Does the accommodation have cooking facilities?

 

That totally depends on where PSA decides to put you. During my ATP course in 2018 we were at an extended stay type place with a kitchenette with full size fridge, microwave, and I think it had a stovetop. During our INDOC though we were at a place about 30 minutes from the training facility in just a normal hotel. It sucked having the drive added to both sides of a long day then having to figure out food in a regular hotel room. There was a Walmart and a variety of food establishments within walking distance so that helped. I’ve heard they’ve been putting new hires in an extended stay type place which is really nice with kitchenettes and all and is very close to the training facility.

 

There are a few hotels in DAY that you might get. I got the Fairfield which is very clean and new but no kitchen. Guys complain about that, but it works if you get creative food wise. Nice big breakfast every day, plus you get a certain amount of free items from their little market. Guarantee pay, 24/7 per diem, single occupancy in brand new hotel. Pretty good deal if you ask me.

 

Depends on the hotel you get. As others have said they use different hotels in Dayton. I was at a residence inn and it had a full kitchen, couch etc. Made being there very comfortable. Some people even got fireplaces in their rooms...

 

Hotels normally have breakfast, and you have lunch at the training center (buy some sandwich stuff and put it in the mini fridge). Just go out to dinner with classmates and enjoy the time. Get to know the people that will be your friends for the rest of your aviation career. The guys that failed out of training were the ones that sat in their room and didn't talk to anyone. The ones that went out to dinner in groups were the ones that did the best in training and made lasting friendships.

You are making good money now, as compared to 5 years ago. Then, new hires got paid $25,000 per year.

 

Come on, it isn’t required to be social and go to dinner in order to pass training. I hate this constant preaching go out to dinner hang out with classmates. I’ve seen plenty of folks who did the group study thing all the time struggle.

Look, get to know your classmates, be cool with everyone. Nothing wrong with hanging out occasionally.

But group study can become a distraction as well when the studying becomes just shooting the **** when studying needs to occur. When that happens, it becomes a frustrating matter.

 

Agreed, my advice is always to find a sim partner early on then study one on one with them. Any group studying I've tried with more than about 3 people turned into stories and drinking.

So I would hang out with the group when I wanted a break from studying, because over studying is very real.

 

This right here is the my advice as well, pick a partner early and get to work with them. Group study is great for knowledge check every once in awhile.

 

Agreed x3. Me and my sim partner decided we were a good fit when we were in Dallas for atp/ctp due to having stuff in common. We would study together all the time and partnered up day 1 of training. Sometimes with another two people who were partnered up as well. The large group stuff was distracting and for at least myself I learn better when I'm by myself or a couple other people.

Don't think you have to study in large groups or else you'll fail. You just need to figure out what works for you. Definitely take some time to have a break on Friday nights and the weekends though. Our class made it a point to get as much of the class together for dinner on fridays and saturdays just to have a break and hang out. Ended up being a blast.

 

Re ATP/CTP, they cover airfare to/from, hotel, and transportation. All you need to do is show up and cover food. You fly non-rev, positive space from an airport of your choosing. They'll put you on the earliest flight in case of problems so expect a full day of travel.

The hotel we're at is 90% PSA pilots and I'm pretty sure they use the same place for every class- the staff is very airline-oriented and are bending over backward for us. They have shuttles taking us to/from class and to/from sims. They will have you provide them your schedule and work around getting you there. They know all about Sheppard, will help you print logbooks, etc. So it's not like any issue you have isn't something they haven't already dealt with. The rooms are single-occupancy and VERY nice. Turn-down service every day, stovetop kitchenette with full-size fridge and washer. Probably the nicest hotel I've been provided in the last 1.5 years of flying crappy Part 91/135 flying. It's a few minutes from the sims and surrounded by restaurants and stores, so everything is in walking distance. They'll have grab-and-go breakfasts and the training center has an agreement with this food delivery service so you can group order from a couple restaurants and have lunch delivered for a few bucks more thann menu price instead of paying $20+ for UberEats

Just don't forget any documents (passport, logbooks, etc) or you'll be FedEx Overnighting stuff from home $$$. I highly recommend starting a WhatsApp/Messenger group with your class so everyone can share ideas/study/plan food/social outings. Most people in CTP will be in the same indoc class as well.

I haven't made it to indoc yet but I'm hoping the hotels provided are the same with a kitchenette- I like to cook and meal prep. Most of us are planning on driving to Dayton. 4-5 weeks without a car would straight up suck.