Hello! My name is Jacob and I am currently 28 (knocking 29 unfortunately) and am getting a much later start than I intended when I graduated high school. I have been researching ATP off and on for a while and feel like it will be a good choice. A little background information on myself. I selected Career Pilot and Aviation Management as my field of study in college and I excelled at it and enjoyed it! I was able to be part 141 certified due to my test scores being high enough, but the time of that being relevant has expired. I lack two classes (math and physics, and technically flight time) to get my double associates. Unfortunately life comes at you fast, paired with being young and dumb, I have yet to get my associates and I drifted away from the Aviation world. I am back in it now full force! I have a minuscule number of hours (10 currently) but we all start somewhere. That being said, here are the actual reasons for my post.
1.) I currently live in NC and am looking for actual information from people who have gone to ATP Concord and or instructed there. There is another location opening up soon in NC which would not require me to relocate. What was your experience as a student and as an instructor at the NC locations? I know Florida is an ideal place to learn and build time, but is NC’s odd weather bad enough to cause issues/ delays to training and time building/instructing?
2.) Have any of you attended/instructed at a freshly opened ATP location? I can understand possibly a surplus of students day one, justifying the need for the location. I can also see it taking some time to get established. A fresh location could cause delays in training and/or instructing and time building.
3.) I keep reading about ATP being very competitive to get into. Does anyone know a statistic of how many people are not accepted into the program?
Thank you all for taking the time to read my post.
Fly safe!
If someone who attended at the Concord location chimes in, chances are they’ve moved on and the their great (or lousy) instructor has as well. ATP has 83 locations across the country and strives to standardize the training and resources throughout (think McDonald’s). New or old you should choose the location that works best for you.
See above. ANY location can experience delays and obviously no one wants that (incl ATP). If you think FL is “ideal” you’ve obviously never seen the t-storms they get in the summer or the hurricanes. No one has a crystal ball. Again, choose the location that would best for you.
It is. You don’t have a degree, nor your PPL. You’ll need to speak to admin about your work experience being acceptable but it may not be.
Thank you for your response. I was unaware you had to have PPL to start this program. They advertise 0 time or PPL credit. It also doesn’t say you have to have a degree. They even advertise no degree required for the airlines any longer. Is that accurate or no?
Also, this is copied from the prerequisites portion of the ATP website, so I am a little confused.
ATP Admissions will confirm you have at least one of the following:
A High School GPA of 3.0 (High School Seniors and Recent Graduates Only), or
Two Years of College Experience, or
Two Years of Professional Work Experience, or
Two Years of Military Service With an Honorable Discharge
The list the the bare minimums but you can never err by exceeding those mins. That’s how you make yourself more competitive and increase your chances of acceptance.
The same goes for the airlines. The fact is only a couple ever required a degree but they still list one as a competitive minimum and those who have will be given preference.
Admin makes the decision but to be frank you started college but didn’t finish, you started flight school but didn’t continue. People are literally beating down the door to get a slot and ATP wants to know they’re giving one to someone with the dedication and commitment to complete the task.
I attended the Concord, NC location (JQF) as a student, continued instructing and was the flight standards instructor there for a time. I can tell you I had a textbook experience. I finished the program 2 weeks early on budget, I got lucky and got a CFI spot there right as I graduated the program and had the opportunity to advance in to leadership roles. In all I went from zero time to 1500 hours in 22 months. Weather was spotty from time to time but nothing that significant that delayed my progress.
With all that being said, this was Jan 2019-October 2020. Things could have changed slightly since then but I imagine a lot remains the same.
Go to the location that is the most convenient. Work hard, be humble and you’ll have a good experience.
The program had 40 hours of multi engine time built in with a Multi Crew phase between CMEL and MEI. The program footprint for multi time has changed a few times to become the most efficient and cost effective.
