Guys, I honestly do not know the future of these programs. One thing I have heard "through the grapevine" is that AE feels that the combination of the hiring slowdown at the majors while several other regionals are in trouble will provide more experienced pilots for us, thus the programs will no longer be necessary. Time will tell.

As for what to study ahead of time... there's not a whole lot you can do. The problems we are seeing are usually not in ground school or on the orals. Students are having difficulty flying the airplane to ATP standards. That being said, you need to have recent IFR experience and a very good scan to be successful in our program. Ability + Recent Experience + Good Study Habits = SUCCESS. Hope that helps!