As a kid, I wanted to become a pilot and never looked into it because of the misassumption that it takes 10 years to become one. I am 26 years old now trying to find my passion, and life has put the topic of pilot career in front of me. I need to know if it’s for me. How long does it take being fully dedicated to become a commercial pilot? How long does it take to land a job in the beginning?
Fidel,
A Commercial Pilot is any pilot who’s legal to be paid to fly (ie, a flight instructor, crop duster, etc), but when you say “commercial pilot” I’m going to assume you mean an airline pilot.
To fly for an airline in the US you need a minimum of 1500hrs and the required licenses and ratings. ATPs accelerated program will have you done with training in just 7mos with approx 250hrs. Working as an instructor to build the rest of the time will take another 1.5yrs give or take. At that point you’ll be eligible to fly for a Regional or LCC. To fly for a Major will take another 2-5yrs depending.
Keep in mind that’s what’s happening today and there are no guarantees.
Adam
Fidel,
Welcome to the forum, to answer your question “I need to know if it’s for me,” only you will be able to tell. I recommend you scheduling an admissions flight with ATP and a few other introductory flights at a local flight school to see if it is something you’re able to do. Flying a plane is much different than sitting in the back going across the pond on vacation.
As Adam mentioned, there are ways to build flight time as a commercial pilot; however, I think the most sufficient and efficient path is flight instructing… especially in today’s time where everyone wants to become a pilot. Depending on the work ethic you possess, you may be able to get your 1,500 hours in 2.5 years total, or little longer. ATP’s program is 7 months, and it takes about a year and half to build your remainder time.
Brady
Fidel,
Intro flight first. Make sure the dream is accompanied by a realistic picture of what it will take to get there. Once you decide to do it, it will be a 7 month program followed by building hours to 1500. That can take a total of about 2 years. From there you will start flying for a regional or LCC carrier. So 2 years to be an airline pilot and then it depends on what airline you’d like to fly for. If it’s cargo like FedEx, or UPS or a legacy, you will need another year or two of building experience. Theoretically you could be at the airlines of your dreams in 5 years or less.
Hannah
Thank you all for the great information.
- How is ATP’s program compared to Embry-Riddle or other flight schools?
- I assume that guaranteeing an employment with an airline is easy?
Fidel,
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You can’t really compare ATP to Riddle. While both offer excellent training and have solid reputations, ER is a university and ATP is a flight school. You cannot just train at ER, you must be a student working on a degree. With that in mind ATPs training is 7mos, ERs is 4yrs and considerably more expensive. As for other flight schools ATP pioneered the Airline Career Pilot Program over 35yrs ago. While most flight schools now offer complete programs they’re all modeled after ATPs. Further NONE can boast the success rate ATP has with over 1,100 pilots hired by airlines in the last 12mos alone and tens of thousands since their inception.
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There are ZERO guarantees of an airline job with ATP or any flight school. Frankly speaking you might be a lousy pilot or person. Bust more than a few checkrides or get some blemishes on your record and you’re chances of getting hired go down dramatically.
Adam
What about the flight instructing period, does ATP hire every student as an instructor once they finish the 7mo program? How much do CFI’s tend to make?
Fidel,
Let me ask you a question? You’re thinking about investing $100k into a career, would you like your instructor to be someone who really wasn’t very good but was guaranteed a job?
The fact of the matter is not everyone can or should be a pilot or an instructor. ATP has many locations with many openings but those positions must be earned. Do well in the program and you’ll be offered one, don’t and you won’t.
On the average instructors earn mid to high $20ks.
Adam
Fidel,
An instructor position is not guaranteed once you complete training at ATP. ATP strives to keep their standardization and program top-notch, if you can’t complete it as a student without problems, what are the chances you’ll be able to withhold the standards then. We always preach, enter the program Day 1 as if it’s your job interview… because it pretty much is. Not everyone can be a flight instructor, it can be a demanding job, some fly for hire other ways to build time.
For information on CFI jobs at ATP, I recommend you taking a look at this link:
Brady
I agree, but I am trying to have an oversight of what the path of becoming an airline pilot looks like with ATP. Will someone have the option to work as a flight instructor at a different flight school after the 7mo ATP program?
Fidel,
Once you successfully complete your training ATP will offered available slots throughout the country. It’s then up to you to decide if one of them works for you or not. If it doesn’t you can of course look for a job elsewhere.
Adam
Do all ATP locations offer the same training? I am in Michigan, and the weather here is one of the worst. Would that affect the program length?
Fidel,
ATP offers the same level of training and resources throughout their network of schools.
Of course weather can effect your timeline (although the 7mos footprint does incl some buffers) but virtually all locations have weather challenges. Those locations where weather is most problematic don’t offer the PPL portion but Detroit isn’t one of those so you should be fine.
Adam
Fidel,
I was just in Grand Rapids, MI the other day and it was beautiful while in the northeast it was gloomy, rainy and cold. Weather can impact training timelines, but ATP works around that and ensure that students remain on program timeline as best as possible. Yes, there can be delays, but your TSS and Lead Instructor will ensure that you remain close to, if not on time (or ahead) of schedule.
Regardless to where you train, ATP standardizes the training footprint across the United States, amongst 82 locations. The only other “delay” that could affect program length is DPE availability, but to my knowledge and discussing with some local DPEs in my area, the FAA is working on solving that problem. I don’t know how true that is, it came from someone, I’m just relaying a message I heard. 
Brady
Fidel,
Spring through fall is a great time to start the program and avoid the midwest winters. However, even if you did go through during the winter season the program is flexible enough to catch up with small reasonable weather delays. You could have a week or two preventing you to solo but once in your instrument phase with less strict weather mins, you could fly an extra flight a week and catch right back up.
Hannah