Spirit Airlines Announces Partnership with ATP Flight School
The nation’s largest flight school will be a direct pipeline for the Spirit Direct Program.
Students at ATP will be trained on the A320 family for Spirit Airlines. [Courtesy: ATP Flight School]
Spirit Airlines has announced a new partnership with ATP Flight School, called the Spirit Direct Program, which aims to give Spirit access to more than 2,000 pilot students looking to transition to the airlines.
The Spirit Direct Program, announced Friday, will utilize ATP’s Airline Pilot Career Pilot Program, which immerses students in a two-year advanced training curriculum. The partnership will make students ready to pilot one of Spirit’s fleet of Airbus A320s.
“In just seven months, graduates of ATP's Airline Career Pilot Program earn their commercial pilot and flight instructor certificates, then through the Spirit Direct Program can advance straight to Spirit as Airbus first officers after 1,500 hours of flight time,” said Michael Arnold, director of marketing for ATP Flight School.
Spirit will now have a pipeline of students that are line-ready for the Spirit A320 family. ATP students progress through the ATP program and continue to gain their hours by instructing, gaining valuable crew resource management skills and flight experience. Students can interview with Spirit as early as after 500 hours of total flight time to gain a conditional job offer.
“ATP is well-known for developing top-notch airline pilots, making them the perfect match as we continue to grow and give our Guests more destinations to discover,” Ryan Rodosta, senior director of flight operations and system chief pilot at ATP said in a statement.
Prospective students can learn more about the program here.
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