswell said the flight school "should have been upfront" about its situation.

He said: "I'd severely doubt that anyone would take on the liability cost of all the students.

"We've lost a massive amount of money, and it's devastating to hear that some people are looking at other career options.

"Their dream might be ruined."

Tayside Aviation and Tony Banks have been approached for comment.