ATP Finance Flight Training - Cosigner Information

ATP Flight School A Prospectus for Flight Training Loan Cosigners

Introduction to ATP

ATP has trained professional pilots since 1984—over 40 years. Today ATP’s management consists of pilots who have flown for major airlines including American Airlines, FedEx, and previously TWA. ATP’s program development team includes active major and regional airline pilots who fly for United Express®, Delta Connection, Southwest and Jet Blue.

ATP owns a fleet of 614 aircraft, including 103 multi-engine aircraft and 174 simulators, 11 of which are CRJ-200 Regional Jet simulators. ATP has 83 training centers across the U.S., emphasizing multi-engine, cross-country, crew-concept experience. In addition, ATP’s success over the past 40 years has enabled the company to own–not lease–all of its aircraft and its largest flight training facilities.

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Life as an ATP Flight School Student

When it comes to resources, experience, and stability, ATP is unmatched by any other flight school, college, or academy.

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Growing Demand for Professional Pilots

According to the 2024-2044 Aerospace Forecast, the FAA cites the airline pilot shortage as an ongoing issue and one that is likely to persist. Boeing's Pilot & Technician Outlook projects that 123,000 pilots are needed in North America through 2043. It is estimated that by 2032, there will be a shortage of 17,000 pilots. Two main factors are driving the increased demand for pilots – retirements and industry growth.

Pilot Retirements

An aging pilot workforce facing mandatory retirements combined with early retirements taken during the pandemic is creating a shortage of pilots. Over the next 20 years, 80,000 airline pilots will be retiring.

Consulting firm Oliver Wyman estimates the pilot shortage to continue well into the decade with a shortfall of 17,000 pilots in 2032, with the largest gap between supply and demand estimated to occur in 2026, with a shortfall of 24,000 pilots.

Major Airline Hiring Projections
Yearly Retirements at Major Airlines

United Airlines plans to:

  • Accept 800 new aircraft deliveries by 2032.
  • Hire 10,000 pilots during the same period.

American Airlines plans to:

  • Hire 10,000 pilots in the next 5 years.
  • Estimates new hires can expect to become a widebody captain in as little as 10 years, with the average age of a widebody captain is 62 years old.

Delta Air Lines projects:

  • Hiring 1,000-plus pilots through 2026 to support growth and retirements.
  • Hiring pace to continue through the remainder of the decade.
  • Additionally, Delta's profit sharing in 2023 was more than all competitors combined.

Industry Growth

An increase in global economic growth has increased demand for air travel. Boeing, Airbus, and Embraer, all leading aircraft manufacturers, project increasing (even doubling) their commercial jet fleets to account for these demands for air travel by consumers.

  • Boeing concludes that the aviation industry will need to supply more than 674,000 commercial airline pilots worldwide over the next 20 years and forecasts demand for over 50,000 new airplanes worldwide over the next two decades.
  • Airbus estimates that airline traffic is forecast to more than double (x2.4) in size in the next 20 years and demand for passenger traffic will grow annually by 3.6% over the same period.
  • Embraer foresees world demand for 10,500 new aircraft with up to 150 seats, over the next 20 years. In North America for air transport, Embraer estimates an average increase of 2.4% annually through 2043.
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Airline Pilot Seniority Get There First with ATP

Airlines operate on a seniority-based system, where the pilot employed the longest is the highest on the seniority list, enjoying the best schedules, higher pay, and better quality of life. Getting to the airlines as quickly as possible to start building seniority ahead of unprecedented hiring is essential. A pilot’s position on the seniority list will affect them for their entire career. A delay in training by one or two years could mean losing $400,000 to $800,000 in total career earnings by the time the pilot is a major airline captain. Students training and earning their certification today will be competitively positioned to capitalize on the pilot shortage and establish their careers.

With airline-oriented, total immersion pilot training, the certification needed for employment as a professional pilot can be obtained in just twelve months with ATP. Airline partnerships and dedicated career services allow ATP graduates to advance faster in their career and provide them with a fast track to all the major airlines.

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Success of ATP Graduates

Traveling around the world, getting to know dozens of different cities, flying a jet at mach .80, and accomplishing a new mission with every flight induces a romance unattainable in other professions.

In order to help our graduates succeed, ATP has formed regional airline hiring alliances that allow us to get our graduates hired faster than those applicants coming to the airlines “off the street” or from other flight schools. In fact, Aero Crew Solutions reported that "regionals are hiring mostly from their cadet programs, and if you're not in one, you're going to have a harder time being hired" and encouraged readers to join multiple cadet programs. ATP has cadet programs and partnerships with every regional airline, giving graduates the competitive edge in today's hiring environment.

Starting at the regional airline level, pilots can earn over $113,080 . Keep in mind that the airline pilot workforce is unionized and pay determined by union-negotiated contracts and seniority. With union protections and a strict seniority system, job security at the established regional and major airlines is excellent, with guaranteed career and earnings advancement. Forbes recently reported that airline pilots in the US can make as much as $300,000 per year and on top of that have retirement accounts paying out well over $1 million. Pilots willing to accept bases in Asia are cited as making as much as $400,000 per year.

A Ten Million Dollar Career

Commercial Pilot Salary Chart Over a Pilot's Career

*Graph based on SkyWest Airlines and Delta Air Lines pay scales and are for illustration purposes, not promises of future earnings.

Finally, professional pilots have FAA certificates and credentials that allow many other employment options in corporate aviation. For additional information on airline pilot pay and the regional airline industry, see ATP’s Airline Partners.

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Airline Sponsored Assistance

American Airlines
Delta Air Lines
United Airlines
Avelo Airlines
Breeze Airways
Frontier Airlines
Spirit Airlines
Sun Country Airlines

Airlines are Offering Huge Pay Raises to Pilots: To alleviate a spike in demand post-pandemic coupled with a major labor shortage, airlines are now offering dramatic pay increases to pilots in order to retain and attract new talent.

Commercial Pilot Salary Information »

With the pilot shortage upon us, airlines have selected ATP as a preferred training provider and now offer a solution to loan repayment responsibility by providing financial assistance to aspiring commercial pilots through ATP's Tuition Reimbursement Program. This uniquely structured program not only promotes the airline pilot career by making it more financially obtainable, but provides the student with a fast track airline career solution from zero experience to airline pilot job in two and a half years – proven by thousands of ATP graduates now flying for regional and major airlines.

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Building Qualifications

Graduates of ATP's Airline Career Pilot Program are among the most competitive, earning their flight instructor certificate with single-engine, instrument, and multi-engine ratings. This higher level of qualifications opens up more opportunity and allows graduates to start working as a flight instructor to gain the experience and flight time required by airlines.

Between 300-500 hours of total time, ATP flight instructors have the opportunity to interview with their airline and start earning tuition reimbursement. If they accept the airline's offer, the airline will begin making a financial contribution towards the instructor's loan payment, and the instructor will commit to fly for that airline.

Charter Pilot Jobs (Part 135)

ATP graduates don’t need as many hours of experience to fly with an FAA Part 135 Carrier compared to the 1500 hours required by the Regional Airlines. Many Part 135 Carriers such as Cape Air will hire a new pilot with as little as 500 hours of experience if they have trained with ATP.

Flight instructing for 15-18 months to meet the new standards that Regional Airlines have to operate under does not fit everyone's timetable, making Part 135 pilot jobs an excellent alternative.

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Financial Considerations

As a potential cosigner, there are three important facts you should know about ATP’s payment structure:

  1. ATP receives payments incrementally throughout the program.
  2. ATP quotes a fixed price.
  3. Refunds are issued in 15 days or less.

ATP’s multi-disbursement payment structure allows us to determine a student’s ability to be successful in this career early in the program, prior to spending the entire amount of tuition. Unlike other flight training academies, ATP’s program is structured so that ATP is motivated to quickly discontinue those who are unlikely to excel at ATP’s pace. With a fixed-cost pricing structure, ATP does not benefit from having to provide more and more training at an hourly rate—a common tactic found elsewhere.

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Loan Details

Students who apply with cosigners generally receive lower interest rates and can finance a larger portion of tuition costs. Essentially, as a cosigner, you agree to pay the student’s loan payments if he or she for some reason does not. Usually a family member or friend will sponsor a student’s airline pilot career financing. Having a cosigner qualifies the student for the following benefits:

  • Higher loan amount–up to full tuition.
  • Lower interest rate.
  • Establishment of good credit history for the student.

You can gain the maximum benefit of having a cosigner on the loan when the cosigner has a 640+ credit score. Applying with a cosigner reduces risk for the lender, therefore these applicants are eligible for rates as low as 3.69% fixed.

Sallie Mae has flexible repayment options after the traditional 6 month post-school grace period has been exhausted. Sallie Mae offers Graduated Repayment, which allows for 12 months of interest-only payments before the loan enters full repayment. This repayment plan gives ATP's graduates the ability to earn a salary as an airline pilot (and in many cases secure a signing bonus) before making full payments.

Most lenders offer a cosigner release option. After making as few as 12 consecutive on-time principal and interest payments, the borrower may request that the lender remove the cosigner from the loan entirely as long as the borrower has sufficient credit individually. After achieving a regional airline pilot job, it may be possible to refinance the loan at a lower rate and without a cosigner. American Airlines Credit Union will work with ATP Graduates to refinance their loans.

If a student discontinues training with ATP, the refund will be issued directly back to the lender, not the student. This minimizes interest expense and protects the cosigner. A student may choose to discontinue the program at any time, for any reason.

Additional Benefits for the Cosigner

As a friend or relative of an airline employee, you can often take advantage of airline-employee friend/family benefits, including:

  • Free and/or discounted airline travel, including First Class
  • Vacation discounts
  • Auto-rental discounts
  • Hotel discounts

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Next Steps

Seniority is everything. Pilots who train with ATP gain an advantage meeting hiring minimums, and effectively gain two years’ seniority over their peers who train elsewhere.

Not only is the career outlook bright, but ATP offers the best choice in flight schools. Nowhere else will you find better aircraft, a more cost and time-efficient program, or a team of professionals more dedicated to training the best professional pilot applicants.

Only ATP gives you this level of confidence in your flight training investment.

Students and their cosigner should apply together on-line at ATPFlightSchool.com/apply.

How to Apply »

For Additional Information Please contact:

Kirk Clews
Student Finance Coordinator

ATP Flight School
904-595-7946
[email protected]

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