The idea of quitting and going to ATP/flight school to become a pilot has consumed me over the past couple weeks with both excitement and anxiety.
Briefly about me:
I’ve loved airplanes since I was probably 5. Like many, it’s always been my dream to fly for an airline. Fast forward - I received my B.S. in Mech. Engineering and spent several years in process/manufacturing engineering of composite aerospace parts for commercial airplane engines. A few years back, I interviewed for GECAS and I had a new goal of wanting to get into the business/commercial side of the aerospace business. I’ve been working directly with airlines on the business development front for a couple years now, but with the devaluation of MBAs and my decreasing interest in a corporate setting, I’m eyeing up a major change in career direction. At 31, I realize I have limited runway ahead of me to make this dream a reality.
I have 0 hours of flight time and still have a small car payment’s worth of student loans to pay off. I would like to think that the accelerated program is the right one for me, but I’m not sure financially, I could take that on. Many questions come to mind when I look at my options:
When it comes to the ATP programs, does one typically liquidate/get rid/put in storage, most of their belongings that are not critical to the schooling they are about to embark on?
Does the Flex Track facilitate someone to work a standard 40-hour office job and still get the training they need? (At 31, I’m imagining 2 years for school, 2 years to build hours, hopefully job at regionals)
I would love to hear from someone’s own experience with juggling family/significant other and the rigor of going to an ATP program. Specifically, how did you handle the short term financial reduction and the flight instructing portion of the training (if you were not assigned at a base near home)?
Do you find that being in an ATP program created friendships/bonds as a result of the rigorous commitment and studying? In college, personally, I found that when I studied with my roommates or friends, I did much better than if I studied alone. I attributed this to the fact that we would each teach those around us, inherently allowing ourselves to understand the material better.
Did you evaluate the risk of taking on the debt or just know in your heart that ATP/flying was your destiny (or somewhere in between)?
Welcome to the forum, the mentors and others will chime in shortly, but let me offer my experience and advice that I have for some of your questions. There is tons of student and alumni experiences throughout the forum, I encourage you to dig around and hear some amazing stories; everyone of them is unique and fascinating in their own way. It’s also never to late to start looking at turning a dream into reality.
I still have my material from that of what I acquired as a student. Granted I’m a flight instructor and it’s good handy material to have, I’m sure at one point in one’s career when they’re done with instructing and a 25-year seasoned pilot, they look at the material and it’s frayed or the bindings are breaking, maybe they box it up and put it in the attic. With technology now-a-days and how things are advancing, most books and materials are electronic and will potentially be forever available (unless we have a major electronic meltdown and the world comes to a screeching end).
The Flex Track program does allow you as a flex student the opportunity to work fulltime and still get your flying in. You are required to fly a minimum amount of hours per month and if you don’t meet the minimums you must do proficiency flights before you can do critique flight events like Solo TOLs (Takeoff & Landing) or Solo Cross Country. There will be a point in this program that you could be required to be available everyday in the event weather or flight events have not been completed that must be.
I cannot answer this one, maybe a current, graduate, or mentor can.
The friendships that I created at ATP started not only at the training center, but also on here! It’s fun to meet individuals and then later see them in person, or in Zoom on meetings. I’d say that I probably made best friends if not lifelong friends through ATP. Everyone is here for the same reason, to fly for an airline (if not at least corporate or charter). I see students gathering in the training center (now post-covid) working together to go over material that they struggle with or enhancing their own abilities to teach. In fact, I have met some pilots in my crossings of major airports with my ATP apparel that have offered me their experiences and thoughts on the airlines.
I took on the debt of flight school after leaving my banking gig to pursue a dream, a career that I call a passion. I paid my car off before I entered the program at age 24, I have college degree debt that I have hardship forbearance with hopes I will get a regional spot and be able to pay off both ATP and College debt. If you’re questioning the financial side of things, contact Kirk in the Finance Department, he’s a brilliant man when it comes to figures and right ways to go about money.
I encourage you to surf around the “Student Experiences” section and see some common threads and experiences. There is tons of reading material, experiences, photos of alumni all over. The other piece of advice I can say is that I recommend checking out your local Training Center, you can find a location via the ATP Flight School website under “Locations.” There you will be able to meet potential fellow instructors and students that you could be working with.
Welcome! I’ll see if I can give you some insight and answer some of your questions as a former student and new instructor at ATP. Reading your story, I found a lot of similarities with the path that I would have taken pre-COVID. I also have a mechanical engineering degree and had hopes of working in the aerospace industry. I had opportunities lined up pre-graduation, but once COVID hit, everything flew out the window. So I decided to make the jump to ATP. A year later and I couldn’t be happier with my decision. All of my mechanical engineering friends have jobs in the industry, some in aerospace, and many of them are questioning whether this is something they can do for the rest of their career. So I understand the feelings you might be having right now.
Now for your specific questions, I’m sure some of the mentors on here will offer their opinions as well, but I’ll try my best to offer some insight. First, with zero hours (I was the same), one of the first things I would do is find either a local flight school or your local ATP location and do an intro flight. It will help you get a feeling of whether flying is for you. While you may enjoy flying as an airline passenger, flying in a small prop aircraft is completely different.
Financial/Lifestyle questions:
Everyone’s financial situation is unique when it comes to making a career change, especially one that requires ten’s of thousands to fund. So the answer is dependent on your current standing. However, I would like to think that the most common route is to take a loan to pay for your training. With the current loan options, you have the opportunity to defer payments until you begin instructing/flying for pay. And now that the regionals are begging to hire again, they will be restarting tuition reimbursement programs. Since you’ll be losing your source of income for an extended period of time, there will definitely have to be some lifestyle changes. I’ve met many students who took a massive leap from a successful career to ATP and had to completely change their living situation. It could possibly mean finding funds in any way possible. You’ll be living like a college student again for a short period. Whether that is something you can financially/mentally handle is dependent on your situation and eagerness to take the risk. I’m sure some of the mentors on here will offer more detail into how they made the career swap. You can also contact the finance department at ATP for any specific questions and they’ll be glad to guide you!
Flex track:
The flex track is somewhat new to ATP, so I’m yet to meet any students who have taken that route. A majority of the common flex track questions and answers can be found on the ATP FAQ page. Personally, I struggle to believe that I could’ve been the best student I could and obtain all of the knowledge required, while also working a 40 hr. job week. But I’m sure it could be possible; just a little more difficult. Proficiency is key as a pilot, and I would struggle to build my skills to a commercial/CFI level only flying once or twice a week. I would always recommend the fast-track route, but if financially it isn’t possible, the flex track could still work. Just remember that in addition to the actual flying portion of training, there is a lot of self-study required. The fast-track program will help you be more prepared for the type of training you would expect in the corporate/regional airlines
Friendships/Bonds:
This is a great question. The advantage of a flight school like ATP is that your surrounded by people like yourself who are passionate about flying and have the drive to one day be a captain at a major airline. ATP makes airline pilots, so everyone is here for the same reason. Finding other students, roommates, and even instructors to study with isn’t difficult at all. There is always someone in each training center who would be happy to talk on the phone or sit down and work through a lesson together. The weeks that I spent at CFI school and Instructor Indoc were great because I had the opportunity to meet so many other ATP students and listen to their experiences. I encourage you, whatever flight school path you take, to meet and learn with as many people you can.
Risk/Debt:
Just like you, I spent a long time evaluating whether I wanted to take a massive risk to have an opportunity to be a professional pilot. It is a big commitment, and taking a loan is no small decision. So yes, it is a massive risk. But if you are driven and committed, the lifestyle, work environment, and potential future pay is unbeatable (in my opinion). Think of it as a short period of grinding/working as hard as you can (as an student/instructor), so that you can have a great future. The advantage of having that 4-year degree is that you always have options if flying doesn’t work out.
I hope I answered at least a couple of your questions. Let me know if you have any additional questions, and best of luck in the future!
Great questions but I’d be remiss if I didn’t address your zero hours of flight time. Honestly it’s inconceivable to me that anyone could entertain a career in aviation without having taken a lesson or 5. Regardless of how long you’ve loved airplanes or have dreamed of being a pilot, until you’ve actually sat upfront with your hands on the controls of a small GA airplane you simply don’t know if it’s something you like or can even do. There are physical components to what we do and frankly not everyone can or should be a pilot. When I was a child I wanted to pitch for the Yankees, first day of little league I got hit in the mouth by a fly ball and my career in baseball was over. If you haven’t taken a lesson or intro flight you need to long before you entertain taking out a loan for $100k. Now on to your questions:
Everyone is different. I think most people don’t. They have family or friends to look after their stuff but I’m sure they’re are some that have. Totally a personal decision.
Yes that’s the purpose of the Flex-Track but at 31 I’d think long and hard about it. The extra year and a half of training can cost you literally hundreds of thousands of dollars of potential income plus significant seniority. That said you need to do what’s best to you.
There’s no question the program and instruction will require a fair amount of sacrifice. If your significant other is supportive you’ll be fine. If not you won’t and there have been relationships lost because of it. That said if the relationship is that fragile it probably wouldn’t have lasted anyway.
I agree the group study was very beneficial which is why I encourage people to live in the student housing if possible. While I’m still friends with Chris, I believe that’s more a result of our time at ExpressJet and on this forum, than our time at ATP and I’ve lost touch with the others I’ve trained with. That said I’m not really a warm fuzzy guy.
I’ve never been afraid of debt and consider the loan I took more as an investment in my future. I had also already earned my Private and knew I had some aptitude for flying.
That really depends on you and your financial position. Some people keep their house and belongings, others liquidate. I kept my stuff at my parent’s house when I was in training.
Yes, the Flex Track is designed for working adults. Keep in mind though that you will need your weekends available, as well as some weekdays, evenings for studying, and two weeks for CFI Academy.
I was a young, fresh out of college student when I went through the program, so this is not an area I can lend any experience in.
Yes, absolutely. I still keep in touch with a few of the instructors I had while in the program as well as many of the people I met along the way. I even briefly dated another student I met in the program.
I had first hand knowledge from my father of how good the job could be, so I knew that the debt was worth it. I came to ATP after having an awful experience at. local school and based on the recommendation of a cousin who had gone through ATP. After sixteen years of being an airline pilot, I can tell you that I am very glad I chose the career path that I did.