Airline Pilot Requirements, With The Rule Behind Each One

An airline transport pilot certificate. 14 CFR 61.153 puts four conditions behind it: twenty-three years of age, or twenty-one where 61.160 applies; a commercial pilot certificate that already carries an instrument rating; English you can read, speak, write and follow; and good moral character. 61.159(a) then requires 1,500 hours of flight time containing 500 cross-country, 100 night, 50 in class, 75 instrument and 250 as pilot in command.

An unrestricted certificate wants 1,500 hours, from 14 CFR 61.159(a). The reduced routes in 61.160 bring that down to 750 for a qualifying United States military pilot, to 1,000 for a bachelor's degree majoring in aviation with 60 aviation semester credit hours behind it, and to 1,250 for an associate degree or for 30 to 59 of those credit hours. Every one of the reduced routes leaves a 61.167 limitation on the certificate.

14 CFR 67.103 wants distant acuity measured one eye at a time at 20/20 or better, corrective lenses permitted; near acuity of 20/40 at sixteen inches; and, for applicants aged fifty or over, a further intermediate check at thirty-two inches. Colour perception adequate to safely perform airman duties and normal fields of vision are also required. Glasses and contact lenses are expressly contemplated by the paragraph.

Not in the regulation. Part 61 and part 67 contain no height or weight standard of any kind. What can exist is a practical limit set by a specific aircraft's cockpit geometry, and separately by an employer's own requirements, both of which sit entirely outside federal certification. No flight school can tell you what an individual carrier will require.

It depends on the record, and it is decided by the Administrator rather than by a training provider. 14 CFR 61.153(c) requires an ATP applicant to be of good moral character, and separate paragraphs deal with drug and alcohol convictions. If you have a history that might engage those provisions, get specific advice from an aviation attorney before you commit money to training, not after.

No. You need to meet the standards in 14 CFR part 67 for the class of medical certificate you hold, which is not the same thing. Many conditions are compatible with a first-class certificate, some require a special issuance, and some are disqualifying. An Aviation Medical Examiner is the only person who can apply the paragraphs to your actual history, and a consultation before you begin costs a fraction of a program.

14 CFR 61.153(b) wants an airline transport pilot applicant able to read, speak, write and follow English. The same requirement appears at 61.83 for a student pilot certificate, at the very start of training. Where a medical reason prevents an applicant from meeting it, the regulation allows the Administrator to issue a certificate carrying operating limitations instead.

If you are not a United States citizen or national, yes, and it has to be in place before flight training begins. Approval runs through the Flight Training Security Program. It is administrative rather than hard, but it consumes calendar time, so start it at the same moment you start choosing a school rather than in the week you hoped to fly.

An unrestricted certificate is earned under 14 CFR 61.159 at 1,500 hours and carries no limitation. A restricted one is earned under 61.160 at 750, 1,000 or 1,250 hours and carries the limitation “Restricted in accordance with 14 CFR 61.167”, which under 61.167 prevents the holder acting as pilot in command in operations conducted under part 121. Meeting the age in 61.153(a)(1) and the experience in 61.159 removes it.

No, and no school honestly can. What we can do is teach against the Airman Certification Standards, present you for a practical test when your instructor judges you ready, and publish what each phase costs. Whether you pass a checkride, hold a medical certificate or are hired by anyone are three separate matters and none of them is within a training provider's control.