I’m about to put down my deposit for ATP! I’ve narrowed it down to 3 locations and was wondering if anyone has any insight as to which location would be best.
Ogden, UT
Las Vegas, NV
Arlington, TX
I live about 40 mins from Ogden currently, but have family ties and friends in Texas and Nevada that I would consider with closer access to airports. Other than calculating living expenses and where would be most cost-effective to live, should I include weather as a factor? Would the snow in Utah or the thunderstorms in texas postpone flight time? I realize that this is VERY opinion based question especially since ATP advertises equal training across the board wherever you chose to train. Just hoping to put my feelers out there for what experiences people have had at any of these locations.
Weather does in fact affect training and may cause delays in the program. I personally do not have much experience with these training centers but I would assume that of the three, LAS would be the best choice when talking exclusively about the weather. I would believe Ogden is also a good option at this point because by the time winter rolls in, you will be past the bulk of the flying working on your CFI ratings (you will be sent to LAS anyway) and flying less frequently.
I would actually be starting no later than Sept 1 to save a bit more money before I begin. Do the Ogden Students go to Las Vegas during the winter months in Utah?
As I often say, while it can on occasion cause delays I think early exposure to the elements is vital to a good pilot’s development. I’d chose location based on convenience and personal preference. I did my training in NJ and VA and a) we did fine and b) great experience.
CFI classes run in LAS for the west coast locations, so when you reach that part of the program, you will be sent down there for a few weeks. But otherwise no, you will be training in OGD the whole time.