AboutColin Woehrle Expertise Answer questions regarding FARs, VFR and IFR flight operations, the national
airspace system (NAS), communications with ATC, physiology, etc. I answer sincere questions
for aviation enthusiasts and flight students. If I can`t answer your question, I`ll try
my best to point you in the right direction.
(I do not answer questions asking how much it costs to fly from one place to another).
Experience Pilot for a leading west-coast regional airline. Ratings and certificates include: Flight Instructor (CFI, CFII), Commercial Pilot, Instrument, Single Engine Land/Multi-engine Land Airplane
Question Do you know of any other good schools like ATP? I am willing to move almost anywhere in the country! I live in south east Michigan, and would love to get out of this area. Have you ever heard of a school call the National Pilot Academy in Tucson, I have been checking out this one as well. Thank you for your time
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The text above is a follow-up to ...
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Hi, I've been interested in becoming an airline pilot for sometime now and I've finally decided that this is the career that I want. I already have my bachelor's in communication and am trying to find out what I need to do to become a pilot. I've been looking at different flight schools online, but I don't know which one would be the best one. Two of the schools that I came across are ATP Flight School and National Pilot Academy. Are these good schools and if not can you tell me what schools that would be the best. I've also heard that you need 1000 hours to get hired by an airline. Can you please let me know what I need to do, how many hours I need and the best way to go about this.
Thanks,
Mike
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Hi Mike,
Good question. Have you ever gone on a discovery flight to see if this is something you REALLY want to do? You can call out to your local airport(s) and schedule one of these (usually discounted) or you can buy an hour or so of flight instruction. I really recommend this.
If it is what you want to do, I would urge you not to train with a small local flight school (often called a Part 61 flight school), as your training could potentially drag on for an eternity. You're on the right track with the schools you've mentioned. ATP is an example of an accelerated program that adheres to set standards and guidelines that are aimed at getting you trained quickly and efficiently. These might be good programs for you since you already have a degree- that's half the battle when getting an airline job. I once knew of an instructor that went from zero training to a Multi-engine Commercial Pilot (with other ratings and certificates) in around four months. I attended a 4-year university for a BS in Aeronautics so my training was nowhere near this speed.
After your training you'll need to build up your flight time. You will most likely do this by flight instructing. Instructing jobs are relatively easy to come by so don't worry about that. A 1000 hours of experience is about right before the regional airlines will consider you for hire. I had 1250 when I was hired, but I was holding out for my first choice. As far as a time frame goes, I graduated school with 250 hours and acquired the additional 1000 in just under two years. So from the time I started training until I was hired by my airline, it was about six years.
You would be looking at around two to three years I would guess.
One place to search around for a flight school would be www.aopa.com, click on "Learn to Fly" under the public section.
I hope this helps, Mike. Let me know if you have any other questions and good luck to you!
Colin
Answer To be honest with you, I've only heard of ATP. I looked into them when I was thinking about getting a multi-engine instructor rating. They are much larger than NPA and have much more resources as far as training equipment goes. They have a location in Phoenix too.
I just looked up NPA though and they are quite similar to ATP, except on a much smaller scale. I would call and ask which airlines they have hiring agreements with and then maybe research those airlines to see where they fly and what the pay is and so forth. I should mention that airline "hiring agreements" definitely help but it doesn't mean you can't get hired by any other airline if there isn't an agreement.
Also, Arizona is a good place to complete training because of the nice weather. I trained in the northwest as well as the midwest and often had cancelled flights due to adverse weather which meant it took more time to complete training.
Lastly, I would call each school, talk to an advisor, and ask them why you should choose them over the other.
