LAFF has never attended ATP and bases all of his opinions on a bad experience at ONE FBO.

FBOs are going to make the same amount of money if you do your training fast, or slow. No matter where you go, the ultimate factor is you. One of my good friends and coworkers went from instrument rating to airline in less than 10 months and was paid for the last 4 months working as a CFI.

And for those academies being so great, two of three that attended ATP failed indoc in my class and another two that went to other academies failed out. All three that were from a traditional backgrond were older and had a very hard time transitioning back to a learning environment. They get you the ratings fast but that doesn't make you capable.

Take a look at the list of those hired from ATP. There aren't a ton that were there less than a year. I see a lot of people that spent $50,000 and over a year to get there. Doesn't sound like a fast track to me.