This is the first of a three-part series on how aspiring aviators' dream of taking to the skies came crashing down when a local company, facilitating their training programme in the Czech Republic, failed to honour its obligations. Part I delves into the company’s failure and the significant financial losses for the affected families, as well as MARA, which had provided funding for some of the trainees.
Based in Shah Alam, this now-defunct bumiputra company owner had appeared in local news, television interviews and talk shows, promoting its services as a successful, internationally recognised bumiputra company. Several batches of cadet pilots enrolled under the company from 2019 to 2022, including self-funded students and those financed through commercial bank loans. Fees ranged from RM400,000 to RM700,000 per person.
"It neglected to pay for living expenses, accommodation, transport, and tuition as promised," he said to Bernama. "A group of us went to the Bukit Jelutong Police Station together to lodge a report, and we advised the parents of the self-funded to do a separate report because our children were funded by Mara,” he explained
In the end, the company owners were unable to resolve their issues, and as a result, the students who were supposed to be sent to Prague for aviation training were instead enrolled by Mara into local flight schools around the country.