I am 39 years old and looking to transition to a career in aviation. I'll be retired military soon. I have been leaning towards ATP Flight School mostly because they are the name I see most often and the airline partnerships. I have read many of the posts about them and see good and bad reviews but most of them are from several years ago.

I am particularly interested in recent graduates and current student's experience with ATP.

I am also very interested in the opinion of Captains who have flown with recent graduates and their opinion of the pilots that come out of ATP's training program.

I am considering the Long Beach CA location. Does anyone have experience with them?

Tracking this... I too am looking at ATP vs Mom/Pop. I'd be in Tampa. Hope you get some replies.

I've recently flown with two pilots who graduated and taught at ATP in Jacksonville. Sharp guys, no complaints.


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I would highly recommend NOT going to ATP. If you do go, you'll be trained by a 90 day zero to hero instructor, who was taught by another 90 day instructor. I was not a student there thankfully but in my experience with ATP, the experience and knowledge of the instructors is weak. They train for checkrides so don't expect any above and beyond knowledge. Also, they are not customer oriented. ATP cares about your money and that's it. They do not care about your training experience.

The airline partnerships are pointless, every regional in the country is clamoring for pilots. Any pilot with the hours and the certs can get a job. No one will be impressed because you have ATP on your resume. Just the opposite is more likely.

For retired military, look for a 141 school where you can use your benefits to pay for your training.

Thank you for your assistance. I've read a few responses on other treads complaining about the quality of the "Teach to the test" or "copy of a copy training". As I'm new at this what's the best alternative to the so called "pilot mill" flight schools?

Thanks for your reply Toonces. Do you attribute that to the training or culture at ATP or the personality and work ethic of thos pilots?

Seems like the more I learn about this, the more I realize how much I don't know. Good luck in search and thank you for the reply.

Get a PPL first, so you can judge your aptitude and desire to fly, before you plunk down serious change at ATP's. The biggest problem with ATP is in a fast paced program, you don't have time to internalize what you learned. How fast you internalize is the question. ATP dispatchers will treat you like dirt and customer service is bad. They have an attitude that you are the pilot, we are the company, so we tell you what to do---not you are the customer, how can we please you.

I only did their CAPT program in 2003 (35 hrs multi-IFR) after I was out of aviation for a while and applying for a job which required multi-engine currency and good IFR skills. I flew ATP's planes over half the country in mostly IFR. Dispatch had me running around last minute scrambling for enroute charts and approach plates as they kept changing my route, so i was delayed hrs trying to find an FBO on field that sold charts and which was open on Sunday evening. Keep in mind, this airport was big and I had no car, so it was miles of running on foot. Then they yelled at me on the phone, when I as late. They had good, well maintained planes and the other ATP student was a good pilot. But this was after I had 1200 hrs of experience. If you put the work into it, that means study, study, study AND you can keep up with the pace, I think it can work well. You get gobs of multi-time in a real world environment, flying their planes hundreds of miles in all weathers (not icing). No other school I know of gives you the opportunity to get that experience and confidence. Get the PPL elsewhere first, though.

Thank you for the advice. The more I have thought about it, the more I am leaning towards getting my PPL first. I'm trying to resist jumping on what looks like the fastest route instead of the best route, this is the career I want now that I'm winding down my first one. I want the beast quality training I can get, espescially since I'm shelling out so much money to get into a career that pays so low to start.

As a sunset career, flying for the airlines, even regional, isn't bad. Since you aren't relying on the airline for income, it becomes a "hobby" if you will, and you can simply leave if it doesn't suit you. Also, the future now is much better than in 2003. Back then, training was cheaper, but you literally had to risk your life flying boxes around in the dead of night in many cases, just to build time--and the pay? 20K. And that was after 2 yrs of instructing for peanuts as well.

Now, you go into a regional which is MUCH safer. Especially if everyone needs 1500 hrs to get there. If you have the money I would recommend learning tailwheel and a few hrs of aerobatics or at least unusual attitude training. These will make you better than the average pilot mill graduate. The problem with the modern way of teaching pilots how to fly only to become airline pilots is that they become operators, not truly understanding what they are doing or understanding aerodynamics. Most don't know how to use a rudder properly either. Hopefully, the 1500 hr requirement will address that.