ATP Flight School Accepts Delivery of 300th Training Aircraft

Jacksonville, FL — September 7, 2017

ATP Flight School has accepted delivery of its 300th training aircraft. The factory-new Piper Archer was part of a three year agreement with Piper Aircraft, Inc., for the purchase of up to 100 aircraft in order to increase training capacity and meet the growing demand for airline pilots.

With global demand for professionally trained commercial pilots reaching record levels, ATP Flight School has steadily become the leading and most reliable supplier of airline-ready pilots to the nation’s regional airlines. To stay ahead of the pilot shortage, ATP expanded its network of training centers to 42 locations across the country and has been acquiring aircraft at the rate of one new airplane per month. Recently ATP reached a significant milestone by accepting delivery of its 300th owned, not leased, aircraft – a factory-new Piper Archer TX.

The new aircraft was part of a three year agreement between ATP and Piper Aircraft, Inc., for the purchase of up to 100 Piper Archer TX training aircraft. Eighty of these airplanes have joined ATP’s fleet, which is also comprised of 100 multi-engine Piper Seminoles, making ATP the world’s largest training operator of Piper Aircraft. All of the Archers were manufactured with airline-oriented flight training in mind, equipped with the Garmin G500 electronic flight deck – complementing ATP’s similarly equipped 2012-and-newer Seminoles and supported by over 75 multi-engine flight training devices (FTDs).

Operated by over 700 students and nearly 300 flight instructors in the Airline Career Pilot Program, this impressive fleet flies over 15,000 flight hours per month, producing 5,200 FAA certificates annually. ATP's Airline Career Pilot Program students are provided with an airline career track from zero experience to airline pilot minimums, in partnership with 12 regional airlines. This training pipeline makes the airline pilot career more obtainable for students with financial assistance being offered in the form of airline tuition reimbursement. Additionally, regional airline partners have benefitted from gaining access to a stable and reliable source of professionally trained commercial pilots to help meet their recruiting efforts. As airline pilot retirements and increase in air travel fuel the global shortage of pilots, ATP will continue to increase training capacity and collaborate with airlines to provide the most effective training solutions that help meet the nation’s demand for airline pilots.