Originally Posted by UH60driver

Answer to the question: Yes. The fact that there are many flight schools and academies producing them is evidence that it is possible to attain the certificate in so little time.

What I observed from ATP is that it is a good academy, just like any FBO or flight school can be. The academy provides very standardized training and every instructor who instructs in it goes through stardardization just like any Part 141 instructor is supposed to go through before starting instruction.

The academy is meant for those who are seriously dedicated. A lot of material is thrown at the students in so little time that only a person who has self discipline can actually grasp all that knowledge. Many of the students are very dedicated to learning. I made a few friends there who are elsewhere flying bigger and better things. However, I did come accross some who had gotten all the way through their commercial certificate by failure and re-attempts and still had not gotten the clue that they needed to study and become proficient in aviation knowledge (This guys, in my opinion, slipped through the cracks. I don't know if they made it through the CFI course).

Comparing ATP instructors (or fast track instructors) to traditional instructors on the basis of their experience is pointless. They both learned the same FAA material and trained for the instructor certificate in similar ways. The only difference is the amount of time they spent achieving the result. Experience is a matter of what they have trained in.

The ATP instructor experience is mostly in multi-engine aircraft; the traditional instructor has probably flown more single-engine time. Put both against each other and both will run circles around each other when it comes to demonstrating their territory. The career ATP instructor, with about 50 hours of SEL, will probably lose a contest against the traditional instructor with over two hundred hours of SEL experience. Bring a traditional instructor with about 30 hours of multi-engine time against an ATP instructor with over 200 hours of MEL experience and chances are, the ATP instructor has more proficiency.

Having said all previous, I say the following to all future persons who aspire to be pilots. Attain your training through the fast track or traditional way. Heck, do it the military way if you so desire. The outcome is the same; you become a certified pilot. What kind of pilot you become depends completely on you; you make that difference. I will say this as a professional aviator, and I know many feel the same way, if you become a pilot, we (the already professional pilots) expect you to be a proficient one. You should expect no less of those who come behind you. You owe it to the public and the souls on your aircraft.

There is nothing wrong with being a flight instructor to build more flight time and move on to bigger and better things; just don't cut a student short of training because of your agenda. Give them the benefit of a good lesson.