Hello, I will just proceed and ask a different question.
My question is, what is the graduation rate/percentage of all the students that applied to the ATP flight school.
If you guys have this information it would be cool to see what it is. Thanks!
Gari,
ATP requires either a 2yr degree OR your PPL so yes you could attend with just your PPL. Keep in mind that if you aspire to fly for a Major airline they do want a 4yr degree and that’s a lot of school to do online or part time. Also know that if for some reason things don’t work out in aviation (medical, incident or simply change your mind) you’ll be out there with no degree. I’d seriously consider continuing your education before ATP but your decision.
Adam
Aloha Adam,
My name is Brian and I am 24 years old and I currently live in Honolulu, HI. I just graduated from the University of Hawaii at Mānoa with my Bachelors Degree in Communications. I am very interested in pursuing a career as a commercial airline pilot hopefully one day flying for Hawaiian Airlines like you! I have ZERO experience/flight time/training under my belt and I am not quite sure on where to start. I will be MOVING to Irvine, California in July not only to possibly pursue the pilot career but also for a lifestyle change as well. Having lived on Oahu your whole life sometimes you need a different view/perspective haha. Anyways I’m having a hard time on wrapping my head around signing a $70k plus loan on something that I am not entirely POSITIVE that I want to pursue obviously because I have never flown a plane before in my control. I plan to do a couple of intro flights here locally before I leave but My real question is do you recommend starting out here locally and then continue flying at a smaller flight school up in Orange County working towards achieving my PPL first and then making a decision from there? Or should I just take a few intro flights here and decide and then start ATP in Long Beach from scratch. I’m not sure what to do in this situation and your guidance would be much appreciated!
Mahalo,
Brian
Brian,
These are decisions that only you can make. I would not commit to something with such a large price tag if I was not absolutely sure about it, so I would recommend getting your PPL at a local school, then deciding if I wanted to fly professionally.
Chris
Mahalo for the response Chris, yes I completely agree. I need to get my feet wet first and experience it first hand myself and only I can make the decision from there. Thanks for your time and advice.
-Brian
Aloha Brian,
Actually I understand your concern and honestly couldn’t agree more. I cannot fathom how some people just say “what the heck” and sign up for the loan with zero experience. Personally I think it’s foolish. First and foremost you can clearly see the ATP logo at the top of this forum and they make no effort to hide that fact. All the mentors here are former students and instructors. We are not salesman and receive no incentive if you sign up or not. What it does mean is we’re all fans of the program and believe there’s no better route to the airlines. Ok so now that’s out of the way what should Brian do? Before you spend another 1 minute pondering any of this you need to go to HNL South ramp or Kalaeloa and go up. Until you do that this conversation is pointless. Chances are you’ll love it (which is why flight schools offer them, to get you hooked) but you may not in which case the conversation is over, or you may be thinking I’m still not sure? Now let’s say you go up, LOVE it and determine you are in fact destined to be my FO. Then I recommend you save your money, go to Long Beach and sign up. BUT, if after that first lesson you’re still on the fence or just aren’t certain you know what you’re getting yourself into, then by all means take some more lessons and start working on that PPL (either here or in CA). Many people want to go through that whole process of getting that first license, the ground school, the exams and the checkride before they commit and that’s fine. If that’s the case my only caveat is give yourself a finite time frame to get done and you MUST go flying consistently (2-3 times a week min). Once a week won’t cut it. You be burning cash and wasting time and that accomplishes nothing. 2-3mos and no more. If you can’t get your PPL in that time frame you should at the very least know if you want to continue or not in which case cut your loses and go to ATP to finish your PPL etc. No point in dragging it out either way.
Adam
Mahalo for the response Adam!
I’ll make time this coming week to go check it out and go up! Been hearing really good things about George’s aviation. I also have a relative flying for Hawaiian as well too. You might know Dave Kojima. I really appreciate your insights and recommendations. Thanks for answering these questions for me.
-Brian
Brian,
I know Dave very well. Great guy! Dave’s a friend, feel free to ask him for my # if you’d like to talk.
Let us know how you make out.
Adam