ATP to Add Six Piper Seminoles

Flight training specialist ATP isn't listening to the doom and gloom about the sad state of general aviation shipments and billings for the first three quarters of 2010. It just ordered six new Piper Seminole light twins, which, when delivered before year end, will increase the school's fleet of Seminoles to 87 nationwide, complemented by 50 Cessna 172 Skyhawks, five Diamond DA40s and a Cessna CitationJet. The Seminole is powered by two 180-hp Lycoming IO-360-A1H6 piston engines. The value of the half-dozen-aircraft order is announced as $3.9 million. They will be incorporated into ATP's Pilot Operations degree program, recently launched in cooperation with Mountain State University. The program, said ATP Vice President of Flight Operations Jim Koziarski, is the first to directly integrate online coursework with a standardized flight training curriculum. The program is designed for future professional pilots and directly addresses recent moves to require an ATP rating for all airline flight crewmembers. Under the ATP/Mountain State syllabus, students will have logged more than 100 hours of multi-engine flight experience in an "airline-style environment."