I’m going to be scheduling my start date very soon with ATP. I wanted to reach out and ask why are there so many negative reviews about ATP? Anytime I tell someone I’m going to be going to flight school there, they immediately say don’t do it. No one has had anything positive to say when I tell them. I’ve heard stories of people getting kicked out for no good reason and being taken advantage of for their money. I get there’s always 2 sides to a story and obviously there’s ton of pilots that succeed and get to the airlines. I’m trying to ignore the negativity and go into it with a positive mind but I’m not gonna lie, it is starting to bring me down a little. I know going into something new is whatever you make it to be.
I’m giving up my job as a flight attendant to be fully available for ATP so I want to make sure that I’m doing the right thing by choosing this flight school. End goal is to get to the airlines as quickly as possible so that is why I think ATP fits best.
It boils down to how you want to pay for it (savings, loan or a combo of both), and if you have funds to hold you over while you are going through the program. And then funds to hold you over while you are making some money as a CFI. And then more funds to hold you over while you are seeking out your first paid flying job (after CFI). That could be several years from day 1 of training, and the first flying job may or may not be with an airline.
The complaints out there are generally around the high cost, high interest loan (for those who take one) and the fast pace that isn’t for everyone. You can be removed from the program before you finish if you aren’t cutting it.
The compliments are also out there from those who did well and are flourishing in a job.
The fact is that not everyone can or should be a pilot. You mention getting to the airlines as quickly as possible (as do many people). The problem is ATPs accelerated program means doing a mountain is training in a very short period of time. Again not something that everyone can handle.
ATP has been training pilots for the airlines for 4 decades, over 1,100 grads have been hired by the airlines in the last 12mos alone (with tens of thousands hired over the years). They pioneered the flight school/airline partnerships and they’re grads got preferential interviews long before the pilot shortage. With that in mind what’s more plausible? That “people getting kicked out for no good reason and being taken advantage of for their money”, OR, that they’re not very good pilots, or can’t keep up, wash out and perhaps aren’t as “awesome” as mommy’s been telling them their whole life.
Second you mention you’re an FA. If so I’m sure you know a pilot or 2. I know many and the vast majority either trained with ATP (like me) or they went to Riddle, took 4yrs and spent $200k+ to get to the exact same cockpit. No one (especially pilots with our Type A personalities) want to think we took the long way and spent wayyyyy too much money then they needed to.
Long short you can listen to the naysayers or you can listen to the facts. Up to you.
To help out as well from my experience of hearing people’s stories that have negative things to say about ATP I will say this. All of them either
A) Couldn’t perform within the time constraints ATP wants things done.(along with not having the piloting ability to be an airline pilot)
B) they didn’t do enough research into the cost of taking out the loan and living with a lower take home during the early stages of their flying career.
I got exactly what ATP said it would be. I flew in great airplanes with competent instructors. But putting in the work is up to you. The flow of things prepared me to go into the airlines. Because once you get in the airlines they don’t baby you, they will give you a timeline and the information you have to know by the end. I feel like ATP is the best at getting you prepared for this environment.
Ah, the social media posts… the reason there are negative reviews is because ATP is not for everyone, nor is being a pilot and while the covid pandemic brought an increase of students in, many sought for the money and did not realize it’s not easy flying an airplane. Students don’t just get kicked out for “no good reason,” there’s a reason, and sometimes those reasons exceed what we know and the true story… I’ve seen students get removed from the program for credible reasons, and some just up and leave because they did not want to do it anymore.
The problem today is we are bombarded by negativity, the second you open your phone you may find a negative thing within a minute; whether it’s Facebook, Yahoo!, YouTube, whatever application you may have that you find your source of news or ‘drama’ content. What you need to do is separate yourself from the negativity and drama while attending ATP, focus on the prize in hand, and that is obtaining your certificates, locking in a job, and building your career. Like Adam mentioned, you have two paths, listen to the naysayers or listen to the facts. If you’re like me, you’ll look at the facts and trust the process, along with thousands of others who succeed yearly through ATP’s program.
Thank you everyone for the responses! Definitely helped ease my mind. I’ll be going into the program with a positive attitude and not entertaining any negative energy.
A simple search of your favorite restaurant on yelp will show you there will always be people with negative reviews. They are the ones who take the time to type it out online to share… while people like you that love the restaurant just keep coming back time and time again. Just food for thought…
Hey Michelle, I just finished the program in Atlanta and am working through indoc now to be an ATP instructor, and I’ll concur with what Brady/Adam said before me.
It’s a LOT of information in a short amount of time. ATP is built for people looking to make a career out of being a pilot and quickly. Not everyone is. I’ve found that most people bashing this program either 1. Couldn’t keep up or be successful and feel jilted or 2. Don’t care to do it quickly/efficiently (in which case, go to another mom & pop flight school).
Yes they’ve got some protocols and procedures I don’t necessarily agree with, but with a flight school this size with this many airline relationships to uphold, that’s to be expected. And that’s gonna be the rest of your career. It’s streamlined and efficient, and will get you where you want to be in that regard.
Hope that helps.
I have just started with ATP. The admissions process was very informative and opened my eyes on a lot of the doubts and concerns you have brought on your post.
I recommend you to call the admissions office and ask them all the questions you might have. If possible definitely visit your local school to talk to current students and instructors.
As for the choice of career, keep in mind that it’s all about your prospective and dedication to the program and the passion for flying. Keep educating yourself through out your ATP program as well while working for the airline.
As much is given as much more shall be expected back
I actually find these stories of people getting kicked out for no reason and just being taken advantage of somewhat humorous. ATP is in the business of producing airline pilots, it is as simple as that. They would not just arbitrarily remove somebody from the program as that would be a detriment to both the student and to ATP. Purposely harming your students (customers) is the fastest way possible to go out of business. I can assure you that ATP has not been in business for forty years, and become the largest flight school in the US, by taking advantage of their students.
I often find the keyboard warriors are the loudest and like to blame everybody else, but when I dig into their stories, there is always so. much more to it that they do not want to admit on the internet.
I would argue that post Covid, Chick-fil-A has really gotten bad at customer service. YEs, they are great at pushing you through the drive through. But they were the first to close their restaurants and the last to open them. They have made it very clear that they do not want you in their restaurants. As a single father of three, I used to really appreciate how they would bring the food to the table, get refills for you and have a play-place. All of that is gone now, just drop your money, get your food and leave.
I read the great info you all gave to Michelle. Can anyone give insight to the hours ATP requires to be fully enrolled? Say, Mon-Fri 0600 to 1200 in class training and 1300 to 1600 flight lessons for example. Trying to gage how much time is needed to be prepared and successful.
To be successful and get rewarding results, ATP is a full-time commitment so you can expect most of your time focused on training. Here is a typical overview of a daily life at ATP:
This is aviation, not accounting, cooking or anything else. That means weather has alot to do with what we do and often dictates what we do when. For that reason it’s nearly impossible to fully plan any day. Some days you’ll have ground school in the am and are supposed to fly in the afternoon BUT if the weather is forecast to crap out later in the day that will flip and visa versa.
As Brady said the program requires you to be available full-time.
