I loved my time at ATP. I was motivated and finished the whole program from zero time in just under 8 months. I went to MMU in New Jersey.

12 months from the day I started I landed a job as a FO for a cargo company.

I was switching careers. 29 when I started. I didn’t want to wait around.

I feel like this part is making ATP seem like the only viable option for me. I am kinda in the same boat: almost 28, so not old but not young either. Did you start ATP with zero time?

ATP is fine if you realize one thing. They're not going to hold your hand one bit. It's all self study and very high pace. If you can't keep up, you're not going to get extra help.

If you're not ready for the checkride, get some extra dual. They're going to charge you. It won't be cheap. What's the cost near term and long term of a busted checkride? That's up to you.

Be the PIC of your training. Don't let ATP bully you. Saddle up. Come prepared. Don't be a little b!@#h.

Good luck. We're all counting on you.

Plane Coffee

I'm in a similar situation, 26 and really looking at getting in to the industry. My original plan was to attend ATP until i found out how much it was going to cost me. I just couldn't stomach the thought of spending 90K and having $700+ monthly payments. Do you due diligence in researching every local small school. I've noticed within the last year or so, a few of them have started securing financing for training. One in my area just got on with a financing partner which i'm planning on utilizing. Just have to wait a few months to save up the money for the bills while i'm training. If this is really what you want to do, don't settle. Do what you have to do to make it happen.

The only reason to go to atp is if you need the funding. Speed and cost are both better in part 61 mom and pop assuming you're motivated (yes I'm aware atp is 61)

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ATP is expensive and may not be any quicker.

Find a school that has a full time instructor, (or multiple full time instructors). If you have the money and are ready to go then they should be willing to fly with you every day or multiple times in a day. Ask their opinion for online ground courses and have him fill in the areas needed. Realistically, try to fly at least 3 times a week, more if you can. No reason you can’t be finished with your Private in 2 months. Instrument in another 2 months. Build time over the next couple of months and have the Commercial completed in 4 – 6 months. Get your CFI and teach full time. Full time instructors can average 80 flight hours per month. Within 2 years you can be applying for a Regional Airline job.

Recommendation to save cost in the long run: buy a good used plane. After your training you can probably sell it for the same if not more than what you paid for it.

https://flyblueridgeaviation.com/
Blue Ridge Aviation now offers a training program to make your dream a reality. Here are the specifics:

$45,000 covers the entire program; Private Pilot License through Multi-Engine Commercial and CFI (Flight Instructor)
All training materials and books are included
Pilot headset included
Average completion time is six months

A regional? No. Piece of cake. Get your ATP mins, avoid DUIs and speeding tickets and their recruiters will be on you like stink on.....

A lower tier major? You can do it but you’ll be at a slight disadvantage to those who have one. Even a two year degree would help though. Although some may prefer you without a four year degree since it rather dramatically decreases the likelihood of losing you to a top tier place that pays better.

A legacy or top tier major? Not impossible, maybe 3-4% of their pilots DON’T have degrees. That may change by the time you get the numbers to be otherwise competitive, but I doubt if it will change much.

You really have to ask yourself if you want to compete for ALL the legacy jobs, or maybe - at best - 10% of them.

It shouldn’t be a hard choice.

Yeah, I've met the head cfi/owner of this school. Professional, solid pilot. That program can run as fast as you'd like it to. They have multiple CFIs, all with good experience.

So i was in the exact same situation as you a year ago. I was seriously considering ATP. But, I ended up just staying at my local small school. My thoughts over the past year

Small school:
Pros

-I saved about $15,000
-guaranteed CFI job (with medical and dental benefits)
-small school vibe, they actually seem to care about my progression

Negatives:
-slow. What I could have done in 6-7 months at ATP took me a year
-Our fleet isn’t as big as our demand for airplanes. So when an airplane goes into maintenance it messes up a lot of bookings

so I don’t really know. Sometimes I wish I did ATP because I would have finished a lot sooner. But at the same time, my school has some students who had previously been at ATP and most have horror stories