The fleet at ATP Flight School is about to get even larger. The multi-location airline training program is purchasing 40 Cessna Skyhawks from Textron Aviation, it announced.
According to the Wichita-based aircraft manufacturer, the aircraft, also known as 172s, will join ATP’s current complement of some 200 Skyhawks positioned across 82 training centers in the U.S.
The latest purchase, announced on June 30, is the second in the past 12 months for ATP. In October the flight training organization and Textron Aviation agreed to the purchase of 55 Cessna Skyhawks, with deliveries beginning in the third quarter of this year.
The aircraft will see a lot of flight time at ATP, as the school’s airline career program has a goal of training 20,000 commercial pilots by 2030.
Flight School Favorite
The Cessna 172 was introduced in 1955 and quickly became a favorite of flight schools, so much so that it is very difficult to find a pilot who has not logged hours in a Skyhawk.
“The Cessna Skyhawk has been the standard in aircraft training for over six decades,” said Chris Crow, vice president, Textron Aviation piston sales. “We are thrilled to see these aircraft continue to inspire the next generation of professional pilots through this agreement with ATP Flight School.”
According to Textron, more than 45,000 Skyhawks have been delivered.
The design has changed over the decades, as the single-engine, four-place model originally had manual flaps and round gauges. As the design evolved, an alphanumeric suffix was added to the model number. For example Cessna 172N, -M, etc.
Today, the Skyhawk features a sophisticated glass panel, but still has learner-pilot friendly flight characteristics.
“The Skyhawk’s proven dispatch reliability and effectiveness as a trainer is crucial in meeting this mission and delivering industry-leading training,” stated Michael Arnold, vice president of marketing, ATP Flight School.
