ATP-CTP in South Florida in 2026: What It Is and Our Pan Am Cooperation

You have the commercial certificate, the instrument rating, and a logbook that is climbing toward the number every airline application asks about. Then you look up what the ATP test needs and find a course you have never heard of. ATP-CTP is the step that catches pilots off guard, and it can hold up a test date if you find it late.

This guide explains what ATP-CTP is, why the FAA requires it, where it fits between your commercial training and the airlines, and how our cooperation with Pan Am Flight Academy works for pilots in South Florida. If you want the ATP certificate itself first, our Airline Transport Pilot (ATP) page covers how we prepare candidates for the ATP checkride.

What ATP-CTP is and what the FAA says about it

ATP-CTP stands for Airline Transport Pilot Certification Training Program. It is a training course you complete with an authorized training provider, and at the end you receive a graduation certificate. The FAA sets minimum academic and simulator training for the course in 14 CFR 61.156, so every authorized provider has to meet that floor.

The people who need it are applicants for an ATP certificate with an airplane category and multiengine class rating, or an ATP certificate issued at the same time as an airplane type rating. If your goal is the airline pilot career most readers have in mind, that describes you. Pilots chasing other ATP privileges should check the exact rule for their category and class before they plan, since the training requirement is written around airplane multiengine ATP applicants.

The course covers air carrier operations, including crew coordination, high-altitude operations, upset recovery, and automation, and it sits at the end of your training so the person walking into the ATP test has already seen that environment. Our ATP training builds on it. You can read the regulation yourself in 14 CFR 61.153 and 61.156 on the eCFR Part 61 page.

The order that matters: course first, then the knowledge test, then the checkride

Under 14 CFR 61.153, an applicant for the airplane multiengine ATP must hold the ATP-CTP graduation certificate before taking the ATP knowledge test. The knowledge test comes before the practical test, which is your ATP checkride. So the sequence is: finish ATP-CTP, pass the written, then fly the checkride.

That means ATP-CTP is a gate. You can have every flight hour logged and still be unable to sit the written test without the certificate in hand. Picture reaching your hours target, booking time for the written, and learning the course has to come first. Plan it like any other step on the path, and book it while your hours are still building, so the course and your hour goal finish around the same time.

The eligibility basics sit alongside it. Most civilian applicants need a commercial pilot certificate with an instrument rating, the ability to read, speak, write, and understand English, good moral character, a first-class medical for airline duties, and a minimum age of 23. Military and foreign-licensed pilots have their own routes into the same rule. Our commercial pilot training and instrument rating pages show the steps that come before it.

Where ATP-CTP fits in the airline path

Most career-track pilots follow a familiar sequence. The table shows where each piece sits and where the ATP-CTP lands.

Step	What it adds	Where to start
Private pilot	Your first certificate	Private pilot training
Instrument rating	Flight under instrument rules	Instrument rating
Commercial pilot	Compensation or hire privileges	Commercial pilot training
Multi-engine rating	Twin-engine class rating	Multi-engine rating
Hour building	Experience toward the ATP	Multi-engine time building
ATP-CTP	The required course before the written	Pan Am Flight Academy cooperation
ATP written and checkride	The ATP certificate itself	ATP training

Many pilots add a flight instructor certificate along the way to build time, though that is a choice and not a rule. Hour building itself can happen in several ways, and a multiengine airplane is a common place to log the multiengine time the ATP asks for. The hour requirement is where 1,500 hours comes in. That number is the common shorthand for the airplane ATP, and the full rule in 14 CFR 61.159 also sets minimums for cross-country, night, instrument, pilot-in-command, and multiengine time. A restricted ATP under 14 CFR 61.160 can allow fewer than 1,500 hours for qualifying military pilots and graduates of FAA-authorized aviation degree programs, with restricted privileges until the pilot reaches the full number. Check your exact pathway before you count on a reduced total.

Airline hiring is its own milestone. Airlines can ask for more than the FAA minimum, including degrees, interviews, and background checks, so meeting the regulation gets you eligible and not hired.

How Sun City works with Pan Am Flight Academy

Sun City Aviation Academy works in cooperation with Pan Am Flight Academy through the NextGen Pilot Program. Pan Am Flight Academy offers ATP-CTP, initial type ratings, recurrent training, and license conversion. For this post, ATP-CTP is the one you will want to ask about.

The cooperation runs in two directions. If you are a Sun City student, or someone we refer, you can access Pan Am’s ATP-CTP at preferred pricing. If you are a Pan Am Flight Academy student looking for an ATP checkride, you can come to Sun City at preferred pricing. This is one way to complete the requirement, and you are free to compare other authorized providers. The details of the Pan Am course, including how it is run and when it is offered, come from Pan Am, so visit Pan Am Flight Academy for those. Our Pan Am Flight Academy page explains how the cooperation works here.

We prepare candidates for the ATP checkride at Sun City, and ATP-CTP is the step right before that written test and flight.

How to plan the last stretch of your ATP path

A short checklist keeps the end of the path moving, and each item below is something you can start this week.

Start with your logbook. Add up your total time, cross-country, night, instrument, pilot-in-command, and multiengine hours against the 61.159 minimums, and note whether you could qualify under a restricted pathway. If you are still short, our time-building guide shows how pilots finish the multiengine piece.

Pick your ATP-CTP window early. The regulation requires the graduation certificate before the knowledge test, so put the course on your calendar ahead of the date you want to take the written. Waiting until the last minute gains you nothing, and a booked course date gives you a clear target for your remaining hours.

Check your medical. The ATP privileges call for a first-class medical, and the class you hold has to match what you are doing. Confirm yours with an aviation medical examiner early so a medical question does not surprise you at the end.

Study for the written and the checkride in parallel. The knowledge test and the practical test each have their own standards, and our ATP preparation lines up with both. You can find the current standards on the FAA ACS page.

Plan the money in one pass. The ATP step has FAA fees and course costs, and the earlier steps carry their own. We work with Stratus Financial on flight training financing, so look at our financing options and ask us what applies to your plan.

The next step: ask about ATP-CTP and preferred pricing

Tell us where you are in your training and which of the Pan Am programs you want to ask about, and we will point you in the right direction. If you are a Pan Am Flight Academy student who needs an ATP checkride, tell us that too.

Use our contact form to ask about ATP-CTP, ATP checkride preparation, and preferred pricing.