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ATP Flight School is bolstering its fleet with the purchase of an additional 40 Cessna Skyhawk aircraft to be delivered in early 2026. This expands the school's existing fleet of almost 225 Skyhawks across more than 85 training centers around the world. Textron announced the agreement on Thursday, celebrating the fourth fleet purchase in an effort to scale the flight school.
This is the fourth fleet purchase for ATP, totaling 135 Skyhawks for the ATP Airline Career Pilot Program in just over one year. The flight school is looking to scale to train 20,000 airline pilots by 2030. The growing fleet will provide students all over the world with access to modern and advanced aircraft to support their pilot career dreams.RELATED STORY:ATP Flight School and Textron announce order of 40 Cessna Skyhawks for pilot training
"For over six decades, the legendary Cessna Skyhawk has inspired the next generation of pilots and served as the world's leading flight trainer," Piston Sales VP Chris Crow said. "We are delighted to continue our long-standing relationship with ATP and provide their students access to the most produced single-engine aircraft globally."
The Cessna 172 is the most popular training aircraft in the industry and the most popular single-engine aircraft ever built. With a history dating back to 1955, there have been more Skyhawks built than any other aircraft. The piston boasts steady flight dynamics, premium avionics and a reliable dispatch history. The Cessna 172 has been ATP's most trusted training platform for the last three decades.
On Nov. 16 ATP took the delivery of five Skyhawks, surpassing a fleet milestone with 500 aircraft. These Skyhawks joined the 86 ATP had taken deliver of since 2020, used exclusively for airline pilot training and career development. On June 30, ATP announced the last purchase of 40 Skyhawk aircraft. The purchase this summer was the second in one year, with the first being a purchase agreement of 55 Skyhawks in October 2022.ATP Flight School announces the purchase of 40 new Cessna Skyhawks from Textron Aviation. This agreement marks the fourth fleet purchase in just over a year, amounting to a total of 135 Cessna Skyhawks for use in the Airline Career Pilot Program. Over the next three years, we… pic.twitter.com/bXq3kxZMXf— ATP Flight School (@ATPFlightSchool) December 7, 2023
"With already one of the youngest, most modern fleets at scale, the firm orders for 135 Skyhawks are for direct fleet growth, not replacement," ATP Flight School VP of Marketing Michael Arnold said. "Over the next three years, ATP will be expanding its Cessna fleet by 60% and delivering over 40 new state-of-art planes to ATP students each year through 2026. ATP's fleet expansion has been responsibly paired with an investment in its Florida-based flight operations center. Dedicated safety, tech ops, and quality assurance departments promote a high level of safety across the ATP network with real-time monitoring, risk mitigation, and safety trend analysis as they orchestrate 800 daily flights. This structured airline-based approach to flight operations provides students with a safety-focused environment from the onset of their professional careers as they become airline pilots on the most efficient path possible."