ATP flight schools

AW2992 Junior Member

I am thinking of going to ATP flight school. I am looking for any info on the school ? Thank you guys/stuckmic.

GolfJuliet F*** Terrorism

Overpriced$$$$$$$

mtlatc Epic Member In a bus down by the river!

I would look for this information over on JC.

Rosstafari Daaaang. /X

Seconded. There've got heaps of information on the big name flight schools (and quite a few small ones... aviation's a small world). IIRC ATP's okay, but I'd check with the pilots. Make an account, do a search, get some networking in while you're at it. Great resource.

Oh, yeah, and if consensus is against any particular place on JC, pay heed. They're pretty good at predicting the ones that'll cause you trouble later.

irishcarbomb Moderator Houston, TX

i moved this thread to the pilot section...yeah we have one of those too...

ATP is good at what they do...they will get you your rating quick. what are you looking to do there? pvt? inst? comm?

they are expensive, but it all depends on what you're looking to do. it can be worth it for some things.

AW2992 Junior Member

I am thinking about there Airline Career Pilot Program sounds to good to be true 150 days for all that you get. What do you guys think ??

mtlatc Epic Member In a bus down by the river!

I think pilot jobs are as hard to get as ATC....If not harder.

irishcarbomb Moderator Houston, TX

i had a feeling you would say that...dont do it...especially right now

your best bet would be to find a small fbo flight school and do it that way. part 61 vs 141 doesnt matter too much.

are you hoping to become an airline pilot in the future? how old are you? its going to be a long expensive road ahead and the time of hiring guys with 500hrs is gone for while.

if its something you really want to do, then this is what i would suggest...

Find a Part 61 school, get your private, instrument, commercial single...then get your CFI and CFII, which will allow you to start working and making some of your money back (not much). Once you finish those get your multi commercial add-on and maybe your MEI.

you will have spent about the same as the ATP program but walk away with MUCH more knowledge and experience.

AW2992 Junior Member

Thanks for the advice guys. ATP is 2nd in line if I dont get into the FAA if I get into the faa I will go the FBO way at a slow pace and pay as I go. The airport I should be going to has a flight school that I will look into.

Rosstafari Daaaang. /X

I haven't looked at the program, so I don't know the specifics, but if it's claiming that you can go from 0 hours (or even a private) to a "career" in that amount of time it's BS. Almost without fail the programs that promise to put you in the right seat of a ______ are either lying or leaving out so many details that you won't be happy with the end result.

It's a grind to get up to any respectable work as a pilot, especially for an airline. Low pay, long hours, and lots of volatility. If you want to read a couple good writeups on what it's like, there are some great "Day in the Life" features on the homepage of JetCareers that Doug and others have written.

Good call about paying as you go. If there's one thing I've heard consistently from pilots when it comes to flight training, it's to do just that. Never borrow... you get sunk into a hole that's hard to fight your way back out of. Especially if you have to toss another $40-50,000 on top of it if you end up going to Advanced ATC like you were talking about last month.