Gregg's Introduction

[GreggG-WV-1008]

Hi Chris,

My name is Gregg Galinski, and I am currently living in Thailand. I am 27, a US citizen, and previously hold a PPL but haven't flown in a while. I'm looking for a fast track program to get me into the aviation field. I want to recieve my CFI-CFII as soon as possible, therefore (if the economy comes back!) I can work as a flight instructor and not at McDonalds. I'm looking at a wide range of schools right now, and asking a lot of questions. I am interested in ATP's program, but have some cautions about it. It seems quite accelerated, and I've heard that if you fail a check ride, you have to start all over again on that section of the course. I have many questions, but I'll leave those for next time, Thanks for your time and patience, what your doing is really wonderful for us up and comming pilots!

Sincerely
Gregg W. Galinski

[Continental Chris]

Gregg,

Welcome to the forums and thanks for posting! I have never been to Thailand, but would defiently like to visit someday. Now is definetly the time to begin flight training. Those who train now and build their experience will be the first to be hired by the airlines when things turn around. Those who wait will be hired much later, simple as that. I am glad that you are exploring your options and looking at alot of different schools. Make sure you ask as many questions as possible when talking to the admissions counselors. Some things to consider are:

Is the price a fixed price or based on an estimate of flight time? If it is based on an estimate there is a strong possibility that the estimate is way too low.

How much time is in multi engine airplanes? Airlines really value this time and it can be difficult to get.

How long will the program take?

If you are later hired as an instructor are there any contracts you must sign?

Is housing included?

These are just a few questions that I would really hit hard with every flight school. As far as being accelerated is concerned, ATP is definetly fast, no doubt about it, but it is manageable and alot of people do well in the program. I finished in exactly 90 days and passed every checkride on the first attempt. If you do have to repeat a checkride it really is not that big of a deal. In most cases the student receives 1-2 hours of retraiing and then takes the checkride again, you definetly do not have to start all over on that section of the course. All of that being said, nobody wants you to take a checkride before you are ready. It looks badly for your instructor and the school if somebody fails a checkride, thus they will try to get you as ready as possible before you take the ride.

Feel free to ask as many questions as you like, that is what I am here for. I look forward to working with you as you explore this new career oppritunity!

Chris

[GreggG-WV-1008]

Hey Chris,

Thanks for your reply, your feeding me great information. The next topic I would like to discuss is the atmosphere of flight training at ATP. Being a new pilot we are all looking to work with older experienced pilots for the bulk of our training. Though ATP boasts about hiring pilots after they have achieved CFI and CFII status to then train the new incoming students.

How much of your time in training is divided between working with an experienced field member and working with someone who has just passed their CFI and CFII ratings.

Thanks Happy Holidays, and I look forward to talking further.

Gregg

[Continental Chris]

Gregg,

I hope that your Christmas went well. When searching for flight schools the quality of the instructors is definetly a major concern. Very few flight schools are able to keep flight instructors beyond when they are able to be hired by the airlines. The simple fact is that most pilots want to be airline pilots, not flight instructors. Airline jobs pay more and generally require less work and effort. The people who chose to remain flight instructors are few and far between. At any flight school you are going to find alot of new flight instructors, ATP is no exception. One of the ways that ATP works to maintain high standards is to have a very experienced chief pilot. He works to ensure that all of ATP's students are trained to the company standards and that the same policies are followed throughout the company. When you train for your own CFI license you will have to be instructed by a CFI who has held his certificate for two years or more, this is an FAA requirement.

I was a new CFI when I began instructing and I ended up with almost a 100% pass rate. Sometimes the new CFIs are the best because they are so highly motivated to do well and pass their knowledge onto new people. I hope this helps, thanks for the question.

Chris

[GreggG-WV-1008]

Hey Chris,

Yes my holiday was quite enjoyable with some close friends here in Phuket and an array of SEasian food to choose from. I see from your schedule, you almost made it home on time for the gathered feast, I hope they waited for you.

I completely agree with you about young enthusiastic recently certified CFII's being enthusiastic about their new found knowledge, and therfore making quite decent instructors. The ability to fall back onto a chief pilot especially when there are concerns is a nice comfort as well. Thank you for your answer, I found that solid information.

Onto my next question. When I recieved my PPL I was about 19 years old. I didn't have the best instructors, and passed the exam with a %72, again not a great confidence booster. Once I passed my check ride, I found myself in the cocpit alone, and got quite scared, that the sole responsability of the aircraft was now on my shoulders. This scared me so much, I stopped flying. With ATP you can go from almost no experience to CFII status quite rapidly. How confident did you feel after your 90 days, and how prepared were you to step into the cocpit and begin to teach and have the confidence to trust your students?


I'll keep them going one at a time, thanks again for all your help.

Gregg

[Continental Chris]

Gregg,

Instructing is one of the most fun things I have done in my career, but it was also one of the most stressful. By the time I had completed ATP's program I knew that I knew the information I needed to know, but teaching it to somebody else would be much harder. Fortunately, ATP does not just throw you to the wolves. After you are hired as an instructor you go through their standardizaton process, which is to insure that all ATP instructors are on the same page when it comes to teaching. Then you are sent to a location to teach. Almost all locations have more than one instructor, so there is somebody more senior than you to ask questions and learn from. Even still I was definetly nervous with my first couple of students, but as time went on and students passed checkrides I built my confidence and became a little bit better every day. Instructing is definetly part of the learning process and I learned quite a bit from my students. As I mentioned, i did enjoy instructing, but I was definetly glad to get to an airline when I did. Keep the questions coming.

Chris

[GreggG-WV-1008]

Hey Chris!

Now I have to ask the question about $$$ it's definitely not the reason I want to fly, but I would like to know,

1. What's the average loan size,

2. How many years (you mentioned 15)

3. Starting salary as 1. instructor 2. reigonal pilot 3. national or international


This is a serious part of the career, and enjoying your life outside of work. You can offer any information you like, if you wish to not share openly on this forum, feel free to contact me at galinskig@yahoo.com

Thanks again for all you help

Gregg

[Continental Chris]

Gregg,

Financial matters are very important and are definetly a huge part of the decision making process. As far as loans are concerned it really would be best to discuss this with the admissions counselors at ATP, they are really better suited to answer these questions factually than I am, I would be guessing. I can tell you that I financed 100% of my training, which was $40,000 at the time (I already had a private license) over 15 years, which results in a monthly payment of about $350. Of course things have changed since then. Please call them, they will be able to answer all of these questions.

Salary is definetly something I can address though. The pay rates for ATP instructors can be found at: http://www.atpflightschool.com/jobs/index.html It works out to about $2,400 per month, or $28,800 per year. At ATP, and just about every other flight school, you are an independent contractor, so you will have to pay your own Social Security and taxes out of this, but at $28,800 per year that shouldn't be too much. Instructors rarely make more than this, most make less. Your pay as an instructor will not really go up much, as it is seen as a "stepping stone" job to the airlines.

My first year at ExpressJet I think I made $24,000, as an employee. My second year I made $38,000 if I recall correctly. Of course we had full benefits at XJT. First year pay at an airline is always low, and Continental was no exception, I made $30,000. This year I am on track to make $74,000. The benefits at CAL are pretty good and of course my family and I get to travel for free, which definetly has some worth to it.

A good way to determine what a pilot makes per year is to take the hourly rate and multiply it by either 75 or 80. For example, I make $65 per hour, times 80 is $5200 per month. I tend to work about 93 hours per month, but that is above average. I hope that explanation helps. What else can I answer for you?

Chris