ATP Flight School
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ATP Flight School, headquartered in
Jacksonville, Florida Jacksonville is a city located on the Atlantic coast of northeast Florida, the most populous city proper in the state and is the largest city by area in the contiguous United States as of 2020. It is the seat of Duval County, with which the ...
, is the largest
flight training Flight training is a course of study used when learning to pilot an aircraft. The overall purpose of primary and intermediate flight training is the acquisition and honing of basic airmanship skills. Flight training can be conducted under a str ...
company in the
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. The privately held company was founded in 1984 in
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by its current management, a small group of airline
pilots An aircraft pilot or aviator is a person who controls the flight of an aircraft by operating its directional flight controls. Some other aircrew members, such as navigators or flight engineers, are also considered aviators, because they a ...
. ATP’s initial focus was providing flight training to
U.S. military The United States Armed Forces are the military forces of the United States. The armed forces consists of six service branches: the Army, Marine Corps, Navy, Air Force, Space Force, and Coast Guard. The president of the United States is the ...
pilots An aircraft pilot or aviator is a person who controls the flight of an aircraft by operating its directional flight controls. Some other aircrew members, such as navigators or flight engineers, are also considered aviators, because they a ...
who were seeking their Airline Transport Pilot Certificates to transition over to commercial
air carrier An airline is a company that provides air transport services for traveling passengers and freight. Airlines use aircraft to supply these services and may form partnerships or alliances with other airlines for codeshare agreements, in which ...
operations. Maintaining a focus on professional flight training, ATP later expanded its course offerings to include ab-initio training programs for domestic students seeking a career in commercial aviation. Today, ATP is the leading supplier of professionally trained pilots to the nation's
regional airline A regional airline is a general classification of airline which typically operates scheduled passenger air service, using regional aircraft, between communities lacking sufficient demand or infrastructure to attract mainline flights. In North ...
s.


Schools

ATP Flight School has 77 (as of January 13, 2023) locations throughout the United States, opening several in the last year. In Dallas, TX, ATP operates a part 142 airline training center called ATP JETS, that provides Airline Transport Pilot Certification Training Program (ATP CTP) training for ten airlines. In November, 2021, ATP JETS graduated its 10,000th ATP CTP student.


Training

ATP Flight School solely focuses on airline-oriented flight training, operating their programs with a fixed-cost, fixed timeframe training model. ATP's primary product offering is an
ab-initio ''Ab initio'' ( ) is a Latin term meaning "from the beginning" and is derived from the Latin ''ab'' ("from") + ''initio'', ablative singular of ''initium'' ("beginning"). Etymology Circa 1600, from Latin, literally "from the beginning", from ab ...
airline pilot training program, which provides pilot certification from zero experience through commercial multi-engine pilot, with
certificated flight instructor A flight instructor is a person who teaches others to operate aircraft. Specific privileges granted to holders of a flight instructor qualification vary from country to country, but very generally, a flight instructor serves to enhance or evaluate ...
certificates. Most graduates of this program may then become flight instructors with the school to gain experience and build flight time to meet airline hiring minimums. Other programs offered by ATP include
type rating A type rating is an authorization entered on or associated with a pilot licence and forming part thereof, stating pilot's privileges or limitations pertaining to certain aircraft type. Such qualification requires additional training beyond the s ...
s and the Airline Transport Pilot Certification Training Program (ATP CTP). These programs are only offered at the school's ATP JETS location in Dallas, TX, with all others being dedicated to flight operations. Over 1% of all
general aviation General aviation (GA) is defined by the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) as all civil aviation aircraft operations with the exception of commercial air transport or aerial work, which is defined as specialized aviation services ...
flight operations in the United States is conducted by ATP, who flies over 38,700 hours per month resulting in students' earning 8,344 certificates annually (as of March, 2022). ATP is partnered with
Arizona State University Arizona State University (Arizona State or ASU) is a public research university in the Phoenix metropolitan area. Founded in 1885 by the 13th Arizona Territorial Legislature, ASU is one of the largest public universities by enrollment in the ...
, and is the flight provider for its Professional Flight bachelor's degree program, based out of the Phoenix-Mesa Gateway Airport facility. Aircraft used for the contract are painted in a special livery featuring the ASU logo and pitchfork.


Fleet

ATP Flight School has the largest multi-engine training fleet in the world, consisting exclusively of Piper Seminoles, with the exception of one Cessna CE-525 CitationJet. A mix of Piper Archers and Cessna CE-172 Skyhawks make up their single-engine fleet, the majority going to the latter. Piper Aircraft Inc. and ATP jointly made an announcement at the 2011 National Business Aviation Association (NBAA) Annual Meeting and Convention for the sale of 30 new Piper Seminoles – a total retail value of $18 million. All of the new airplanes under the agreement are to be equipped with Garmin’s G500
glass cockpit A glass cockpit is an aircraft cockpit that features electronic (digital) flight instrument displays, typically large LCD screens, rather than the traditional style of analog dials and gauges. While a traditional cockpit relies on numerous mech ...
avionics suite (bringing the total number of aircraft with the Garmin glass flight decks to 270). In April, 2013, ATP and
Piper Aircraft Piper Aircraft, Inc. is a manufacturer of general aviation aircraft, located at the Vero Beach Regional Airport in Vero Beach, Florida, United States and owned since 2009 by the Government of Brunei. Throughout much of the mid-to-late 20th centur ...
reached an agreement for the purchase of up to 100 Piper Archers. Initial deliveries began in late 2013, and under the agreement, all aircraft are standardized with the Garmin G500 avionics suite. A second order for an additional 100 Piper Archers was announced at the 2018 Sun 'n Fun International Fly-In and Expo and on September 19, 2018, ATP accepted delivery of its 100th Archer under the first order. ATP Flight School boasts 134 Flight Training Devices (FTDs). These include the Frasca Piper Seminole Truflite FTDs with GNS 430, AATD, Redbird, CRJ-200, and Full Flight Simulators that are full motion, Level D simulators. As of March 2022, ATP Flight School maintained a fleet of 463 aircraft distributed among 71 locations, consisting of the following: * 180 Cessna CE-172 Skyhawks * 191 Piper Archer TXs * 92
Piper PA-44 Seminole The Piper PA-44 Seminole is an American twin-engined light aircraft manufactured by Piper Aircraft. The PA-44 is a development of the Piper Cherokee single-engined aircraft and is primarily used for multi-engined flight training.Montgomer ...
s


Airline relationships

ATP Flight School has hiring relationships with 36 U.S. based
regional airline A regional airline is a general classification of airline which typically operates scheduled passenger air service, using regional aircraft, between communities lacking sufficient demand or infrastructure to attract mainline flights. In North ...
s, major airlines, and corporate operators, including
SkyWest Airlines SkyWest Airlines is an American regional airline headquartered in St. George, Utah, United States. SkyWest is paid to staff, operate and maintain aircraft used on flights that are scheduled, marketed and sold by a partner mainline airline. The ...
,
Endeavor Air Endeavor Air is an American regional airline that operates as Delta Connection for Delta Air Lines. The airline was founded as Express Airlines I in 1985 and was renamed Pinnacle Airlines in 2002. In 2012, Pinnacle's parent company filed for Cha ...
,
Mesa Airlines Mesa Airlines, Inc., is an American regional airline based in Phoenix, Arizona. It is an FAA Part 121–certificated air carrier operating under air carrier certificate number MASA036A issued on June 29, 1979. It is a subsidiary of Mesa Air Gr ...
, and
PSA Airlines PSA Airlines is an American regional airline headquartered at Dayton International Airport in Dayton, Ohio, United States. The airline is a wholly owned subsidiary of the American Airlines Group and it is paid by fellow group member American Air ...
. These relationships and alliances are based on letters of understanding, or letters of agreement. While these letters vary between
air carriers An airline is a company that provides air transport services for traveling passengers and freight. Airlines use aircraft to supply these services and may form partnerships or alliances with other airlines for codeshare agreements, in whic ...
, in general they bestow either reduced hiring minimums for graduates of ATP or airline tuition reimbursement. ATP has partnerships with
United Airlines United Airlines, Inc. (commonly referred to as United), is a major American airline headquartered at the Willis Tower in Chicago, Illinois.
, participating in the United Aviate program, as well as
Delta Air Lines Delta Air Lines, Inc., typically referred to as Delta, is one of the major airlines of the United States and a legacy carrier. One of the List of airlines by foundation date, world's oldest airlines in operation, Delta is headquartered in Atla ...
through the Delta Propel program. In 2018, ATP and Envoy Air, a wholly owned subsidiary of
American Airlines Group American Airlines Group Inc. is an American publicly traded airline holding company headquartered in Fort Worth, Texas. It was formed on December 9, 2013, by the merger of AMR Corporation, the parent company of American Airlines, and US Airways ...
, established a partnership through the Envoy Cadet Program. Under the program, flight instructors at the school are provided a path to a pilot career with
American Airlines American Airlines is a major airlines of the United States, major US-based airline headquartered in Fort Worth, Texas, within the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex. It is the Largest airlines in the world, largest airline in the world when measured ...
, as well as financial assistance and health benefits. In partnership with
Frontier Airlines Frontier Airlines is a major ultra-low-cost U.S. airline headquartered in Denver, Colorado. It operates flights to over 100 destinations throughout the United States and 31 international destinations, and employs more than 3,000 staff. The ca ...
, ATP launched the Frontier Direct Program in January, 2021. Under the agreement, ATP graduates and flight instructors can progress straight from ATP to a first officer position with Frontier after attending an enhanced ATP CTP, which includes additional Airbus A320 full-motion flight simulator time.
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, Avelo, and Sun Country followed with similar partnerships, allowing ATP graduates to become First Officers with the airlines at 1,500 hours of flight time. As of March, 2022, the flight school reported having 1,210 airline placements in the past 12 months, which is the highest ratio of airline placements to students of any flight school, aviation college, or flight academy.


Accidents and incidents

On December 6, 2008, a twin-engine Piper PA-44 owned by ATP Flight School experienced a mid-air collision in the
Everglades The Everglades is a natural region of tropical climate, tropical wetlands in the southern portion of the U.S. state of Florida, comprising the southern half of a large drainage basin within the Neotropical realm. The system begins near Orland ...
. The plane was flown by an ATP instructor and student pilot. The other plane involved was a Cessna 172R owned by Pelican Flight Training, also with two passengers, an instructor and student. There were no survivors. On July 28, 2011 a single engine Cessna 172 with a student pilot and instructor were on a cross-county training flight. The aircraft experienced a partial engine failure after takeoff. After failing to land on an intended runway the instructor chose to ditch the aircraft into Lake Okeechobee to avoid other obstacles. Both pilots survived with one experiencing minor injuries. On March 24, 2014, a twin-engine Piper PA-44 owned by ATP Flight School crashed near Brunswick Georgia crashed after a suspected break-up of the airframe in IFR conditions. Post-crash inspection of the instrumentation suggests the aircraft's only functional vacuum pump failed during flight in IFR conditions causing potential spatial disorientation. The NTSB probable cause of the accident was "An inflight failure of the airplane's only operating vacuum pump, which resulted in the loss of attitude information provided by vacuum-driven flight instruments. Also causal was the pilots' failure to maintain control of the airplane while operating in instrument flight rules (IFR) conditions, likely due to spatial disorientation, following the failure of the vacuum pump. Contributing to the accident was the operator's decision to dispatch the airplane with a known inoperative vacuum pump into IFR conditions." Both pilots suffered fatal injuries in the accident On June 9, 2018, a twin-engine Piper PA-44 was on an approach to landing when it experienced a microburst and hit the tops of two homes then crashed into a retention pond in Daytona Beach, Florida. The plane was flown by an ATP instructor and student pilot. Both pilots experienced minor injuries. On May 29, 2021, a Cessna 172 on an introductory flight crashed near Powder Mountain Ski Resort in Ogden, Utah. The student perished and the instructor died shortly after at a nearby hospital.


References


External links


Official Site
{{coord missing, Jacksonville Organizations based in Jacksonville, Florida Privately held companies based in Florida Educational institutions established in 1984 Aviation schools in the United States Aviation schools in Florida 1984 establishments in Florida