Possibility of New Locations up North?

[JosephF-LA-1007]

Sir/Ma'am,
My name is Joseph D. Foster, Sr. I am a Captain in the United States Air Force, currently stationed in Minot AFB in Minot, North Dakota. I am also a Private Pilot with approx. 175 hours total flight, still with the desire in me to become a Professional Pilot someday. Right now, at Minot International Airport, which is down the road from Minot AFB, yes there exists what appear to be some form of GA Flight Training. Other than that, such Flight Schools as yourselves doesn't exist here and that's rather frustrating when I'm up here in a "Northern Tier" state, such as North Dakota, and all available ATP campuses are pretty much all "down South." Has there been any discussion concerning bringing ATP up to any of the Northern States? Just FYI, regarding Minot International, it has two runways, one of them (08-26) is 6351X100 and the other (13-31) is 7700X150. Is the concern weather? Yes, I understand it does get very cold up here in the Northern states. Well, one way of looking at it is that posting an ATP campus, here at Minot Intl for example, is that you give students in the Airline Pilot Career Program the opportunity to train under cold weather conditions. In my honest and humble opinion, isn't that something that all pilots need to get exposed too, especially early on in their flying careers?
Again, just wanted to share some of my thoughts with you and to see what your thoughts were on the subject. Thank you very much for your time and your possible consideration.


V/R,
//SIGNED//
JOSEPH D. FOSTER, SR., Capt, USAF

[ExpressJet Bob]

Hi there Captain Foster,

I'm don't work for ATP in any capacity to make new base decisions... but when I was a flight instructor for them I do remember a few things from upper management that stuck out as to the reasoning why there are not that many "northern" training bases.

It basically comes down to dollars and cents.

1. First of all, there needs to be an adequate percentage of the population that would be interested in flight training in that area.
2. Secondly, the weather plays a big part of a stations success and return on investment. ie: If it takes students down south 90 days to complete their training... it could take students in the northern exposures 100+ days due to bad weather days. So, it's more economical and efficient to offer locations in the southern climates where weather is typically better year round. That's also the reason why you see some of the larger flight schools down south like Flight Safety, Delta Connection Academy, Embry Riddle, etc.

You make a valid point in that pilots should be prepared for all climates. That's one of the reasons why ATP does "nationwide" cross country experience. You don't see many schools offering that. You could start out in Florida and end up in Indianapolis, Long Beach, Las Vegas... or Trenton, NJ. So you would be actively experiencing different airspace, climates, and terrain at the same time.

ATP is also one of the few schools out there that offer very affordable housing that combined with the overall cost of the program is still cheaper than many other major flight schools training program only. That combined with the fact that they have more locations across the US is something that a lot of folks enjoy.

Personally, I always tell folks to consider training in a different environment than they are used to, so that they can challenge themselves. For example, if you got your Private in Denver, then finish your flight training in Florida. If you did your Private at a small Class D airport, then do your advanced in and around some major Class B airspace like DFW, LAX, or ATL. If you did your initial training in the great plains... then look at finishing off your training PHX, Vegas, LAX, etc. Again... there aren't that many flight schools that can offer those options.

Alrighty... I better sign off for now since I'm beginning to sound like an used car salesman for ATP.

I just wanted you to know that your input is appreciated and let you know my thoughts based on my experience from working at ATP several years ago.

Hope that helps,

Bob