Hello,
Quick background I’m 19 years old and have wanted to be a pilot since I was a little kid, recently while working on the flight line at the airport I work at I ran into a pilot that flies for United express and asked him a few questions on how he did it and he recommended ATP. I’ve been doing a ton of research on them and I’m ready to pull the trigger and apply for the student loan but I’ve seen a lot of mixed opinions on the time it takes to go from atp to airlines. I am aware of instructing after graduating and plan to go that route through ATP but I’ve seen post saying it takes 5 years to be looked at by the big leagues and or 2 years. I am curious on other pilots or students experiences and how they went through the school.
-Thank you for your time and personal input and recommendations would be greatly appreciated
Ethan,
Welcome to the forums. If you mean time it takes to get to the airlines, meaning regional airlines, it is about two years. The regionals are generally hiring pilots right at the 1,500 hour mark, so once you have your flight time, you should be a viable candidate.
The major airlines are a different animal. Most pilots fly at the regionals for several years before making it to the majors. I have seen anywhere from 2-15 years, but the average seems to be around five years.
Please let us know how else we can help you.
Chris
Ethan,
The reason you’ve seen a lot of “mixed opinions” on a timeline to the “big leagues” is because there are ALOT of different timelines. As Chris said, there are people who have done it in 2yrs, others 10, some never make it. The reality is while your odds have gotten much better with the pilot shortage, ultimately there are no guarantees. Some people never get degrees, some get in trouble, some are just lousy pilots and others simply get passed on because they don’t interview well. Do well in training, earn a degree, and keep yourself clean and you’ve got a good shot but how long it will take is anyone’s guess. Further it really doesn’t matter who took how long what matters is how long you take and that again is anyone’s guess.
Fortunately the Regionals are hiring like crazy and are paying much better so if you end up spending a few extra years (or forever) there its really not so bad.
Adam
Welcome, Ethan,
For experiences, check out the Student Experiences section of the forum.
For timelines, it depends on your definition of a major airline. Frontier is hiring ATP grads with 1500 hours. So there’s an example of a graduate getting hired by a “major” in 2 years.
However, most pilots start out at the regional level before getting hired by majors like American, Delta, United, Hawaiian, Alaska, Southwest…
Typically, regional pilots spend a minimum of 2 years as First Officers and a minimum of 1.5 years as a Captain before they are hired by a major. This is the 5 year timeline that you are hearing about.
Tory
Thank you all for your input, I am going to start prepping for ATP is there any recommendations on prepping before I start the class in a few months!!
Ethan,
I would get started on your written exams. Here’s more detailed information to help you navigate through the program as well.
https://airlinepilot.life/t/what-does-an-atp-student-need-to-do-to-be-successful/10421/5
Tory