1000 vs 1500 hours

I was talking to a guy at Liberty university today on the phone. Mainly as a way to finance my flight training as I already have a bachelors degree and he said if I go through their program I only needed 1000 hours to start in the regional airlines. Is this true? I’m talking with the guys at the flight school no one mentioned the 500 hour difference, seems too good to be true.

Kyle,

Definitely not too good to be true. IF you complete your flight training AS PART of an accredited University’s BS degree program (like Liberty’s) you can in fact shave 500hrs off the 1500 to obtain an R-ATP (Restricted ATP) and be hired at a Regional airline with less time (Woohoo! Sign me up!). That’s the really good news. HOWEVER, I doubt if they mentioned that will mean it will take you 2.5yrs minimum to complete said degree program and then you’ll need to find an instructor position to build the 1,000hrs required meaning approx. another year. I also doubt if they mentioned IN ADDITION to the tuition costs for the BS degree their aviation flight training “lab fees” are over $90,000. So yes, IF you’d like to take an additional year to get to a Regional AND pay literally double so you can save 500hrs building time, getting paid and improving your skills, then by all means.

Adam

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Kyle,

Do your own research on this, but what Adam said is spot on. Liberty (or any other college program) will take you significantly longer and cost more money. So while the reduction in flight time is true, the overall time is longer.

Chris

Wow! Yes he left out all of the extra costs and time involved! Thank you very much for the help!

Anytime. Let us know how else we can help you.

You could go through ATP and get all your licenses for less and in a quicker time frame. Then apply to Liberty University and use their Prior Learning Experience Program to earn roughly 45 credits and apply them towards an Aviation Degree. However, you will not be eligible for a R-ATP license, because you did not earn those credits through Liberty University.

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I just think my main concern is I see all of you talking about how much the instructors are in the air and training with ATP and I’m afraid if I go with CTI that I may not get as much experience training just because most of their planes are on the ground when I’m there. I know that doesn’t mean much but I just want to make sure I’m maximizing my time to get as much out of it as I can. I live in rural west TN but am 40 minutes to CTI and 2 hours to ATP.

Kyle,

It is hard to judge a flight school by your perception of how much the airplanes are on the ground as you drive by, any flight school will need to meet the same FAA minimums. That being said, I would ask them these questions: Questions For Any Prospective Flight School

Chris