AOPA Pilot Magazine - June 2013 - 86

P&E

PROFICIENCY

descent procedures on a flight training
device (FTD) for an additional $125.
“When ATOP started in 1993, it was a
resource for aspiring airline pilots to give
them a chance to test drive their career aspirations; a chance to see the airline training
game up close and personal,” said Phillips.
“Nowadays, it is more like 60 percent of
pilots who merely want to live the dream but
will never chase that career. About 40 percent are planning or toying with a career.”

Test driving an
airline career
ATOP shows aspirants what the front office is like
B Y C H R I S TO P H E R L . F R E E Z E

PRAYANK JAIN, a flight attendant on furlough
from United Airlines, reaches upward and
presses the Airbus 320’s public address system button and, with an authoritative voice,
announces, “Flight attendants prepare for
landing.”
Normally, Jain would be strapping into
a rearward-facing jump seat, gazing down
an aisle of airline passengers. But, on this
morning, Jain is in the first officer’s seat taking part in the Airline Training Orientation
Program, which could help to put him on the
path to one day fulfilling his dream of becoming an airline pilot.
A DREAM. “ATOP is a unique opportunity
in the industry allowing any pilot to experience firsthand airline training and flight at a
major airline facility for an affordable price.
“More than 4,000 pilots have joined ATOP
since 1993; many of them are now flying for
United, Delta, Southwest, and more,” said
founder Wayne Phillips, the former corporate and airline pilot who conceived ATOP.
Working in cooperation with airline
training programs, and using their facilities

86 | AOPA PILOT June 2013

during off hours, ATOP provides a realistic
sample of an airline pilot’s training experience without the potentially massive
required investment of time and money.
The program started at United Airlines, and
moved to Continental Airlines in 2002.
In late 2011, ATOP began operating with
both American Airlines—utilizing its Boeing
737 simulators in Dallas—and JetBlue, using
Airbus A320 simulators in Orlando. Anyone
who has a student pilot certificate with 15
hours of instruction and an understanding
of an ILS approach can experience a realworld introduction to the airline training
environment.
The program costs $495, which includes
10 hours of ground school and two hours in
cockpit management trainers. Then, participants can log a minimum of one hour
of Boeing 737-800 or A320 simulator time,
along with two ILS approaches and two
landings, in a full-motion simulator. Pilots
may opt to earn their high altitude/pressurized aircraft endorsement for flight
above FL250 by practicing and demonstrating rapid depressurization and emergency

TURNING TALK INTO ACTION. After a tour of
the JetBlue campus and some brief introductions, Phillips dives right into the electrical
systems of the A320, explaining the Airbus
“lights off” philosophy; the importance of
the essential bus; and the limitations of the
auxiliary power unit.
After a noontime break, where plenty
of time is allotted for meeting other attendees, Phillips gives a rundown of a day in
the life of an airline pilot—weather briefing and planning at dispatch, meeting your
flight crew, the review of the paperwork
and maintenance records, usage of a minimum equipment list, safety checks, aircraft
walk-around, and crew briefing. Then, the
flow—starting with the windshield wipers and ending with engine start—as well as
the details of a fly-by-wire computer control
system and the introduction of its five flight
control laws.
The afternoon was spent covering emergencies, the hydraulic systems (all three!)
and their idiosyncrasies, fuel, in-flight emergency responses, and much more.
The optional high-altitude endorsement portion of the program consists of a
presentation on high-altitude weather conditions, aerodynamics, and preparations, as
well as an anecdote from an Aviation Safety
Reporting System form from a clear-air turbulence encounter during cruising flight.
Physiology, hypoxia, trapped gases, and
even an ATC recording of a hypoxic pilot
all hit home and underscore the need to
understand the challenges of high-altitude
operations.
“I was surprised at how much I actually
enjoy the ground school portion in addition
to flying the sim,” said Shawn Michaud, a
41-year-old Navy chief who lives in Florida.

AOPA Pilot Magazine - June 2013

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