When it comes to pure size and reach, no ab initio/professional career flight training academy can surpass Airline Transport Professionals (ATP), a flight academy founded in 1984 in Jacksonville Beach, Florida. With 25 locations now stretching from San Diego and Fort Lauderdale to Trenton, New Jersey, and another four locations (Charlotte, Tampa, Indianapolis and Oakland) opening soon, the academy has an impressive presence from coast to coast. It also has a fleet of 142 aircraft, including 86 Piper Seminoles and 50 Cessna 172s, which comprise the bulk of its training machines. The company also has five Diamond Stars, which offer glass cockpit training for GA pilots, one CitationJet, and has ordered 20 Diamond Aircraft D-Jets that it plans to incorporate into its training programs.
The academy’s initial focus was on accelerated multiengine flight training, with an emphasis on pilot career development. Today, the courses it offers have expanded, but the focus is still on training for a professional pilot career. Eighty percent of ATP’s students are enrolled in its “Airline Career Pilot Program,” which offers ab initio (from the beginning) training through private, multiengine, instrument, commercial and CFI ratings.
