I’ve begun training here in Alabama to receive my PPL. After speaking with some graduates from the flight school here as well as instructors, it looks like I will complete the program with ~60-65 flight hours. Is there any flexibility in ATP’s 78 minimum hours requirement to begin the professional pilot program?
Thanks!
Samuel,
No, as the 78 hours is a FAA requirement that comes into play later for meeting certain flight time minimums for other ratings.
That being said, ATP is sometimes able to offer a finish up program to close the hours gap. Call the admissions department and ask them about this.
Chris
Samuel,
There is a little bit of flexibility in that if you are short some of the hours they will build them into the training for you at an additional cost of $205/hour.
I’m not positive if there is an absolute number you HAVE to have in order to take advantage of this (Admissions can tell you if you give them a call), but as you can see, at $205/hour, you will likely find it much cheaper and easier to rent a plane if possible from your school or a local mom and pop shop after you get your PPL, and bang out those extra hours on your own to reach 78.
Hello Samuel and welcome to the forums.
I’d recommend renting an airplane and putting that PPL to use and fly your friends and family to some cool airports for lunch. I built a lot of my hours doing that after my instrument rating. Use the time to study ATPs procedures and put them to practice. That way you’ll be in the rhythm for when you start. Just an idea.
Samuel,
While it may be “cheaper” to just fly at your local FBO I’d consider getting the time with ATP (and yes as Chris said you need it). I was short about 5hrs when I started and figured I’d be training with ATP so why not? While I’m certain I could have saved a few dollars it gave me the opportunity to get settled in at my ATP location and fly with my Instructor a few days early “off the clock” and outside the program. It gave me the chance to start getting comfy and align myself with ATPs procedures. I found that very beneficial.
Adam
Using ATP for the time building has the added benefit of being able to use the instructors experience to brush up on procedures or skills you may be lacking. As is so often quoted “We don’t know what we don’t know.” This time could make the difference on your success at ATP. Just a thought.
One other thought from me as well, and to clarify just a bit,
Chris and Adam make very good points, and I do not disagree with them.
To clarify, I was short hours and rented from my school after getting my PPL to finish; I had about 70 hours even, at time of PPL, so I only needed 8+ more. For me it actually wasn’t a decision motivated by money at all; I simply knew that I wouldn’t be starting ATP for about 3 months out, and knew that if I didn’t fly in that interim time, I would become quite rusty (as flying skills, are quite perishable over time.) To me, comfortably that meant flying at least once every two weeks. Therefore, I knew by the time I enrolled I would already be past the 78 hour mark.
Now, however, if I was shorter than 8 hours (say, closer to the 13 to 18+ hours you may be at), I absolutely would have considered the finish up option. And perhaps that’s an option for you as well, should you feel the need to fly and/or not get rusty, you could always figure out how much you will/need to fly before ATP in order to not get rusty, and then inquire about finish up time at ATP for the rest to bring you to 78+, in order to take advantage of the benefits of doing the finish up time at ATP, with an ATP instructor, as Chris, Adam, and Ed mention above.
The extra time could also be used to start your instrument training, which I highly recommend.