ATP Regional Jet Training

Fly-Til-I-Die24-7

Fly-Til-I-Die24-7

New Member
Heres the skinner. I am a 25 year old student at University Central MO getting ready to graduate spring 08 from the UCM flight school. I will have all necessary ratings, private, mulit, comm, instr.(single and multi). Since im considerable older than what my coeds will be upon grad. i wanna do anything i can to get an upper advantage. ANYBODY who can give me some insight and advice on ATP's Regional Jet training it would be appreciated. Is it a waste of time and money? THANKS! :rawk:
 
Fly-Til-I-Die24-7 said:
Heres the skinner. I am a 25 year old student at University Central MO getting ready to graduate spring 08 from the UCM flight school. I will have all necessary ratings, private, mulit, comm, instr.(single and multi). Since im considerable older than what my coeds will be upon grad. i wanna do anything i can to get an upper advantage. ANYBODY who can give me some insight and advice on ATP's Regional Jet training it would be appreciated. Is it a waste of time and money? THANKS! :rawk:
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There's been a lot of discussion on this here recently, and if you use the search function you can find a number of heated discussions on the topic.

In my opinion, it's a somewhat useless course (other than the fact that it gets you an interview with super-low time) because every airline is going to fly the airplane differently. You'll learn these flows that you'll probably never use again, and brain-dumping them when you get to an airline can be a pain in the butt.

Doesn't ATP have "on-site interview and hiring events" open to anyone who's done training with them? If you're intent on getting to the airlines immediately, I would think it would be more useful to get your MEI with ATP (something you can actually use, unlike a RJ "Standards" course) and then go to one of these interview events to interview with a desperate airline.

Of course, 25 is not really "old", and you've got plenty of time to instruct and build up some real experience before heading to an airline.
 
I thought I read somewhere that you have to have a condition letter of employment from one of the partner airlines before ATP will let you enroll in the RJ program. Maybe I'm wrong.
 
Is the only thing you're worried about is being a little older than everybody else? Why? If you all are going to graduate at the same time, and go through the same hoops as everyone else is, why do you need a leg up just because you're 2-3 years older than them? Not dogging at all, just curious because I'm 25 and I had a "plan" when I was 18 about where I would be by the time I was 30, 40 etc...

I'll give you one piece of advice and you can take it how you want, but measuring your "status" or comparing where you are in life versus your age is never going to lead to anything productive and can really get you stressed out. You just can't put your life on a timetable because life happens, all the time. (Wow, how preachy is that? Must have been all those business development and interpersonal relationship classes from college :) Look at it this way, what if all your coed grads end up getting hired right away before you for some reason at "x" regional. You on the other hand are just watching them going off to training and you're sitting there like "what the heck?" Then one day at the field, you meet "x" person who just happens to own a king air and is looking for a pilot. You get to talking, long story short, you get the gig, end up becoming great friends with the guy, you become his captain over a few years, he takes trips to the carribean all the time and invites your wife along for those weeklong trips to paradise and your life ends up better in all aspects than you ever thought it could be, even though it didn't quite go to "plan."

Just something to chew on because I know how upset I got when the first company I worked for (non-aviation) went belly up and my "plan" went out the window with it, along with a lot of my cash. Don't sweat your age man. Enjoy the ride and you'll be a lot happier.

Sorry about the preaching!

/End Soapbox

Cheers!
 
Okay guys thanks. i was just hoping there was a way to bi-pass having to be a CFI. But i guess in the long run it will probably make me a better pilot. Pretty comforting to know that 25 really is not considered that old, sure does feel like it though when my CFI have been younger than me. Will consider the hour building and CFI add-ons for sure now.
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Fly-Til-I-Die24-7 said:
Heres the skinner. I am a 25 year old student at University Central MO getting ready to graduate spring 08 from the UCM flight school. I will have all necessary ratings, private, mulit, comm, instr.(single and multi). Since im considerable older than what my coeds will be upon grad. i wanna do anything i can to get an upper advantage. ANYBODY who can give me some insight and advice on ATP's Regional Jet training it would be appreciated. Is it a waste of time and money? THANKS! :rawk:
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Save your money...Better yet - invest it. 5K invested in your 20s can grow to 100K provided you get an 8% return. Thats possible with a vanguard no-load fund like Vanguard's TargetRetirement 2050.

You're better off putting the money away and working as a CFI for a few more months. Hell, go get a CFI job at one of the airline academies training Japanese / European students and get a salary job w/ benefits and enjoy yourself for a few years before going to the airlines.

I remember flying on ExpressJet back in 1991. Comair in the 80s and a few others that are probably still around (NWA Airline, Mesaba, etc...)...Regionals / airline will be around when you are ready to join them...

-LAFF
 
Fly-Til-I-Die24-7 said:
Okay guys thanks. i was just hoping there was a way to bi-pass having to be a CFI. But i guess in the long run it will probably make me a better pilot. Pretty comforting to know that 25 really is not considered that old, sure does feel like it though when my CFI have been younger than me. Will consider the hour building and CFI add-ons for sure now.
​
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I'll be 25 when I get hired (later this year hopefully). Also I sat through a systems class at expressjet as part of my internship a few months ago, and 25 would have put you roughly in the middle, maybe a little lower. There was one guy there who was 19, a couple in the 20-22 range, but most were mid to late 20s, and a few in their mid 30s. Even if it takes you another year or two...you're not going to be the oldest guy in the new hire class when you get hired at a regional :)
 
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