Looking at ATP certification numbers is something that helps us gauge how many pilots we are pushing through the system to go into service in professional, primarily airline, pilot jobs. As we all hear current stories about reductions in hiring, I found it interesting to look at the numbers month-to-month so far this year compared to previous years.

Looking at the last two years, 2022 and 2023 compared to what we have seen through June of this year, 2024, we see that our ATP pilot certification completions are tracking right in line with what the recent previous years have produced.

The bulk of ATP certifications are still being completed a a part of training processes at airlines, in most cases, regional airlines, where pilots get their first professional airline pilot jobs. After completing an ATP CTP course, these pilots take their knowledge test and then complete initial training that results in a type rating, and at the same time, their ATP (or restricted-ATP) certification.

As we track the certification numbers month-to-month, we see that our certification numbers year-to-date in June are very close in 2024 to the past couple of years. Slightly higher than 2022, and slightly lower than 2023, but with negligible change.

It will be interesting to see if there are drop-offs in the next couple of months as we know a few airlines have paused training classes or canceled them, but whether these will be momentary or minimal changes for the overall year is something I will continue to track as we proceed toward the end of the year.