I have been researching and came across some forums that say the program is not 2 years but takes longer. Does that vary person to person or ATP management? Also some forums suggest that ATP instructors are not quality to instructors and do not care about instructing? Is this something that is true because I plan to join ATP flight school in Long Island, NY and was just worried about investing money this program hoping it is a safe school with all due respect to ATP.
The internet is a wonderful but there’s also people that claim the Earth is flat so sometimes you have to take things with a grain of salt. But let’s talk.
First the program is not 2 years it’s 9mos. and has been for years. After you complete your training you’ll need to instruct to build the required 1500 hours to fly for an airline. You’ll finish the program with about 250 hrs do you’ll need to build approx. 1250hrs. The average ATP instructor flies approx 75hrs a month. 1250/75=16mos+9mos training = 25mos. So yes on the average it does take a little over 2yrs to get to an airline. That said there are plenty of people who finish in less.
Next, doesn’t matter if you go to ATP, Riddle or Joe’s School of Basket Weaving and Aviation, EVERYONE must pass an FAA checkride. If they’re instructing that means they passed and the FAA doesn’t just hand Instructor Certificates out to anybody. As for caring let me ask you a question. Are you going to ATP to be a flight instructor? You’ve asked questions in the past about the airlines so I’m assuming that’s what you want to do but to get there you’ll probably need to instruct. Is that your goal? Probably not. Are you excited about flight instructing? Probably not but that doesn’t mean you don’t care or you’ll do a poor job. That goes for just about every instructor in the country.
ATP has been training pilots for the airlines for over 30 yrs and has placed over 600 pilots with the airlines in the last 12mos alone. If what you read were true I think the word would be out by now.
Adam… So while gaining the flight hours “The average ATP instructor flies approx 75hrs a month. 1250/75=16mos+9mos training = 25mos”… In that time, would I still be eligible for ATP housing while I’m working as a CFI gaining my hours?
The program is designed to take nine months. It can be sometimes be a bit longer, or even a bit shorter, but generally speaking it takes nine months. The instructing time can vary. but most people are able to complete the total program at around two years.
Yes, there are detractors on the internet, you will find that anywhere. I encourage you to check out the student experiences section of this forum as there you will see unedited experiences from many students sharing their thoughts on ATP.
I see what you mean Adam, I assume it depends on how much you fly each month and of course other factors such as weather etc. I currently have 0 hrs of flying experience and am limited to either ATP or Academy of Aviation in Farmingdale, NY, which is a part 141 school. I just wanted to get all the info on the program before investing a large amount of money into the program. If I join the program I most likely would like to instruct with ATP. There is way too much information out there floating around from various sources so I just wanted to be sure before making a commitment. What is your say on choosing a part 61 or part 141 program?
I also wanted your advice on choosing a Part 141 school that is advertising that 1500 hrs can be reached in 1.5 years. Would you recommend a part 141 program?
This is discussed in the FAQ section but the short answer is ATP would not be able to offer accelerated training if they were Part 141. Part 61 offers tremendous latitude and allows the training to be accelerated based on the students abilities.
I have trained under part 141 and am not a fan of it. 141 is typical of a government run program. It imposes all sorts of ridiculous restrictions on the flight school and provides very little flexibility. Often times it ends up taking much longer than it should. I think it would be darn near impossible to get 1,500 hours in 1.5 years and even if one did, the flying would be so accelerated that I would question the safety behind it.
I see Adam. Part 141 schools I believe differ from ATP in that self study is a huge make or break at ATP and Part 141 schools have a lot of ground school.
