Is it just me or did the estimated time on ATP’s website from Zero time to CFI go up from 6 months to 9 months, or has it alway been that way and i’m just going crazy? 
You must have missed the big rush of posts about the timeline change Thomas! Take a look back the last few weeks and there’s info about it. ATP just recently changed the length because of an FAA DPE shortage. Apparently it’s been difficult to schedule checkrides in a number of locations, but they’re still trying to keep the pace the same where possible.
Designated Pilot Examiner, Basically they are the guys/gals designated by the FAA to conduct checkrides for each of your liscenses. And with so many pilots training there are not enough to conduct the amount of checkrides that are in demand right now.
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Thomas,
The time did recently go from six to nine months, there are some threads on here that cover this, but basically the reason was due to the FAA not having enough examiners to process ATP’s students. As some students were starting to experience delays in the program, ATP decided to lengthen the program to account for this. It is the same program, just longer.
Yes, the PHX guys do fly very early in the morning to avoid the heat. Trust me, you don’t want to be in a little airplane when it is 115 degrees outside. Most other locations operate on a more regular schedule. I have to say though, if you want to be an airline pilot you had better get used to waking up really early and staying up really late. Most of my trips start before 7:00am with some starting as early as 4:30am. When I flew international routes I was often awake until well past 4am. Pilots fly early, as I write this to you I am on a train to work, it is 5:35am.
Chris
I myself have always been a heavy sleeper so I am currently forcing myself to wake up very early just so my body gets used to it. Besides it feels good to be awake early…something about being able to do more throughout the day? hehe