Reviews of ATP Flight School (Driving School)

Joe Yuhnke

Seems like people have giving the same feed back for sometime and you still have not improved.

Nevada Fielding

Quality instruction, by far the most efficient (cost and time) to join the airline world. I would highly recommend if your goal is to be a professional pilot. I had a great experience and have sent several friends who are now enjoying their pilot careers as well.

James Britt

Well Managed and great program if you know what to expect.

Chris Cole

Had the worst flight instructor. He would curse at me if I pressed a wrong GPS button. Very unprofessional. Some of the instructors are there just to build their time and don't enjoy teaching, let alone know basics of instructing. Very 'corporate' feel to the flight school, vs having fun and learning new things. The cost is 2-3x more than what I'm paying elsewhere. Part 61 flying is the way to go

Brendan Campbell

My experience with ATP at the KIWA location was a positive one. I came in with my private pilot certificate and 80 hrs and was able to get my instrument, commercial (single and multi), CFI (single and multi) and CFII in just over 9 months. ATP did a good job of making sure I was flying regularly, that the planes were well maintained, and providing a place where students could become immersed in aviation. Admittedly it was a tough, accelerated program that's not for everyone and requires a lot of work and self-study, but it's do-able.

M Maii

Being a Professional Airline Pilot for over 17 years and having an enjoyable experience going through a couple flight schools, one at home in Hawaii and one in Prescott, AZ I feel I can say this though my experience and watching my boyfriend go though a totally different experience with ALL ATP MESA. ALL ATP MESA from prior to day one wants you to complete all written tests from Private Pilot, Instrument and Commercial prior to arriving. That is so they don't have help you with any written prep at all. They state they want you to dress in uniform and it is a professional environment but it is far from that. The ALLATP apartment that my boyfriend moved into had chairs and a coffee table leg totally broken, stained carpet, dirty bath tubs and sinks. The apartment hasn't been cleaned for years with food over two years old in the fridge and cupboards. I had to write a formal complaint about the cleanliness of the place and asked to move to a different apartment. After moving and over two months later, the old roommates still did not get new and in tact furniture. His flight instructor sucked. He was a terrible communicator and teacher and by how my boyfriend was explaining things he was a brand new flight instructor and was just putting his time in to get hired from an Airline. Good luck whoever hires Cameron. Terrible. He was always on his cell phone texting and at one point when another flight instructor asked if he was doing ground, he answered "no, I babysat them yesterday". I got news for you Cameron....you are nothing right now. Huge attitudes from the instructors and the office staff there. Sometimes my boyfriend didn't have a schedule for the next day even as late as 8pm the night before. The study area was always loud with other flight instructors talking and laughing so there was no real study area at the school. They over charge and charge you for things that you didn't receive. For example my boyfriend never got pre departure brief or de briefed before and after every flight yet they charged him $75 every time he flew. There were other people that got charged for things when they shouldn't have. This is a factory and you are a number. THEY DON'T CARE ABOUT YOU AS A PERSON OR AS A POTENTIAL PROFESSIONAL PILOT. This place is terrible I think if they got better management it may help but who knows. DON'T GO TO THIS ALL ATP! Others may be different but this experience was terrible. It should be fun. It is hard but they should try their best to make it an enjoyable experience for how hard it is. DON'T GO TO THIS ATP.

Chris Nakai Kim

Worst flight school.

Jorrell Quinones

I was just like you, interested in ATP but nervous because the reviews are brutal to read. I will tell you now that 90% of these reviews are from individuals that have received the boot out of this program. There is a large number of graduates from this program, but are too lazy to create a review (such as myself, but I decided to create one to help future students make their decisions). First off, this program is not for everyone (aviation is not for everyone). You have to be dedicated, determined, and goal oriented. It is a difficult program, but it is possible to graduate! ATP is extremely structured and introduces an extremely solid foundation for private pilots and that's why I encourage students to start the program with 0 hours. "ATP is the fastest way to the airlines" this stands very true and if you hear a small flight school repeat that saying I will be the first to say that THEY ARE LYING! Secondly, this company/location has numerous amount of recourses (ATP PHX/Mesa) and I encourage anyone that wants to attend ATP to go to this location. It is a fast pace program and you'll experience A LOT of self study, but there is such a large amount of students and instructors lingering around to help you throughout your time at ATP (just be prepared to live at ATP). The simulators, large students/instructor amount, handful of new aircrafts, a cubical room, briefing rooms, a lounge area, and rooms to collaborate with other students just makes this location/company the best flight school I've every seen/been to (I started ATP with my PPL). Lastly, the only downside I experienced at ATP was the having instructors in and out, but if you fly well and have good educational tools you will be fine if you have an instructor change on you. Although it is frustrating, it is also helpful to receive different perspectives of aviation from different instructors. Just be as prepared as possible when you start ATP (get a chunk of your written tests done and study your modules). Having that 'ATP Graduate' on your resume is an eye catcher for all airlines, so keep striving when things aren't going your way. It was well worth the stress for 6 months straight because now I've been blessed to say that I am an ATP Graduate.

Mike Kirkpatrick

Overall my experience at ATP was a good one, I met a lot of good instructors and in 9 months I went from a private pilot to CFI, MEI, CFII. If you do decide to go to ATP, I highly recommend attending the IWA location. The instructors and management (along with constant good weather) at that location helped my training progress smoothly and efficiently. Plan on spending almost all day everyday at the airport either studying, flying, or using their simulators. Since the program is so fast paced, you need to commit at least 4-5 hours a day to studying at the minimum.

John Smith

Terrible. I know too many people who have been fed up with the program and gone elsewhere. The ATP instructors are arrogant, cocky, rude, etc. As an ASU student, I have to train out of here and if I leave I will not get the part 141 hour reduction so I will have to just stay and bite the bullet, but I know too many people who are ASU students and left (forfeiting the 500 hour reduction) because the instructors make it a terrible experience. You should enjoy your training experience and ATP just makes you feel like a number. Not to mention the fact I hear instructors openly gossiping about their students if the student messes up on something and going on social media or texting WHILE you're taxiing or flying. If you are doing part 61 training, go elsewhere and if you are set on the 141 route, go to a different 141 approved university... yes it's that bad.

chaz fowler

This school is all about the money. Expect your instructor to be young, immature, and on there phone when u need help. Everyone that I know that is put a bad review on here they have had Google take it off just be wearing if you want the truth go to Yelp.

Samuel R. Walker

GREAT school! Very organized and professional. Lots of instructors to fly with and get different perspectives. I've loved my time at ATP so far!

The Thomas family

GO TO YELP for more reviews! Very disappointing experience. Negative atmosphere. A lot of time and money wasted. The culture at this location is very bad. Most of the instructors have never had a job prior to being a CFI and it really shows when it comes to being professional. Most act like they are still in the frat house. I experienced many issues that affected my training. Several instructors at this location trained under part 141. That's fine, however most would tell me that they had a tough time teaching the ATP accelerated program and preferred ASU students. The support staff is overwhelmed and not very helpful. There is too many students at this location and it makes it difficult to get what you are paying for. PLEASE READ the contract on the day of your start. ATP has been sued many times and it shows by how the contract is written. One plus is this location does have a rotating ground class three days a week. However, most of the instructors are in a rush and don't use the full two hour block. Some classes were good and some bad. It would be helpful if they had dedicated ground instructors. Another plus is the airplanes are well maintained and relatively new. This location has onsite maintenance. The bottom line is that if you want to get your ratings and truly learn as well as have confidence than do not choose ATP. ATP's model is to hire you as an instructor once you complete the program. In actuality the pass rate for that is very low and you are getting your CFI ratings at the bare minimums. This is so they can charge $70 an hour and pay the instructor less than $10 an hour. ATP chooses profit over quality. The instructors here have no real world experience and as stated never had a job before ATP. As another poster stated about check-rides being rescheduled for no reason. This location puts out obstacle after obstacle and makes things more difficult than called for. The instructors are afraid of being fired so they prolong endorsing you in fear of you failing the check-ride. I left the program due to the fact I was being jerked around. I wasn't being endorsed because the instructor stated I wasn't meeting the ACS when it came to knowledge. Funny thing is that the instructor I have found now has over 4500 hours instructing and he felt my knowledge was excellent. I have since obtained my instrument and working toward my other ratings. I toured many flight schools in the Phoenix area after my ATP fiasco to find out the schools are filled with people that left ATP during their instrument rating. PLEASE BEWARE and know what you are getting into with the ATP program. I can see it working, however not at this location. I have talked with a few students after I left and they are trudging along but state they have no confidence. I have let corporate know about the concerns I had along with several other people who experienced these negative issues. They don't want to challenge the guy who runs this location. So that means when something BAD happens they will address it. Ethan or Josh. Please do not respond to this with a canned response about how you are sorry to hear about my experience. In response to the "owner". The full immersion wasn't the problem. The problem was paying for top dollar training and not learning from the instructors I had. We are expected to learn from other students. I didn't pay all this money to have to learn from other students studying "pilot's cafe". That's why I say your company is about profit. Take a look at Lufthansa in Goodyear, AZ. Now that is about quality. Sadly, I got hooked into ATP because of being able to utilize a student loan. Big mistake! I feel all the charges outside of flight hours were a complete and utter waste. Very costly lesson.

Nicolas Cooke

ATP is hit or miss, I had friends that started the same day as me that had a great time, great instuctors, and rarely had anything rescheduled. My time at ATP was quite a bit different, although for the most part I had great instructors, they treated their instructors like cattle, even worse than their students. I never had a checkride that wasnt rescheduled at least once most being rescheduled several times. None that were due to weather or anything like that. Twice I was charged for flights I did not take, and both times took weeks to settle over something that should have been handled. To keep it simple, ATP is a roll of the dice; It can be a quick painless and great way to get through your Rating, or it can be something more like my experience.

Paul Escalante

Programs at ATP are fast paced. You would need a good instructor and mainly yourself being motivated throughout the program to be able to finish.