• 
• 
• 

Airline Transport Professionals

Preparing pilots for professional airline careers since 1984

Like many great aviation success stories, Airline Transport Professionals (ATP) started as a single idea: to give ex-military pilots the training they needed for an FAA Airline Transport Pilot certificate, earning their "ticket" to a civilian airline job. That was back in 1984.

As it prepares to celebrate its 28th anniversary, ATP has grown into one of the largest and most highly respected professional flight-training academies in the world, called on by airlines to meet their pilot-hiring needs. Their single-minded goal of preparing pilots for professional flying careers hasn't changed one bit.

But that doesn't mean they haven't evolved. "We realized back in the early '90s that we needed to adapt to a changing market. The U.S. military pilot pool was evaporating, and the growth opportunity was in civilian pilot training for the new regional airline model," explained Michael Arnold, ATP's director of marketing and 2008 graduate of the program. "That's when we introduced our ab initio career pilot program. We already had a fleet of twin-engine aircraft, so we were able to offer students a lot of quality cross-country, multi-engine experience in a shorter amount of time."

ATP quickly points out that while they've been successful as a training company, it's their graduates' career achievements that deserve attention. In 2011, ATP helped place over 300 graduates with the regional airlines. Why are ATP grads so successful? "One reason airlines recruit ATP grads is that they're a 'known quantity,'" Arnold replied. "With so much multi-engine experience, professional crewmember development and regional jet training, ATP grads make life easy on airline training departments.

"What sets our program apart is our intense focus on certification that allows us to offer a fixed-cost pricing model," Arnold continued. "From the earliest stages of private pilot training through CFI school, students must meet performance benchmarks that we know, from experience, will allow them to meet their certification objective on time and on budget."

This model of total-immersion, fast-track training combined with successful job placement has left ATP as one of the only flight schools with access to financing for its students. Sallie Mae, Wells Fargo and numerous other smaller lenders continue to work with ATP students.

Add Comment