ATP will smell your blood in the water a mile away!

 

If I were you, I'd take the $55K engineering job and fly on your off time over the next year or so. Get your instrument rating locally and build up a couple hundred hours. Buy a IFR capable Cherokee or 172, get the rating and time, and sell it in a year for what you paid for it.

You'll have income, insurance, and work history to put on a future resume. Then if you still want to, quit the engineering job and head off to ATP or whatever place you want to finish the multi and instructor stuff.

This job is really nothing like flying a Cessna around the pattern.

In two years there might not even be a demand for pilots. Everyone back in 2000/01 were just as optimistic as they are now and then 9/11 happened. Age 70, $200 oil, foreign carriers/cabotage, all sound about as ridiculous as the Twin Towers falling on 9/10 or age 65 10 years ago. Leave yourself an out, and that engineering degree probably won't be worth anything in five years without some experience behind it.

 

So this is just my observations, and .02 cents on the whole FBO vs. ATP debate...

So out of all the people that said ATP is a joke on this thread. How many of you have actually done significant time there?
I can honestly say from experience at ATP and a local well known 141 school, that ATP is good. Its different, but still good. Yes its more expensive, but it also is with 100 multi engine hours and a cfi job for those fast track people. It also includes the CFII and MEI. Also mx is good. Hardly had a time where a flight was cancelled. Either we switched planes or quickly got it fixed. Not bad at all.
My friends training costs, and my personal costs from PPL-Commercial ME at a local fbo were only 5-10k cheaper than ATP. Consider that, and ATP gets u more multi time (90 more in my case), more CFI certs, and a job all while being much, much faster. I think an aspiring pilot, should seriously consider ATP. Yes a local FBO can get you those same qualifications for less. Typically the difference is not huge. I have taught hundreds of pilots. And even with passing all check rides just a few hours above FAA minimum, the extra price if ATP made it noteworthy, considering the other benefits.
Here is my anti-FBO rant.... There was a lot of down time at the local FBO due to maintenance (only a few airplanes, 100 hour inspections every other week, always being rented. So downtime was noticeable), only 10 hours of multi, and could only get on my instructors schedule a few times a week. And in my case, the weather in the midwest was never good enough to reliably get a high amount of training done fast. Unlike FL, TX, or AZ where you have VFR 300+ days a year.
For those that have heard, said, or witnessed bad things about ATP instructors, there are also good ones. There are bad apples, in every tree. (I had an absolute nightmare of a time at a once called "excellent" local FBO) It just so happens that ATP gets a lot of bad rep, because they are so big. But overall, they are good. Not too many lifer CFI's like what you sometimes find at an FBO, but still most of them are good.
Also, I have noticed that a lot of people that regret not getting time fast enough as a young pilot, is where a lot of the bitterness about ATP comes from. Pure jealousy. I loved my training at my local FBO, also got a job there. But instead of 3-6 months at ATP. It was more like 1.5 years for 250 hours of flight. Just because of weather, mx issues, aircraft and instructor availability. ATP has almost all of those usual FBO flight school training woes, ironed out.

 

FlyBoxy, I will try to cut through some of this chafe. ATP does for you what they advertise, but you still will have much to learn.

The advice on here about being an FO vs. quick upgrade is something you need to heed. PSA is hiring like crazy now, but that doesn't mean they will be when you are ready to apply. As I said earlier, start to seriously re-evaluate your job options when you approach the 1000 hour mark. I do happen to believe that you can meet most of your goals, but it's going to be closer to 3 years, and that's working your tail off. When I was a CFI, I flew 700 hours a year, but most of that was in the summer.

Also, give strong consideration to living like a minor-league baseball player, that is, live where the job is. Commuting, especially while junior and on reserve, is hard. You will enjoy the job much more if you live close to base. If you must commute, try to a) avoid crossing time zones and b) make it a one leg commute.

But the FO/upgrade thing...it would be unfair to you to say you should do "X." Two years ago, PSA was on nobody's list. Right now, they are the flavor of the month. What I can tell you is that Skywest is big, and if you go there, even in a couple of years, you will wait much longer for the upgrade.

 

Are you planning on taking out loans to go to ATP? Do you already have student loans from college? If the answers are yes, I would come up with a more sustainable plan.

 

ATP is a joke.

 

This!

100%.

 

Dude, it sounds like you have a very good thought process and straight mind. ATP doesn't suck. I went there back in 2008, to the Arlington location, and couldn't have received better instruction. It's just like any other flight school... You get what you put in and don't be afraid to switch instructors if your personality and/or beliefs don't match up. I have been to other schools and instructed at multiple... ATP has had the best program and syllabus I have yet to see, in fact I used it at my other schools when I was instructing and have never had a student fail a darn thing. I don't know how it is now, but when I went to ATP they expected you to know your stuff and do your homework and studying (I know, really weird right? Lol). Anyway, it's nice to come across someone with such a positive outlook and a plan to back yourself up just in case. I love this job, although I did take a LOA from endeavor, I still love this job. I also still love to go home to loved ones, I also love making dinner, I love to workout, I also love a lot of things... You see the trend? It's about mindset and not letting the negativity cloud your positive thoughts. If your going to waste your time thinking and planning out your present and future, don't waste it thinking and reading the negative stuff on here. Waste it with your already positive thoughts. So, with that said, keep on your plan and adjust accordingly as time passes. You really don't need to decide "what regional" right now, you just need to stay on track. Once you get your time, and as you stay in the loop, you will have a better understanding of the state of the industry when it is time to apply. Your going to go far in life because you already have a great mind and you seem like a hard worker. Best of luck! If you have any questions regarding ATP or anything else shoot me a PM.

 

Maybe you could get his number and ask him out sometime too...

 

Can we please get some tl;dr the next time you guys decide to re-write the bible?