Part 61 Or Part 141?
Two sets of rules a flight school can train you under. The difference is not quality and it is not speed. It is who approves the syllabus, how much of your week the syllabus owns, and roughly ten hours on paper that most students never see.
What The Two Parts Actually Are
Both are chapters of the same body of regulation, and a certificate earned under either is the same certificate with the same privileges.
14 CFR part 61 sets out what a pilot has to know, has to be able to do, and has to have logged in order to hold a certificate or a rating. Every pilot in the United States is certificated against part 61, without exception. A part 61 flight school trains you directly to those requirements, in whatever order suits you, and you take the same knowledge test and the same practical test as everybody else.
14 CFR part 141 is a certification for the school rather than for the pilot. A school applies to the FAA, submits a training course outline, and if it is approved the school may run that course to slightly reduced hour minima. The requirements themselves do not change; the FAA has simply reviewed the syllabus in advance and accepted that a structured course delivers the same outcome in fewer logged hours.
So the honest framing is this. Part 141 buys an FAA-reviewed syllabus and, on paper, about five hours on the private certificate and sixty on the commercial. Part 61 buys the freedom to fly on the days your job leaves you and to skip nothing. Neither is better in the abstract. One of them fits your week and the other does not.
Airline Pilot Flight School trains under 14 CFR part 61. The rest of this page explains what that gets you, and — because it is the part most schools leave out — what it costs you.
Which One Fits Your Week
The same certificate, two routes to it. Read the right-hand column of the table as honestly as the left — part 141 has real advantages and this page is not going to pretend otherwise.
Part 61
The school trains you directly against the experience requirements in part 61. The order of the lessons is yours to arrange, and nothing has to be repeated because a week went missing.
Best forSomebody training around a job, a mortgage and a calendar they do not fully control — which is most career changers.
- Private Pilot Minimum40 hours, 14 CFR 61.109(a)
- Commercial Minimum250 hours, 14 CFR 61.129(a)
- Syllabus Approved ByThe school
- Lesson OrderArranged around your week
- Miss Three WeeksPick up where you stopped
- Restricted ATP HoursNo reduction — 1,500 under 61.159
Part 141
The FAA has approved the school’s course outline in advance, so the course may certificate at lower hour minima. The trade is that the approved outline sets the order and the stage checks.
Best forA full-time student with an open calendar, or somebody whose funding names an approved part 141 course as a condition.
- Private Pilot Minimum35 hours, part 141 appendix B
- Commercial Minimum190 hours, part 141 appendix D
- Syllabus Approved ByThe FAA, under part 141 subpart C
- Lesson OrderFixed by the approved course outline
- Miss Three WeeksA stage may have to be repeated
- Restricted ATP HoursNo reduction from part 141 itself — see 14 CFR 61.169
The Whole Difference, On One Screen
| Part 61 | Part 141 | |
|---|---|---|
| Private pilot, minimum flight hours | 40 — 14 CFR 61.109(a) | 35 — part 141 appendix B |
| Instrument rating, instrument time | 40 — 14 CFR 61.65(d) | 35 — part 141 appendix C |
| Commercial certificate, total time | 250 — 14 CFR 61.129(a) | 190 — part 141 appendix D |
| Who approves the syllabus | The school | The FAA, in advance |
| Who sets the lesson order | You and your instructor | The approved course outline |
| Stage checks | The school’s own | Required by the approved course |
| Training around a full-time job | Straightforward | Possible, but the outline still governs |
| A three-week gap for work or travel | Resume where you stopped | A stage may be repeated |
| The certificate you end up holding | Identical | Identical |
| The knowledge test and practical test | Identical | Identical |
| Restricted ATP at 1,000 or 1,250 hours | No | No — that runs through a 14 CFR 61.169 degree institution |
| Airline Pilot Flight School | This is us | — |
Five Things The Comparison Usually Gets Wrong
Most of what is written about part 61 and part 141 is written by a school that holds one of the two certificates. Here are the five points that survive checking either way.
The Hour Saving Is Real, And Most People Never Collect It
Part 141 appendix B allows a private pilot course of 35 hours against the 40 in 14 CFR 61.109(a). Appendix D allows a commercial course of 190 hours against the 250 in 61.129(a). Those numbers are real and they are worth having on a spreadsheet.
What happens in practice is that the private certificate takes 50 to 60 hours for a student flying two or three times a week, under either part, because the binding constraint is spacing rather than the regulation. A five-hour minimum you never reach saves you nothing. The 60-hour difference at the commercial stage is a genuine saving for a full-time student on a structured course, and it is the one place the part 141 argument is strongest — though a large share of those hours are ones a career student would build anyway on the way to 1,500.
The Order Of The Lessons Is The Real Trade
A part 141 school runs an approved training course outline. 14 CFR 141.55 governs what that outline has to contain, and the point of approval is that the FAA has accepted the sequence in advance. That is a genuine quality control: somebody at the FAA has read the syllabus.
The cost of it is that the sequence is now the school’s obligation as well as its plan. Lessons run in order, stage checks fall where the outline says, and a gap can mean revisiting ground already covered. If your work travels, if your on-call weeks move, if a project eats a month, part 61 absorbs that and an approved course outline has to be managed around it.
- Part 61: build to the same experience requirements in whatever order your week allows
- Part 141: follow the approved outline, in its order, with its stage checks
- Both end at the same FAA knowledge test and the same practical test with a designated examiner
Neither Part Shortens The 1,500 Hours
This is the most commonly and most expensively misunderstood point on the subject, so it is worth stating without any hedging. 14 CFR 61.159 requires 1,500 hours of total time for an unrestricted airline transport pilot certificate, and 14 CFR 121.436 requires that certificate to serve as a second in command in part 121 operations.
14 CFR 61.160 allows restricted privileges at 750, 1,000 or 1,250 hours. The 750-hour route is military. The 1,000 and 1,250-hour routes require a degree with an aviation major from an institution of higher education that holds a letter of authorisation under 14 CFR 61.169. That is a university, not a flight school — and a part 141 flight school that is not a degree-granting institution cannot deliver it either.
So choosing a part 141 flight school over a part 61 one does not lower your 1,500 to 1,250. Only a degree programme does. We are part 61 and our students build to 1,500 under 61.159, and we would rather write that sentence here than have somebody find it out at hour 1,100.
Where Part 141 Genuinely Wins
Three cases, stated plainly, because a comparison that only lists the other side’s disadvantages is not a comparison.
First, funding. Where a funding source names an approved part 141 course as a condition — some veterans’ benefit routes and some institutional loan programmes do — a part 61 school cannot satisfy that condition, however good it is. Check the condition with the funder before you choose a school, not after.
Second, full-time structure. A student with an open calendar and no competing obligations often does better inside a fixed outline than outside one, and the 190-hour commercial course is a real advantage on that profile.
Third, external recognition. Some foreign authorities, employers and visa processes reference approved courses specifically. Visa sponsorship in particular is a separate certification from either part, and it is a question to put directly to any school you are considering.
What Part 61 Asks Of You In Return
Under part 61 nobody at the FAA has pre-approved the syllabus, which means the structure is the school’s responsibility rather than the regulator’s. That is a real difference and it changes what you should be looking at when you compare schools.
It means the questions worth asking are about the school and not about the part. Do they own the aircraft or lease them. Where is the maintenance done. Is there one instructor per student. What is the published price, what is inside it, and what happens at hour 41. How many aircraft types are there, and will the panel you learn on be the panel you meet at the commercial stage. Those answers separate schools far more than the letter of the regulation does.
- Six aircraft types owned in-house, maintained in our own shop on the field
- Twelve people on the roster, ten of them flight instructors
- 355 training-capable days a year, from NOAA ASOS observations at Van Nuys
- Every program priced as one fixed figure, published before you enroll
Four Questions That Settle It
In this order. The first two eliminate one of the two parts for most people, and the third and fourth are about the school rather than the regulation.
Does Your Funding Name A Part 141 Course?
If a benefit, grant or loan programme requires an FAA-approved part 141 course, that decides it and nothing else on this page matters. Ask the funder for the condition in writing before you speak to any school.
How Many Days A Week Can You Actually Fly?
Five or more, with an open calendar for a year, and an approved outline suits you. Two or three, around work, and part 61 is the honest answer — the flexibility is worth more than five hours of minimum you were never going to reach.
Is A Degree Part Of Your Plan?
If the object is a restricted ATP at 1,000 or 1,250 hours under 14 CFR 61.160, you need a degree with an aviation major from an institution holding a letter of authorisation under 14 CFR 61.169. No flight school of either part provides that.
Then Compare The Schools, Not The Parts
Aircraft ownership, maintenance, instructor ratio, published price, what happens when the hours run past the minimum. Two schools under the same part can differ far more than two parts do.
Why We Train Under Part 61
One reason, and it is about the person we mostly teach rather than about the regulation.
Most people who enroll here have a job. They are in their thirties or forties, they are paying a mortgage or a Los Angeles rent, and their week is not fully theirs. A syllabus that has to be flown in order, with stage checks that fall where the outline says, is a poor fit for a calendar somebody else partly controls — and the penalty for a bad fit is not a lecture, it is repeated lessons and a bill that moves.
Part 61 lets us build to exactly the same experience requirements in whatever order your fortnight allows, and lets you resume rather than repeat after a month away. Combined with 355 training-capable days a year at Van Nuys, that is what makes training around employment realistic rather than aspirational.
The trade is that you are relying on the school to structure the training rather than on an FAA-approved outline. We think that is the right trade and we accept that it puts the burden on us to be checkable in other ways: published prices, owned aircraft, our own maintenance shop on the field, one instructor per student, and every requirement on this site cited by paragraph so you can look it up.
If your circumstances point the other way — an open year, funding that names an approved course, a degree in the plan — then a part 141 programme is the better fit and you should take it. We would rather tell you that here than take a deposit you regret.
What To Compare Instead Of The Part
Six Aircraft Types, Owned
Cessna 162 Skycatcher, Piper Warrior, Diamond DA20-C1, Piper Arrow II, Piper Seminole and Cirrus SR22 Turbo, on our own books rather than leased in for the afternoon.
Our Own Shop On The Field
Maintenance is done at Van Nuys by us. An aeroplane that goes off-field for a scheduled inspection is an aeroplane that is not on your calendar.
Redbird MCX Full-Motion Simulator
FAA-approved AATD, three-axis electric motion, 210° wraparound visuals, dual controls and a real Garmin G430. $189 a session; program hours are already inside the price.
355 Measured Flyable Days
Counted from NOAA ASOS observations at Van Nuys over the twelve months to 1 August 2026. Under either part, spacing is what drives the hour count.
One Figure, Fixed
Every program is published as a single figure fixed on the day you enroll, for the full duration. The only hourly rate we publish is $179 wet, single-engine, enrolled students only.
Questions About Part 61 And Part 141
There is no such thing as a part 141 certificate or a part 61 certificate. There is a private pilot certificate, a commercial pilot certificate and so on, and they are identical whichever part you trained under. Both routes end at the same FAA knowledge test and the same practical test with a designated examiner, and both are certificated against 14 CFR part 61.
For the private certificate, 40 hours under 14 CFR 61.109(a) against 35 hours in a part 141 approved course under appendix B. For the instrument rating, 40 hours of instrument time under 14 CFR 61.65(d) against 35 under appendix C. For the commercial certificate, 250 hours total time under 14 CFR 61.129(a) against 190 under appendix D. Those are minima. Most students finish above both.
For a full-time student with an open calendar, part 141 can be faster at the commercial stage because of the 190-hour minimum. For somebody flying two or three times a week around a job, part 61 is almost always faster in real time, because the limiting factor is how often you fly rather than how many hours the regulation asks for — and a missed fortnight does not mean repeating a stage.
No. 14 CFR 61.159 requires 1,500 hours for an unrestricted ATP certificate, and 14 CFR 121.436 requires that certificate for a part 121 second in command. The reduced figures in 14 CFR 61.160 — 750, 1,000 or 1,250 hours — come from military service or from a degree with an aviation major at an institution holding a letter of authorisation under 14 CFR 61.169. A part 141 flight school that is not a degree-granting institution does not change your 1,500 either.
14 CFR part 61. We are not a part 141 school and we do not describe ourselves as one. We train around the weeks our students actually have, which is why part 61 suits the people who enroll here.
It depends entirely on the funding programme. Some name an FAA-approved part 141 course as a condition and some do not; some require an accredited institution, which is a separate test again. Ask the funder for the condition in writing before you choose a school. Private financing that is not tied to an approved course is a different route — the financing page sets out what we can and cannot help with.
Hiring minimums are set by carriers, not by training providers, and we publish nothing about any carrier’s requirements. What is fixed in regulation is the certificate and the hours, and those are the same under both parts. If a specific carrier programme names a requirement, take that requirement from the carrier rather than from a flight school.
Yes, though the accounting is not always clean. Training received under an approved part 141 course can usually be credited toward part 61 experience requirements, since part 61 counts what is in your logbook. Moving in the other direction, a part 141 school will apply its own credit rules to training you did elsewhere. Ask both schools what will and will not carry across before you move.
Whether the aircraft are owned or leased, where the maintenance is done, whether it is one instructor per student, how many types there are, what the published price is, what it includes, and what happens when your hours run past the minimum. Ask any school what happens at hour 41 of a 40-hour program. The answer to that separates schools much more sharply than the part they train under.
The private pilot certificate is $10,900 on the Standard program, $15,900 on Comprehensive and $22,500 on Premium, each $500 less for enrolments completed by 11:59pm Pacific on 30 September 2026. The instrument rating is $11,700 and the multi-engine class rating is $5,100. Every certificate and rating in one sequence, from no logbook to CFI, CFII and MEI, is $89,000 — $84,000 during the offer.
The Part Matters Less Than The Hour You Have Not Flown Yet
Whichever part you end up training under, the decision that comes first is whether you enjoy the work. Sixty minutes in the left seat over Los Angeles answers that for $229, it is logged as dual received under either part, and it comes straight off the program price if you enroll within a day.
Where To Go Next
How Training Is Structured
Part 61 Flight Training: How It Works And What It CostsFull Time Vs Part Time Flight TrainingFlight Training While Working Full TimeFlying Days At Van Nuys: 355 Measured DaysThe Career Route
The Airline Pilot Training Program, Phase By PhaseRestricted ATP: 750, 1,000 Or 1,250 HoursThe 1500 Hour Rule: 61.159 And 121.436Is There Still A Pilot Shortage In 2026?About The Regulations On This Page
Airline Pilot Flight School trains under 14 CFR part 61 and holds no part 141 pilot school certificate. Nothing on this page describes the approval status, syllabus or hour minima of any named school; the part 141 figures quoted are the minima in the appendices to 14 CFR part 141 and apply to approved courses generally, not to any particular provider.
Regulations cited: 14 CFR 61.65(d), 61.109(a), 61.129(a), 61.159, 61.160, 61.169, 121.436, 14 CFR part 141 subpart C and appendices B, C and D. They are quoted because they apply to every flight school in the United States including ours, and because you can look each of them up. Where this page describes what usually happens rather than what is required, it is describing a pattern rather than making a promise about you.
Funding eligibility is set by funders and not by us. Where a benefit, grant or loan programme requires an FAA-approved part 141 course or an accredited institution, that condition is theirs to state and yours to confirm in writing before enrolling anywhere.
Airline Pilot Flight School has operated at Van Nuys Airport since 2019 with zero accidents and zero incidents as 49 CFR 830.2 defines those words. We are not an airline and we are not owned by one; there is no cadet program, no pathway agreement and no hiring relationship with any carrier. We publish no pass rate, no graduate count and no star rating. Program prices exclude designated examiner fees, FAA knowledge test fees, aviation medical examinations and personal equipment, and sale prices apply to enrolments completed by 11:59pm Pacific on 30 September 2026.
Fly The Aeroplane Once, Then Decide
The assessment flight is the first hour of the syllabus and a two-way evaluation. You fly it from the left seat with an instructor beside you, they write down what they saw, and you get an honest read on whether the plan is realistic. It is loggable, and it is credited in full against enrolment if you enroll within 24 hours.
What happens on an assessment flight →