Since im still in college taking online courses while about to attend atp I was wondering after the program when I become a CFI am I required to go to the airlines at 1,500 hours immediately or can I continue to instruct until I wrap college up.
I want to be in atp flight school instructing for 3 years after I graduate as a student so I can get my degree first and then start my airline career. Which would mean I’ll be going to the airlines with around 3000 flight hours instead of the standard 1,500.
Thank you, Androu
(sorry I’ve been asking lots of questions lately it’s a lot to be in college with a computer science major which already requires lots of effort and in flight school. I just want to make sure everything lines up) Thank you again.
If you instruct with ATP, you will be required to relinquish your position as a CFI upon completing your 1500 hours. You must move on to free up a position for brand new CFIs just as one did for you to be hired on.
Now, you could go instruct elsewhere for as long as you want until you complete college but I highly discourage that. You need to be interviewing at a regional as you approach 1500 so as soon as you have the requirements you’re flowing to a class date. Seniority is everything. Why work your butt off in an accelerated program to then waste a year?
What concerns me is you working on your degree while at ATP. You can’t expect to continue in college while working on your flight training. One will suffer. As an instructor, your full time and attention should be on your students. The time to complete your degree is while you’re at the regionals. It won’t be easy but it is doable.
First and foremost, please don’t apologize. This is a major decision and you’re wise to ask questions (plus that’s why we’re here).
As for your question, this is America and you never have to go to an airline ever. You can apply if and when you’re ready. That said the old bar closing expression comes to mind, “you don’t have to go home but you can’t stay here”. ATP was created to train and prepare pilots for the industry and as such once you hit 1500hrs (give or take), there’s a good chance you’ll be asked to move on and make room for someone else. At that point you’re free to find work instructing elsewhere.
While I understand what you’re saying, you’d be sacrificing a great amount of seniority and would be better off finishing your degree while you’re at a Regional but again that’s your call.
Btw, you’re not seriously planning on continuing college while you’re training at ATP are you? If you are you should be more concerned with NEVER making it to the airlines than getting arrested, sick or furloughed.
First of all, we never recommend trying to attend college during the program or after as a CFI. Save this time for when you are at an airline.
You will need to be available full-time while you are a student and as a CFI. Your program’s success depends on your availability. When you are a CFI, your students’ success also depends on your availability.
To answer your question, once you reach 1500 hours ATP expects you to move on. The system would not be sustainable if people decided to make long term plans of being a CFI for ATP beyond 1500 hours.
I’m planning on making college asynchronous so I just work on it in my free time. I know it’s a LOT of hard work considering i’m majoring in one of the most difficult majors, computer science, and also focusing on become a airline pilot.
I work best when I every hour of my day is occupied doing something. I will of course dedicate more attention to atp as it’s going to be the primary source of my career and complete college as I go in my free time so I have a good degree to fall back just in case I ever get a medical leave.
One of my biggest fears is being responsible for a house payment, car payments, student loans and then being let off from a high paying job such as a pilot and then having no way of paying back. Software developers make close to pilot and they can work from home with just a 4 year college degree so It’s definitely a option I want to have for the future.
I know it’s going to be a lot of work but i’m willing to try my best it takes to achieve the goal.
To be clear, you cannot be both a college student and an ATP student at the same time, you will not be successful in either. ATP’s program is a very accelerated program, they take what is usually done over a year or two and condense it into five months. Every spare minute you have will need to be dedicated to flight training.
Of course none of us can stop you from doing this, but I can assure you that you will not be a successful flight student if you do so and that this will have a hugely negative impact on your career as a pilot.
The thing you need to understand is, while computer science may be a hard degree, ATP’s accelerated program is one of the hardest programs among all other flight schools.
If you are concerned about securing a degree so as to have a backup plan I would advise you to either finish the degree first or while at an airline.
You won’t be getting much free time during the program or as a CFI, and if you do your time is better spent on trying to get ahead in the program or helping your students.
I know taking on this massive amount of debt is nerve wracking for you, but you need to listen to what we are saying. We’ve been through this program. We want everyone that goes through to be successful. That means setting everything else aside to focus on your career.
If you truly are anxious about the cost and the risk involved, why would you attempt to finish your degree while at ATP? This doesn’t make sense. Again, you are better off finishing it now or after, not during.
With all the above in mind I’ve got to say based on your intial post I’m really scratching my head? You’re obviously not in a hurry to get to the airlines so why take a chance jeopardizing the whole thing by attempting both at the same time and SERIOUSLY risking failure?
I just called ATP flight school and they said I can instruct for as much hours as I want. That means I can keep instructing until I finish my degree.
While i’m in the ATP program for 7 months i’m going to be only taking general education classes, not the difficult classes that require lots of attention and focus.
Those classes are all online, have no meeting time, and are self paced/ asynchronous. I can complete them in 2-3 hours every night and dedicate the rest of the day for ATP flight training as i’m not going to have a job or any other responsibilities.
After I graduate ATP and CFI academy, ATP said I can set my own instructing schedule which i’ll be doing through the afternoon (12pm-9pm) and attend college classes in the morning (8am-12pm). That’ll give me plenty of time to knock ATP and college out with 2 birds and one stone.
Then I can work on my master degrees while at the regionals after I secure my bacherlors degree.
I am very confused. Most people come to this forum seeking our advice, you have many times. We are all successful airline pilots, all at major airlines or well on our way there. Together we have well over forty years of airline experience and we have all stayed connected to the flight training environment and ATP through this forum. All of us are telling you that your plan is not one that can possibly be successful, yet you seem to think that you know better. All of us are telling you that you will need that 2-3 hours per night to study for flight training, not college, but you seem to think you know better on that as well.
If I were you, planning on spending almost $100k on flight training, I would be giving serious consideration to what those who have gone before you are saying. I would be looking for my best path to success and taking advice from seasoned airline pilots and graduates of ATP’s program.
We want you to be successful, part of that is taking our advice. At the end of the day, you can of course do whatever you like, but when you start failing checkrides, please remember that we all cautioned you against this and you disregarded all of our advice.
I’m mostly going to be focused on ATP while training. The classes i’m taking at ATP is general education which means it’s really easy to complete and just on weekends when i’m free.
I really am grateful for all your advice and opinions on this forum and I couldn’t have made it to the career route without every single one of you.
My biggest goal is becoming an airline pilot and I will definitely put ATP first and the rest can fall after during “free time”.
If I feel like it’s too much I can definitely push it back but I just want to test the waters because i’m not going to be taking that much classes while at ATP. It’s only 3 and stuff like english, history, communications, etc.
I really do appreciate all your advice and will strongly consider it as I make my way to the career.
Current ATP instructor here to give you some additional perspective. Whilst I appreciate your optimism for both completing school and instructing at the same time (I think it would be extremely difficult), it wouldn’t really be fair on your students. Limiting yourself to 12-9 (or any particular time of the day), is going to really limit your flying opportunities because you aren’t considering other factors, such as weather, maintenance, etc… that will require scheduling flexibility. Our schedules change constantly, and we ask that our students be available 24/7 for their training, and in return, we should be available 24/7 for them. While, at the moment, I may not have a scheduled flight this afternoon, if a plane becomes available and the weather is suitable, ATP expects that both the student and I could be able to complete a flight. I think you are forgetting that as a CFI, you are responsible for another students potential airline career. We aren’t just here to build hours. There are numerous things outside of teaching in the plane that are required and not having 100% focus on your students success would not be beneficial to either of you.
I hope you consider all of the advice you have been given from these mentors. They have been through the program themselves and made it to successful airline careers, so they understand the rigors of being a student and instructor.
@RoscoeL thank you for taking the time to provide that perspective. We really appreciate it.
@Androu I know you might think you’ve got it figured out, but we’re all telling you to trust us. You have people with wisdom and experience that have been in your shoes telling you it’s not a good idea. Sometimes it just takes maturity to recognize that those that are mentoring you know what’s best. The best thing for you to do, abandon your plan and follow the advice.
I appreciate all the feedback but one question is if i decide to push college back until i get all my hours and CFI, Can I resume College after and apply to the regional airlines after I graduate college?
You can resume college after completing your 1500 hours. We don’t recommend you put off going to the regionals because that’s:
Seniority lost
Currency lapse
Not flying (or hardly flying) for a year or more would look terrible on your application. You should consider ATP, instruct to 1500 hours, get hired at a regional, finish IOE and then resume online college.