So I’m a 32 year old dad and husband living in Clearwater FL. I work full time and i would like to hear from some other folks in the same position as me who want to and are currently training to become an airline pilot. How are you all making it work? Did some of you quit your jobs? Do some of you just work part time while going to school full time? Or do some of you do part time training while working full time? I just need some advice on how to go about doing this. The wife is on board 100% and encourages me to get started so the hard part is out of the way 
All of the mentors and most of the posters on here that completed flight training did so through ATP, which is a full time program. In my time at ATP, I have seen fewer than 5-6 of my many classmates hold a job of any sort during training, and only 1-2 of them finished the program successfully while working very limited hours part time. This program’s demands on your time, energy and mental resources are no joke, so if you intend on maximizing your investment into the training and having a chance at completing it, working should not be considered while training. There are ways to get through training at other schools which train part-time, but it will take you substantially longer and cost you in lost future income (opportunity costs) in a career with a limited “shelf life”.
I held a 15-30hr/wk job while at ATP Trenton, took 12m (which was avg for Northeast locations). It was rough. My advantage was that I was a supervisor and could make my own hours most of the time. I also live 10min from airport and could pickup flights when others canceled.
95% of students cant and shouldn’t work while flight training at ATP.
For 1-2 months you won’t be able to work while in CFI school during the end of training because you will at one of those locations in an apartment with other students.
This has also been asked before so you might find good info by using the search function.
Chris
Reggie,
Often the best plan is the plan that works best for you. There’s absolutely zero question that training fulltime is the best method of training. Pilot skills are not intuitive or innate and each skill is built upon the last. This is why the military and the airlines train their pilots daily.
There problem is not everyone can take 9mos off from their lives to go train. It is possible to train part-time but know in addition to the obvious that it’ll take longer, it will inevitably cost you more.
There’s a saying here in Hawaii, “if can, can, if no can, no can”. To paraphrase if you can train full time you should.
Adam
Reggie,
We always recommend full time training because it has proven results and saves time and money. That being said, I certainly understand that not everybody can simply take nine months out of their life to go to training, especially if starting this later in life. If you are unable to train full time. then I suggest finding a local flight school that is able to work with your schedule. It will take longer and cost more, but if that is the only way to do it, then that is what you will have to do. Many before you have gone that route.
Chris
Thanks to all for your input and advice. I kind of figured that it would be best to do the ATP full time which is more than likely what is going to happen. I just wanted to see other people’s stories on how they went through this process. Thanks again everyone, safe flights!
Reggie,
Anytime. Let us know how else we can help you.
Chris
I’m 34, have a wife and 3 kids and had a full time job. My wife and I saved up quite a bit of money and I quit my job (we had to move from Alaska down to an ATP location). We were blessed to have family living near an ATP location that we were able to move in with. The hardest part of doing this with a family is not getting distracted by the family. There’s a lot of studying to do. Most days I either stay at the schoolhouse studying or find a coffee shop to hang out at.
It’s doable! Takes full commitment by both you and your family. I’m halfway through program waiting for CFI school and don’t regret a thing.
Hi Walker,
I am just about to start in a month and recently quit my full time job. I would love to hear your experience so far about ATP if that’s ok with you. My email is niku79@gmail.com
Thank you
Hello everyone, update here and some clarification needed if able. So my wife and I have decided to go for it! She makes enough $$ to support our family for the time needed for training. She’s all go and so am I, super excited! Now I need clarification on AA cadet academy and ATP. Is ATP affiliated with the AA cadet academy? If selected for the AA academy would you be going through something like ATP anyway? I’m not sure if I totally understand the differences between ATP and the American Airlines cadet academy. Can someone sort of break it down?
Thanks in advance!
Reggie,
The AA Cadet Program and ATP are very different programs, but both get you to the same place.
AA Cadet is not really a flight school. It is a program set up by AA that refers people to one of several independent flight schools. Once you chose a school, your training is provided solely by that school and in no way by AA. Once the program is complete, you can enter one of their regional cadet programs, which will eventually lead to AA.
ATP is an independent company that positions students to be on the path to any airline of their choosing. They have been in the business of producing airline pilots for decades. Once finished with ATP’s program, you can elect to go to the Envoy Cadet Program if you wish, which is a direct path to AA, just like the AA cadet program. If AA is not in your sights, you will have the ability to apply to the regionals of your choosing.
Chris
Chris,
So basically they both lead to a cadet program except ATP gives you multiple options and with AACA you’re pretty much choosing from one of their programs only, correct?
Reggie,
Yes and no. AA cadet does not technically limit you to one of their regional partners, but it is strongly preferred.
They do not offer Tuition Reimbursement, if that is something you are planning on taking advantage of.
Chris
Chris,
Ok, got ya! So I’m this day and age with the airlines rolling out their own cadet programs, would you recommend going that route or through ATP? Tuition reimbursement is surely and advantage in my eyes. Also, if you don’t mind, what are some pros and cons between the two from your perspective?
FYI, you guys are super and informative and helpful, I’m really glad I found this forum site!
Reggie,
Just to jump in here to me aside from the Tuition Reimbursement (which it’s pretty huge) there are 2 main advantages to ATP.
As Chris said ATP has been training pilots for the airlines for over 30yrs. and pioneered the “career/professional pilot” program. Ever since the pilot shortage everyone has jumped on the bandwagon which is fine. But flight training isn’t cheap and $80k+ is alot of money to gamble with. ATP had close to 700 pilots placed at the airlines in the last 12mos alone. That’s more than all of AAs Cadet program schools combined. ATP also offers 38 locations vs the handful offered by AA.
Second while AA won’t restrict your access to other Regionals they’re certainly not going to encourage it. ATP has partnerships with virtually every Regional in the country and actually invites recruiters to visit to attract instructors to join. If you started today you wouldn’t be ready for 2 yrs and much can change in that period. I’d want as much access and info a possible to ALL the Regionals in order to make the best decision for myself at the time.
Adam
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Thank for that Adam, definitely puts things in perspective when comparing the two.
Reggie,
I am with Adam on this one. I personally would lean towards the established flight school with a proven track record of producing airline pilots. The cadet programs are really a way of funneling people towards certain airlines. I would want to keep my options as open as possible. It sounds great to say that one wants to work at AA, Delta, whoever now, but things can change greatly in just a few short years.
Tuition Reimbursement is a huge factor in my book, one that can really help you with repaying those loans in the early years.
Chris
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