ATP Flight School

ATP Flight School was started by a group of airline pilots in 1984 and is headquartered outside of Jacksonville, Florida. ATP stands for Airline Transport Professionals. The pilots established the school to provide training to U.S. military pilots who were transitioning to commercial air carrier operations. The school's curriculum later expanded to include ab-initio (from the beginning) training, as well as other courses for private, multiengine, instrument, commercial, and CFI ratings.

In 2014, the school purchased a majority share of Higher Power Aviation (HPA), a flight simulator training center based in Dallas and rebranded it as ATP JETS. HPA offered initial type rating and recurrent training to airline, corporate, military, government, and individual aircrew for all models of the Boeing B-727, B-737, B-757, B-767, C-9, MD-80, and Airbus A320. Together, ATP and HPA developed the Airline Transport Pilot Certificate Training Program (ATP CTP).

In May 2021, ATP reported that, every month, its then-61 locations provided more than 24,500 hours of flight training, and graduated over 117 commercial multi-engine pilots with CFIs. The company also issued more than 8,600 FAA certificates annually. In the preceding 18 months, 438 ATP graduates were hired by airlines.

In 2022, ATP was the largest civilian aviation training facility in the United States. At the time, it had trained 20,000 pilots.

ATP Flight School operates the largest multi-engine training fleet in the world, which consists primarily of Piper Seminoles, along with one Cessna 525 CitationJet. The school's single-engine fleet includes a mix of Piper Archers and Cessna 172 Skyhawks.

Fleet Growth

ATP Flight School initially used Cessna Skyhawks as its primary training aircraft before adding Piper Archers to its fleet. By 2009, the company operated 142 aircraft, including 86 Piper Seminoles, 50 Cessna 172s, five Diamond Stars, and one CitationJet. In 2011, ATP and Piper Aircraft Inc. announced the sale of 30 new Piper Seminoles, valued at $18 million, with the aircraft equipped with Garmin's G500 glass cockpit avionics suite, bringing the total number of aircraft with this technology to 270.

In April, 2013, ATP reached an agreement with Piper Aircraft to purchase up to 100 Piper Archers, with deliveries beginning later that year. These aircraft were standardized with the Garmin G500 avionics suite. By September 2017, ATP's fleet included approximately 100 Cessna Skyhawks and 55 Piper Archers. In 2018, ATP announced a second order for 100 additional Piper Archers, with the 100th Archer delivered on September 19, 2018. ATP renewed this order in 2020 for another 100 planes.

In 2019, ATP placed an order for 100 Cessna Skyhawks, scheduled for delivery through 2023. In October 2022, ATP reached an agreement with Textron Aviation for the purchase of 55 additional Skyhawks, with deliveries set to begin in late 2023 and continue through 2024. ATP ordered another 40 Skyhawks in January 2024, with deliveries starting in 2026. This marked the fourth fleet purchase by ATP in just over a year, totaling 135 Skyhawks.

Accidents and incidents

On December 6, 2008, a Cessna 172 operated by ATP Flight School was involved in a midair collision with another training aircraft, a twin-engine Piper PA-44. The collision occurred 18 miles west of the Ft. Lauderdale Hollywood International Airport (FLL) in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida. The two pilots of the ATP aircraft suffered fatal injuries, as did the two pilots of the Piper Seminole.

On March 24, 2014, a twin-engine Piper PA-44 owned by ATP Flight School crashed near Brunswick Georgia after a suspected break-up of the airframe in IFR conditions. Both pilots suffered fatal injuries in the accident. A lawsuit was filed on behalf of the deceased pilots' families.

On May 29, 2021, a Cessna 172 on an introductory flight crashed near Powder Mountain Ski Resort in Ogden, Utah. The flight student and instructor both died.

On January 24, 2024, an ATP Flight School student took a Cessna 172 aircraft without authorization from Addison Airport (ADS), situated north of Dallas, Texas. The student who was also a private pilot died when the aircraft crashed. Authorities investigated the crash as potentially intentional.

On August 7, 2026, a Cessna 172S, registration N1842E, registered to ATP Aircraft 6 LLC, crashed into Utah Lake shortly after departing Provo Municipal Airport in Provo, Utah. A private pilot who was pursuing a career as a commercial pilot, was killed, while the other occupant survived with injuries. The aircraft sustained substantial damage. The National Transportation Safety Board opened an investigation into the accident."AIN Detail Report – N1842E". Federal Aviation Administration. Federal Aviation Administration. Retrieved August 22, 2026.Hatch, Heidi (August 10, 2026). "Family identifies man killed in Utah Lake plane crash as aspiring commercial pilot". KUTV. Retrieved August 22, 2026.