A Week in the Life of an ATP CFI

Does ATP have a CFI Academy in Jacksonville Florida because I saw online there was an ATP Flight School that has CFI Academy in Florida. For attending the CFI Academy, can I choose which location I want to go to myself or can only ATP make this determination.

William

William,

Yes JAX has CFI training, however you will be sent to the location that has availability at the time you’re ready. It may be JAX, but it could be elsewhere.

Adam

Hi Adam,

Is it realistic to say that you can earn 1500 hours of flight time in 18-24 months? That is what ATP is advertising and I find it hard to believe that you can earn 1500 hours that quickly.
I’m considering flight school, but weighing my options since this would be my second career. I am 40 and not sure if there is time for me to ever get hired to fly with a big airline.

Thank you for all of your advice.

Kevin

Hi Kevin,

18-24 months is absolutely possible. I did it in 22 and I only averaged 60 hours a month. A 75 hour monthly average could get you done in 20. 75 hours a month is the nationwide average.

ATP’s training centers vary in size, but ATP does a good job at balancing the instructor-student ratio.

At 40, you could absolutely reach the major airline level and possibly still have enough time to upgrade to Captain at a major if you wanted.

Tory

Kevin,

Tory laid out the numbers for you and yes it’s most definitely doable in that time frame. Factor in the overwhelming demand for pilots and unprecedented movement in the industry and there’s an excellent chance you’ll go much further than expected, even with the late start.

Seriously both FedEx and Delta are boasting upgrade times in under a year and with the direct pathways there literally is no better time to get into this industry. It’s crazy and I’m jealous!

Adam

Kevin,
It’s incredibly attainable. I finished from zero time to 1500 in 22 months as well, including the pandemic! The timeline is aggressive compared to other local flight schools yet entirely realistic. Just to give you a more focused picture, 75 hours a month is about 18 hrs per week. That’s 2, two hour flights, four days a week plus one flight on the fifth day.
-Hannah

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Thank you Hannah, Tory, and Adam for your valuable insights. You guys have given me much hope!

Kevin

Hi. I have a question to add to this. Who controls the CFI’s schedule? Does the CFI choose the exact schedule or does someone from “above” do the scheduling?

Evan,

As an ATP CFI you’ll have some flexibility and imput but you’ll need to coordinate with your students and center’s manager.

Adam

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Evan,
There is a scheduling software CFI’s use online. It’s basically a week/month layout with time slots and plane availability. It is up to the CFI to schedule their students out appropriately. If you’re on top of it, scheduling out early helps get the best time slots and make sure your students have notice to prepare. If all is going well you’ll receive little interference from the lead or TSS. Obviously with weather or planes in Mx scheduling can become more difficult and they might step in to adjust schedules for the efficiency of the Training center. For the most part though, the CFI is making their own schedule.
-Hannah

Hi Evan,

As the mentors have mentioned, we set our own schedules based on equipment availability. Currently to keep students on track with the 7 month program, we have to do at least 11 hours of flight or sim with them per week. So if you have 2 students, that’s 22, 3 students 33. Not all those hours are spent flying (instrument students spend a lot of time on the sim for example) and there are always schedule changes and weather delays, but right now is a busy time across all of ATP and instructors are getting a lot of flying done.

Alex

Alex,
Thanks for chiming in to add the experience as a current CFI! Sounds like you guys are working hard and staying busy. That’s great to hear!
-Hannah

Hi Hannah,

My location is a bit short on instructors at the moment, I’m the newest so I have the lowest student load but some of the guys are definitely maxing out their 8 hours of dual given to keep up the pace We had one student just finish MEI and another hopefully next week so if all goes well we will be able to add to the instructor base here soon.

There’s been a huge increase in activity since the beginning of the year, we have been adding a lot of students (relative to our small location size) and there seems to be a constant stream of tours and intro flights. Even the parking lot is full, we’ve been joking about having reserved CFI spots and making all the private students park across the street. :smiling_imp:

Alex,

There’s a reason why the passenger parking is close to the terminal and the employees take a shuttle…

Adam

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Alex,
All good things! It’s an exciting time to be in the aviation industry. More students, growing location, more Airplanes, more hours to be flown, etc. Its just a matter of time until your student load grows too. Keep us updated!
-Hannah

Wowwww

6 posts were split to a new topic: High School Student Questions

Okay thank you for getting back to me. Would you recommend me getting a degree before starting ATP or just start as soon as possible after high school?

Jake,

We always recommend finishing your education first. The Majors desire a 4yr degree and its always good to have a backup in case flying doesn’t work out by choice or circumstance.

On the subject you don’t mention any flying experience (and no, sitting in the back going on vacation doesn’t count). Before you decide this is what you want to do, you really should take a lesson or intro flight to see if it’s really what you think it is.

Adam

I have a few hours already logged and some more flights that weren’t and I loved them all. It sounds like the smart choice is to finish my schooling first whether that will be a associates or 4 year so that’s most likely what I will end up doing. Thanks again.

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