aircraft maintenance technician

aircraft mechanic

training specialist

flight instructor

line service technician

ATP Flight School

ATP gets a lot of flack and kick back over how they run things but this is my unbiased opinion of the flight school. 

You will be as successful here as you want to be. The moral of the location I worked at was good and we all helped out each other when we were able to which made a huge difference, it is not like this at every location. If you really bust your behind and get after it you will get flight time and your students will pass check rides. The pay is less than favorable, you don't get any per diem for travelling, which turns into an issue if you have to travel to accompany a student to a check ride. Your pay is also based off of flight time (besides simulator lessons) so if you aren't flying paying rent can get tough lol. My biggest issues with this company falls under the management and the overall attitude towards endorsements and flying in unsafe conditions. But first we can start with the Pros.

Pro's:
You start flying really soon after indoc depending on the instructor and student ratio.

They have a whole supplement on how to endorse students for each flight and check ride

If you are at a maintenance base the planes don't typically stay down as long as they do at non-maintenance locations.

If you have a lead that is on top of scheduling check rides and distributing students and doing QC flights you can get a lot of time really fast. Typically what takes the longest as far as delays go are the stage checks,  check ride scheduling, and maintenance.

You have flexibility with days off. If you request a day off you will get it, just make sure your students still get a couple flights in even if you don't fly them.

Cons:
Because it is a fast track program the check rides are scheduled out very early and you are strongly encouraged to hit it on time, even if that means sacrificing the quality of the lesson or the safety of the flight.

The regional leads a lot of the time (from my own experience) are mostly enforcers for upper management and don't really have a good grip of the needs  of each location.  They also aren't always pilots so they are more prone to pushing you to fly in unsafe conditions to meet quotas for flights per students.

The pay isn't the best especially if you only have one student.

The scheduling isn't the best. They also have people at corporate changing and adjusting our schedules which becomes an issue when you leave a flight in standby for weather and they put it in a plane, and get mad when you don't fly, meanwhile its storming outside.

They always have people ready to work so if you aren't meeting all the scheduling requirements and check ride pass rating requirements because of a few bad students your job is on the line.

They don't respect the instructors endorsement. They tell you at indoc to protect your endorsement but if you get to the check ride and the student isn't ready and you deicide not to endorse them you will get a call from someone in management and will get ripped into for not endorsing them.

Biggest take away is if you keep your head down and work hard you may not make a bunch of money but you will get a bunch of flight time and will ultimately be successful. There are also a bunch of partnerships ATP has with airlines and you will more than likely get in the door at most places. Remember this is just the first stop on the journey and you may be working hard but the benefits are worth it. I know a lot of instructors who are now at their dream airline because of ATP.

I spent longer time than most CFIs at the company (2.5 years) and in more positions than most. Overall I had a positive time at ATP but I can easily see why some people consider it a terrible workplace.

Young single guys who are driven to get to the airlines ASAP and want to fly as much as possible, generally do well here. People looking for a work/life balance, people with families, people who want to be known and respected as individuals, will have a harder time. 
You do get to make your own schedule, but depending on your regional manager you may be pressured to fill up the airplanes' schedule and fly from sunrise to sunset without a break. Most of the time management assumes you don't have a life outside of ATP. They make demands on your time even though you're an independent contractor not an employee so they don't pay you a salary or benefits.

The fleet is very well maintained and no one will second guess you if you send an airplane to maintenance. Many ATP locations have a full-time maintenance facility on-site.

Lots of people complain about the pay-- you are paid by the flight hour, so the more you fly the more you get paid. During COVID, the student-instructor ratio favored the students so there were a lot of instructors flying little and getting paid little.

There are over 40 ATP training locations across the US-- some have a really positive culture, where the instructors like one another and care about the students, and the students look out for each other. These are good places to work. 
There are other locations where the students and instructors don't trust each other, the instructors use the students to get flight time, and everybody hates ATP. These are the miserable places to work. 
These differences in culture seem to be entirely dependent on the instructors at the training center, and it goes up and down depending on who is there. Management doesn't seem to notice or care about the culture at the training centers-- all they see is the numbers. 

What is the best part of working at the company?
Hours can be very good depending on your location and position.

What is the most stressful part about working at the company?
Constantly given deadlines for students that often results in little to no time off, burnout, and in some cases dangerous levels of fatigue/stress. They’ll tell you that they don’t, but the culture at the company pressures you to endorse students who aren’t ready. 

What is the work environment and culture like at the company?
Very negative. Most coworkers I’ve encountered commonly express their frustrations with the company. The company often uses negative reinforcement for motivation. As an employee you will  often feel at risk of loosing your job or disposable. In addition, the culture is very political. As I mentioned before, the benefit of working here is the potential flight time you can get depending on your position. But many more qualified applicants are passed up by others who have interpersonal connections. There was an attempt to dismiss this by requiring resumes to be submitted for new open positions. However, applicants with less qualifications still manage to be selected over others with more applicable skills.

What is a typical day like for you at the company?
Working 80+ hour weeks is not uncommon. 15-16 hour days is more of the norm rather than the exception. Many of those days only leads to about 4 hours of flight time and just over $100 in pay. Working 18-20 days straight will happen if you don’t set limitations for yourself.

What is the best part of working at the company?
Use to be the best place till new management took over. Best part is going home at end of the shift.

What is the most stressful part about working at the company?
Constantly being reminded that you are replaceable and always being watched over your shoulder. If you are just 2 min late you get written up or threatened to get written up.

What is the work environment and culture like at the company?
 Walking on eggshells. At times can be a hostile environment employee and management yelling. No radio station plays just silence and airplane noises. 

What is a typical day like for you at the company?
In the morning you will get with your group and discuss the agenda with your team leader. You will be assigned either airframe or engine tasks. Work on your tasks till 1st brake period.(15min) Get called to the management office, seems at random, to talk about issues and company policy’s Then back to your tasks till lunchtime. Come back from lunch(30min) and complete the work and paperwork if possible. Get to know senior staff quickly so you can learn the basics without being written up for not using time accurately. Take second brake for 15min. Talk with peers but not pilots as this is frowned upon. Head back to work after break and continue with inspections or start a new inspection if applicable till the end of the day. Rinse and repeat.

I enjoyed the students I worked for and the instructors I worked with. I wanted all of them to succeed and become the airline pilots that they aspired to be. 
However, I was in a position to push all of them to do even more than they already do, but I had no supervisor or management title. I was a cheerleader, that was it. And when my efforts didn't get the results that they wanted, I was micromanaged to death by management that was no where near my training center. It didn't matter that the weather at my location (SAN) didn't get sunshine until the mid afternoon. It was a little hard to get good results when the weather wasn't consistently good enough to fly. 
Under my time at ATP, we had a 100% pass rate, that didn't matter - students were not moving fast enough. If students had personal issues, they were told to resign because it would slow down their pace. They were expected to be there 7 days a week, rain or shine, all day. 
I could not work for a company that micromanaged (harassed) their employees and had no human compassion. All they care about is the money coming in the front door, not the pass percentage going out. 

I’m actually so disappointed in this company. I came here excited and hoping that I had found my forever company. Unfortunately that was not the case. I quickly found out employees were just a means to an end, as soon as the profits  dip below their liking, you are gone. Management makes terrible decisions and can’t make up their mind or let anything settle before changing it again. It was very clear we were dispensable when they told us at a virtual Christmas party that we didn’t actually do the work that propelled the company forward. When confronted with the fact that people were having a hard time wanting to come to work because the culture was so terrible, we were told “ well we can’t make people want to come to work” or “well people are choosing to work here, no one is forcing them”. They have gone out of their way to squeeze every bit of time and effort out of their employees for less or the same pay. Would highly recommend staying away if you want to enjoy your job and life. 

I chose not to work here after I got my certs. Once you go through the program it becomes easy to see whats going on. They charge a BUNCH of money for their programs and hire zero experience instructors (that literally just finished their program). This is a fast paced program that basically gets you to the D- level...just enough to pass a check-ride. 

So you are probably getting a C- instructor. Hence the puppy mill analogy. Tell me how a guy who just barely passed his instructor check-ride is supposed to now teach me advanced aerodynamic principles and FAA regulations he may or may not fully grasp yet? They should be sending these guys to private pilots ONLY to start out...instead they send me a brand new instructor (I was his first student...ever) when I have a week to prepare for my multi-engine commercial check-ride. Yes I failed it, twice. In this circumstance both the instructor and I were set up for failure. Both times I failed were also on things that my instructor never went over with me. Literally zero times. Now its permanently on my flight record. Stellar.

You are a 1099 employee so that means you are asked to do a lot and receive little in return. If you need to pay rent, you will need to sacrifice sleep and get a second part time job. You will do all the scheduling yourself which can be very tedious and time consuming if the weather keeps changing. Most locations and fellow instructors are great people and the students are motivated. Its the management that can be frustrating. 
As an instructor you don't get paid for providing extra ground lessons yet your worth is entirely tied to your first time checkride pass rate. Expect lots of meetings on zoom that are mandatory to attend. So you are expected to go above and beyond for free. From what I saw nation wide, most instructors log less than 20 hours a week even during the summer. I have no idea how some make it to the airlines in 18 months at ATP. 

I trained with ATP and finished the program faster than advertised. Decided to work for them because of their connection with the cadet programs. It has unfortunately cost me a lot of happiness. One of the safest flight schools ever with very nice airplanes, training materials, and resources. Not much more than that though. Management does not care for their instructors or students treating everyone like employees. Not paying the instructors a livable wage. You can not afford to work for ATP after completing their program. Clearly written policy that no one enforces. In my experience the main selling points for ATP’s success is no longer true. You will not get your ratings in the advertised time. They don’t offer you a job. The financing options are limited to one lender. Do your research before coming to ATP. 

What is the best part of working at the company?
My coworkers, I am glad I met them

What is the most stressful part about working at the company?
The management, they are clueless. Do not know how to appreciate good employees who care about their jobs, allow bad employees to make mistake after mistake and sleep on the job. Tasks are not clearly defined, you get ignored for months when you bring up your issues. There is no HR so you cannot tell anyone about inappropriate nicknames or harassment from supervisors. Inadequate training that is changing constantly and then the employees are blamed for not knowing the changes. Run away, run away.

What is the work environment and culture like at the company?
Stressful and there is no culture besides look out for your own back. No departments share information and its everyone for themselves 

What is a typical day like for you at the company?
Stressful dealing with incompetent managers

Top Job Titles	Average Salary
Aircraft maintenance technician 53 salaries reported	$35.72 per hour
Aircraft mechanic 35 salaries reported	$35.43 per hour
Training specialist 21 salaries reported	$21.33 per hour
Flight instructor 5 salaries reported	$24.14 per hour
Line service technician 10 salaries reported	$19.30 per hour

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