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Flight Schools -ATP?

Old 05-01-2017, 08:01 AM
  #11  
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ATP wasn't willing to work with me, and my experience was poor to say the least.

After graduating rotary wing flight school for the military, I contacted them regarding a fixed wing transition and was interested in their guaranteed CFI position after completion. They told me they would build a custom program for me ($27,000), but would NOT guarantee me a CFI position. I politely told them that if they changed their mind, then I would pull the trigger, but I wasn't going to take out a $27,000 loan with no guarantee job on the back end.

After three months of them contacting me trying to get me in the program, it was apparent to me they just wanted my money, and didn't care to actually hire me afterwards. This made no sense to me as I already held a commercial license, and I would be in a different position going through their program than any other person walking off the street being guaranteed a CFI position upon completion of their program.

My 2 cents is to stay away from ATP.
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Old 05-04-2017, 10:40 PM
  #12  
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Originally Posted by ebelizard View Post
ATP wasn't willing to work with me, and my experience was poor to say the least.

After graduating rotary wing flight school for the military, I contacted them regarding a fixed wing transition and was interested in their guaranteed CFI position after completion. They told me they would build a custom program for me ($27,000), but would NOT guarantee me a CFI position. I politely told them that if they changed their mind, then I would pull the trigger, but I wasn't going to take out a $27,000 loan with no guarantee job on the back end.

After three months of them contacting me trying to get me in the program, it was apparent to me they just wanted my money, and didn't care to actually hire me afterwards. This made no sense to me as I already held a commercial license, and I would be in a different position going through their program than any other person walking off the street being guaranteed a CFI position upon completion of their program.

My 2 cents is to stay away from ATP.
They never offer a job until you are done with CFI. That's good for you as a student. Other wise they would have a few not so good instructors teaching you. You don't want that I assume.
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Old 05-09-2017, 06:07 AM
  #13  
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So, what would be a better alternative to ATP?
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Old 05-09-2017, 07:44 AM
  #14  
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Originally Posted by MacrossJet View Post
So, what would be a better alternative to ATP?
That depends on what you want and need out of your training. You get the same ratings training with the local FBO as you would with "BigTime Aviation Training Academy." The difference is in the time* it takes and the amount of money needed to complete the training.
The real issue is that selecting a place to get your training is a highly subjective process. Visit the organizations that you are interested in. Meet the people. See the planes. If something seems off, trust that instinct and go elsewhere. Nice shiny facilities and brand new airplanes are great, but don't discount smaller operations with older aircraft.

The club I belong to has a wide variety of aircraft. Even the older aircraft have current generation GPS navigators and most have ADS-B compliant transponders. Heck, some of the mid-70s era 172s have had recent interior upgrades making them more aesthetically pleasing that some of ATP's late model SPs.

I've said it before, I'll say it again. ATP isn't evil. If I had it to do all over again, I'd go to ATP. I'd also give myself more time to settle into my new home before throwing myself into the maelstrom.



* = when I speak of time, I'm largely referring to calendar time, not flight times.
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