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To fly for a U.S. airline you need an airline transport pilot (ATP) certificate, which normally requires 1,500 hours of total flight time under 14 CFR 61.159. A restricted ATP lowers that to 750 hours for qualifying military pilots, 1,000 hours for graduates of approved bachelor's degree aviation programs, and 1,250 hours for approved associate degree graduates. Most pilots earn their private, instrument and commercial ratings first, then build the rest of the time on the job, often as flight instructors.
Including 500 cross-country, 100 night, 75 instrument and 250 pilot in command hours, plus age 23.
14 CFR 61.160 reduces the total for military pilots and graduates of approved aviation degree programs, starting at age 21.
A commercial pilot certificate under 14 CFR 61.129 requires 250 hours and lets you fly for hire, including as a flight instructor.
Under 14 CFR 121.436, captains and first officers at Part 121 airlines must hold an ATP and a type rating.
To upgrade to captain, an airline pilot needs 1,000 hours in qualifying operations, such as first officer time in Part 121.
The rules allow limited credit for approved simulators and training devices at each stage.
Since 2013, U.S. airline first officers have needed an ATP certificate, not just a commercial certificate. That change is why "1,500 hours" has become shorthand for the airline minimum. The total is not just a number on a logbook; it has to include specific kinds of experience:
A few details are worth knowing. Up to 100 hours of the total can come from a full flight simulator or flight training device in an approved training course. Of the 75 instrument hours, simulator credit is capped at 25 hours, or 50 at a Part 142 training center. And after 20 night takeoffs and landings to a full stop, each additional one can substitute for an hour of night time, up to 25 hours.
Before you can take the ATP knowledge test for a multi-engine airplane, 14 CFR 61.156 also requires the ATP Certification Training Program (ATP CTP): at least 30 hours of classroom training and 10 hours in simulators, including 6 in a Level C or higher full flight simulator of a large multi-engine airplane.
14 CFR 61.160 creates a restricted ATP (R-ATP) for pilots whose training the FAA credits as a substitute for some flight time. The R-ATP lets you serve as a first officer at a Part 121 airline from age 21; the restriction lifts once you reach 23 and meet the full 61.159 experience.
The degree routes require the school to hold an FAA letter of authorization for its program, and require that your commercial certificate and instrument rating were earned through Part 141 training. All R-ATP routes allow 200 hours of cross-country time instead of 500. If you are not enrolled in an approved degree program, plan on the full 1,500 hours. Our restricted ATP guide covers the details.
Nobody walks into an airline with 1,500 hours of training paid for by the hour. The certificates come first, then the time-building. The FAA minimums at each step:
The private pilot minimum of 40 hours includes 20 hours with an instructor and 10 solo. The instrument rating requires 40 hours of actual or simulated instrument time, at least 15 of them with an instrument instructor. The commercial certificate requires 250 hours total, including 100 hours as pilot in command and 20 hours of training on commercial maneuvers. These are FAA minimums; real training takes as long as it takes to fly to the standard, and we never promise a finish date.
Once you hold a commercial certificate, the most common way to build hours is teaching. As a flight instructor you are paid to fly, and you log the time while sharpening your own skills. Other pilots build time in banner towing, aerial survey, skydiving operations or charter work.
Our Airline Pilot Program is built to take students from zero flight experience toward an airline career, with the training plan laid out from the first lesson. The program is $84,000 (regularly $89,000, with a $5,000 promotion), and financing is available through Stratus Financial with terms up to 15 years, as well as in-house plans.
Training out of Van Nuys Airport, one of the busiest general aviation airports in the country, puts you in complex airspace from your first lesson. You train alongside jets and turboprops, talk to a busy tower and learn to operate under the Los Angeles Class B airspace, which is the kind of experience airlines value. Our fleet includes the Cirrus SR22 Turbo with a glass cockpit, the complex Piper Arrow, and the twin-engine Piper Seminole for multi-engine training. Instrument skills start in our Redbird MCX full-motion FAA-approved simulator.
Once you are hired, the airline provides the type rating training for its aircraft. To move from first officer to captain, 14 CFR 121.436 requires 1,000 hours in qualifying operations, such as Part 121 first officer time, on top of an unrestricted ATP.
Age, knowledge test, CTP, checkride and medical, step by step.
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