ATP Flight School has announced the graduation of its 10,000th pilot from its Airline Transport Certification Program (ATP CTP).
Graduate Gretchen Leneski completed ATP’s Airline Career Pilot Program in March 2020, flew as an ATP flight instructor, and she was hired by GoJet Airlines, attending ATP JETS in November 2021 for ATP CTP.
The achievement, announced Tuesday, marks a huge milestone for ATP. The airline industry is enjoying a hiring boom as pilots are in demand following the pandemic.
Why This Matters
In 2020, after the pandemic hit, worldwide travel bans were implemented, so airlines had to ground thousands of flights, which caused airlines to let go of more than 12,000 pilots.
Now, as the world is starting to revert back to pre-pandemic life, major airlines are on track to hire an estimated 4,200 pilots before the end of this year and more than 9,000 in 2022.
The Airline Transport Certification Program
ATP has offered the ATP CTP since 2015 and has grown to be the largest provider for airlines in the nation. To keep up with the demand, in June, ATP opened a 29,380-square-foot training center—ATP JETS in Dallas—to increase their capabilities.
Housed at the facility, ATP hosts a 4,800-square-foot simulator bay with up to nine flight training devices such as Airbus, Boeing, and Embraer simulators.
In addition to flight training, in air and simulators, an advanced avionics lab extends ATP capabilities to offer advanced jet transition programs and enhanced ATP CTP. After accumulating 1,500 flight hours, candidates can transition to regional carriers such as Frontier and Suncountry Airlines.
