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A restricted airline transport pilot certificate (R-ATP) lets a pilot fly as a first officer at a U.S. airline before reaching the standard 1,500 hours and age 23. Under 14 CFR 61.160, the minimum drops to 750 hours for qualifying military pilots, 1,000 or 1,250 hours for graduates of FAA-authorized aviation degree programs, and age 21 for pilots who reach 1,500 hours. Here is how it works and what it means if you are training in Los Angeles.
Since a 2013 FAA rule, every first officer at a Part 121 airline must hold an ATP certificate. The R-ATP is a reduced-minimum version of that certificate.
750 hours for qualifying military pilots, 1,000 or 1,250 hours for aviation degree graduates, and 1,500 hours with relaxed cross-country time for everyone else.
An R-ATP can be issued at age 21. The standard, unrestricted ATP requires age 23 under 14 CFR 61.153.
Under 14 CFR 61.167(b), an R-ATP holder cannot act as pilot in command in airline operations under Part 121 until the restriction is removed.
You still need a commercial certificate with an instrument rating, the ATP Certification Training Program, the ATP knowledge test and a multi-engine checkride.
Pilots trained at a Part 61 school usually reach airline minimums by working as flight instructors. That is where a CFI certificate pays off.
The airline transport pilot (ATP) certificate is the highest pilot certificate the FAA issues. In 2013, following the Airline Safety and Federal Aviation Administration Extension Act of 2010, the FAA published a rule requiring every pilot serving at a Part 121 airline, including the first officer in the right seat, to hold an ATP certificate. Under the standard requirements in 14 CFR 61.159, that means 1,500 hours of total time as a pilot, and under 14 CFR 61.153 the applicant must be at least 23 years old.
The same rulemaking created a path for pilots with certain kinds of structured training or military experience to qualify earlier. That path is 14 CFR 61.160, and the certificate it produces carries a limitation: it reads "Restricted in accordance with 14 CFR 61.167." Pilots call it the restricted ATP, or R-ATP. It allows you to be hired and fly as a first officer while you continue to build the experience needed for the full certificate.
If you are just starting out, the R-ATP is not something you study for separately. It is the same ATP knowledge test and the same practical test, issued with lower experience minimums. What matters early is understanding which minimum applies to you, because that shapes how you plan your commercial pilot training and how you build hours afterward.
Each R-ATP path has its own total time minimum. The table below summarizes the current rule as published on eCFR. Pilots using paragraphs (a) through (d) must otherwise meet the experience requirements of 61.159, except that they may apply with 200 hours of cross-country time instead of the usual 500.
The military path requires a DD-214 showing an honorable discharge, or official records showing current service, plus graduation from a U.S. military undergraduate pilot training school and a military pilot rating. The degree paths require a degree from an institution that holds an FAA letter of authorization under 14 CFR 61.169, and the commercial pilot certificate and instrument rating must have been earned through an approved Part 141 curriculum, with flight training at the institution or a Part 141 school that has a training agreement with it.
The 1,500-hour path under 61.160(f) is the one most often overlooked. It lets a pilot who has the total time but is not yet 23, or who has fewer than 500 hours of cross-country time, apply for a restricted certificate as long as they have at least 200 hours of cross-country time and otherwise meet 61.159.
Total time is only one part of the requirement. Whether you qualify for a restricted or an unrestricted certificate, the rest of the checklist is largely the same.
Notice the 50 hours of multi-engine time. Many pilots earn their multi-engine rating early and then look for ways to log more twin time, because it is one of the requirements that cannot be satisfied in a single-engine trainer. Up to 25 hours of full flight simulator time from an approved Part 121, 135, 141 or 142 course can count toward it, but flight training devices cannot.
The limitation is narrow. Under 14 CFR 61.167(b), a pilot who has not yet met both the age requirement of 61.153(a)(1) and the full experience requirements of 61.159 may not act as pilot in command in operations under Part 121, under 91.1053(a)(2)(i), or under 135.243(a)(1). The holder also may not serve as second in command in Part 121 flag or supplemental operations that require three or more pilots.
In practice, that means an R-ATP holder can fly as a first officer at a regional or major airline on domestic operations, which is exactly what most new airline pilots do anyway. You cannot upgrade to captain at a Part 121 carrier with a restricted certificate.
The restriction is not permanent. Under 61.160(g), it is removed once you show the FAA that you meet the experience requirements of 61.159 and the age requirement of 61.153(a)(1), which is 23. Most pilots keep flying as first officers, log time on the line and have the restriction lifted when they qualify.
Our school trains under FAA Part 61. That gives you a lot of flexibility in scheduling and pacing, but it also means the degree-based minimums in 61.160(b) through (d) do not come from our training alone. Those paths are tied to aviation degree programs at institutions authorized under 61.169, with commercial and instrument training under an approved Part 141 curriculum.
For most pilots who train with us, the realistic routes to airline minimums are the standard 1,500 hours or the 1,500-hour restricted path at age 21 under 61.160(f). If you are a veteran with military pilot time, the 750-hour path in 61.160(a) may apply to you, and we can help you plan the civilian certificates you still need.
The good news is that the training sequence is the same either way: private pilot license, instrument rating, commercial certificate, multi-engine rating and, for most pilots, a flight instructor certificate. Working as a CFI lets you log hundreds of hours while getting paid to teach, and teaching is widely considered some of the best preparation for an airline cockpit.
Whatever minimum applies to you, the steps follow the same order. Our Airline Pilot Program is built around this sequence, and it costs $84,000 (regularly $89,000, with a $5,000 promotion). Financing is available, including Stratus Financial with terms up to 15 years and in-house payment plans; see flight training financing.
The hours in the right column are FAA minimums, not predictions of how long you will take. Real progress depends on how often you fly, the weather and how much ground study you do between lessons. Training in the busy Los Angeles airspace, with a towered home airport at Van Nuys and the LAX Class B overhead, gives you radio and traffic experience that carries straight into professional flying. Practicing procedures in our Redbird MCX full-motion FAA-approved simulator before you fly them keeps your airplane time focused.
To see how our fleet fits each stage, from the Cessna 162 Skycatcher and Piper Warrior to the complex Piper Arrow, the twin-engine Piper Seminole and the glass-cockpit Cirrus SR22 Turbo, visit our fleet page.
The full 61.159 experience list, the CTP and the checkride explained.
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