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fly8slep · September 16th, 2009, 16:12

I did ATP back when all you had to do was fog a mirror to get a job. I hope the people that are trying to go to ATP get something out of this. And this is completely unbiased because I could care less about ATP and management. They charged 45 to 60k the last several years but they can still afford to drop the price now to 40-50K. I think the owners made out like bandits the last several years with the pilot shortage. But back to the topic...

ATP is a pilot mill. There is no doubt about it. If you want quality personal instruction, ATP is not the place. Anyone that has enough IQ to take out a loan for 50 grand or even to think they can become a pilot, should be able to do their homework. There is no hand holding at ATP, you have to be crazy to think anyone is going to make a good pilot out of you in 90 days, considering the CFI's themselves are wet behind the ears. What they can make out of you is a competent pilot, it's all up to you. Also I did feel like I was ripped off on the price because really, what do you get at the end of the day at ALL ATPS? Only 140 hours of multi for 50K, the other multi they claim is all sim time which is completely worthless. Plus you get the CFI ratings. The CFI academy has been beaten to death so I'm not going to touch on it, but today, at this time, you have to be absolutely crazy to go to ATP. It's not worth it. What they don't tell you is that in order to qualify for that 40K 90 day which is is actuall close to 45K with checkride costs and other things is that you need a PPL and a 85 hours before you start. So that it as least 8500 right there. before you even take out a loan for ATP. ATP will go out of their way to give you the absolute minimum multi engine hours.

With that said, here are the reasons why ATP worked for some. It worked for me because I had such a bad experience at the fbo where I was doing my training for the PPL that I was willing to pay 10k or more just so that I didn't have to deal with the logistics of going from ppl to being able to get a job. ATP does their job very well, and they've got it down to a science. When they say 90 days, they get it done. The other reason is that people were hiring, it was worth going in the hole 50 grand because you could make up for it. Now that is the last mentality that you should have not only for signing an ATP loan but for any other flight training, you should be focusing on saving money, the airlines won't be hiring for a long time.

To those guys with the GI bill, it doesn't matter, eventhough I still stand by that qulity of training comment. But for people that will actually go in debt, you can certainly do it cheaper other places. 10 to 20K cheaper. Look for second tier flight academies that actually care about the student and not their airline ambitions. ATP is a love hate thing, and their management knows it, on a side note I heard their waiting list to actually get some kind of cfi spot is over 6 months.... Train some place where you will get a job cfiing once you're done, and if you do an academy pretty much all of them will give you a cfi job.

September 16th, 2009, 16:12	#100
fly8slep Senior Member Join Date: Jul 2006 Location: n16 Posts: 544	Re: my app got accepted I did ATP back when all you had to do was fog a mirror to get a job. I hope the people that are trying to go to ATP get something out of this. And this is completely unbiased because I could care less about ATP and management. They charged 45 to 60k the last several years but they can still afford to drop the price now to 40-50K. I think the owners made out like bandits the last several years with the pilot shortage. But back to the topic... ATP is a pilot mill. There is no doubt about it. If you want quality personal instruction, ATP is not the place. Anyone that has enough IQ to take out a loan for 50 grand or even to think they can become a pilot, should be able to do their homework. There is no hand holding at ATP, you have to be crazy to think anyone is going to make a good pilot out of you in 90 days, considering the CFI's themselves are wet behind the ears. What they can make out of you is a competent pilot, it's all up to you. Also I did feel like I was ripped off on the price because really, what do you get at the end of the day at ALL ATPS? Only 140 hours of multi for 50K, the other multi they claim is all sim time which is completely worthless. Plus you get the CFI ratings. The CFI academy has been beaten to death so I'm not going to touch on it, but today, at this time, you have to be absolutely crazy to go to ATP. It's not worth it. What they don't tell you is that in order to qualify for that 40K 90 day which is is actuall close to 45K with checkride costs and other things is that you need a PPL and a 85 hours before you start. So that it as least 8500 right there. before you even take out a loan for ATP. ATP will go out of their way to give you the absolute minimum multi engine hours. With that said, here are the reasons why ATP worked for some. It worked for me because I had such a bad experience at the fbo where I was doing my training for the PPL that I was willing to pay 10k or more just so that I didn't have to deal with the logistics of going from ppl to being able to get a job. ATP does their job very well, and they've got it down to a science. When they say 90 days, they get it done. The other reason is that people were hiring, it was worth going in the hole 50 grand because you could make up for it. Now that is the last mentality that you should have not only for signing an ATP loan but for any other flight training, you should be focusing on saving money, the airlines won't be hiring for a long time. To those guys with the GI bill, it doesn't matter, eventhough I still stand by that qulity of training comment. But for people that will actually go in debt, you can certainly do it cheaper other places. 10 to 20K cheaper. Look for second tier flight academies that actually care about the student and not their airline ambitions. ATP is a love hate thing, and their management knows it, on a side note I heard their waiting list to actually get some kind of cfi spot is over 6 months.... Train some place where you will get a job cfiing once you're done, and if you do an academy pretty much all of them will give you a cfi job.