Originally Posted by
DreamToFlyy
What would you suggest then, I cannot do the military route due to a medical condition which allows me to have a First Class but no military. I know they don't garuntee jobs just interviews, and I have talked to 4 current and former students and they all had COEs and had not heard of any other ATP student who hasn't gotten one. I do not believe I am brainwashed. I have done a lot of research and weighed the positives and negatives. I am starting out I want to know what you guys think my best options are. I am not trying to negatively argue or defend anyone, just trying to figure everything out.
The benifit of going to ATP is getting a good deal of multi engine time, all your ratings, plus the instuctor certificates in a very short amount if time. Any conditional offer is just a bonus. And sure one could say "they all get them" since all the cfi's move on from there. The way the regional world is right now, anyone with the time will get called for an interview assuming not too many skeletons in the closet.
Maybe you are not being brainwashed, but dont expect to have job the day you get your CFI, or be a regional FO the second you hit 1500 just because you went to ATP. It doesnt take much for them to make it look like they have a legal obligation to find you a job at ATP or elsewhere. Because they dont. The conditional offers they have, placards on the wall from airlines showing an "agreement", is all a marketing ploy. You have just as much chance of getting a job at a regional, or cargo carrier regardless of where you went to school.
In fact, some people frown on ATP, and people who do the fast track programs. It is a pilot mill afterall. Drinking from the firehose type training.
My biggest problem with them, and why i did not do my primary through commercial and initial cfi training with them is if you cannot pass all your checkrides wiyhin the 250-260hours they budget for you, you have to pay an astronomical 400+ extra per hour to practice. Same goes for after failing any ride. The training they provide isnt bad, but if you cant keep up you fall behind bad. With you eating the bill.
The best benifit from ATP is that if you do the fast track program, and eventually get a CFi job with them is they provide you the students. Most CFI jobs like at an fbo, or flight club heavily relies on the cfi networking to get more students. You wont need to do that at ATP.
Just keep in mind no matter where you go, there is no free ticket in this world. With the new ATP 1500 rule for airlines, if you got the hours they will most likely be calling for interviews. Back when it was 250, going to ATP, doing the jet training, all the multi time etc. was a huge benifit. But thats just not the case anymore. The regionals dont care where you went to school. More than min. multi time is a plus, but for the most part. If you have 1500 hours, they just dont care.