18 months "too good to be true" is referring to 0 hours to an airline job.
You are right, ATP will get you your commercial licence in 3 months or some ridiculous number. The same licence I said takes 6-7 months at FSI. Talk about a joke. I know what goes on up there, I had a friend that attended that place. After hearing the stories, I seriously worry about flying in the same airspace as those people.
The point I am trying to make, is that if anyone falls for some marketing gig that you will be in an airline cockpit in 6 months, maybe--even 18 months right now, you are a sucker. What you need to do is throw that out the window and make decisions on the things that matter. Pick the school for important reasons....what you can afford, level of education, convenience, reputation, etc. Most importantly what school you felt the best about when you visited. I based my college and my training decision on that...the school I felt best about.
Whether its FSI, PAm, ATA, ATP, an FBO...10 yrs down the road it doesn't really matter. But if you come in this industry thinking you are gonna be in an airline cockpit in a year, or are only coming into this career BECAUSE it will only take a year, then I think you better rethink. This is a professional job just like anything...businessman, doctor, lawyer, whatever. You need an education. Your licences, and then experience. No airline, unless simply desperate, is going to hire somebody who did some crackerjack 6 month regional airline program. Would you want a doctor that did some "special" 2 year med school and was out, or someone that did 4 yrs of med school and 4 yrs residency? All I am saying is if something sounds too good to be true, it is. If someone promises you a 3 month education when everyone else takes at least 6 months, you know something is wrong. Make a school decision for the right reasons...picking a school that gives you a good education foundation will best prepare you for your future. If you pick b/c of some far-fetched marketing promise, you are only asking for trouble. An airline would rather have somebody that took the tested, traveled road then somebody who took the easy, shady path. That could just be me though....
The last thing I want to say is, and not that this has anything to do with the post, I don't blame anyone for wanting to be done fast, and 'get there' as quick as possible, be it an airline or whatever. In fact I thought long and hard about doing this old ASA program here at FSI. But I came to the realization I talked about, that this is a professional job. You shouldn't cut corners cause somewhere it will end up costing you. Maybe not at this moment, but the easy road almost always bites you in the a*s some day. An education is like money in the bank, nobody can ever take it away from you, and CFI is like grad school. So I became a CFI, and looking back I can't believe how much I have learned. I wasn't 1/4 the pilot I am back when I just had my licences. And I have so much more to learn. Sitting there observing, and teaching something over and over, is the way to learn. All of us can fly planes, but it takes time to learn. And I think to do a career like this justice you need to take that time to learn. Your passengers will trust that you have.
PS: I don't know, PanAm or whoever may get you the hrs necessary in 18 months thru school and instructing, I am just saying I don't know of any school right now that is flying so many hrs that you can build 1500 hrs that fast, but, again, that could be just me....
