The path to becoming a professional pilot has evolved a lot in the past eight years, following the implementation of new regulations and testing guidance governing how pilots of transport-category aircraft obtain certification. While it’s possible to fly professionally with a certificate for commercial single-engine operations, most pilots intending to fly for the airlines, commuter ops, or a corporate flight department will go one step further.
ATP Requirements for Your Certificate
Key Takeaways:
- The Airline Transport Pilot (ATP) multi-engine certificate is the gold standard for professional airline pilots, and its certification process was significantly revised following the 2009 Colgan Air crash.
- New regulations introduced stricter requirements, including higher flight hour minimums for first officers (1,000-1,500 hours for R-ATP/ATP) and mandatory type ratings, to enhance aviation safety.
- A key change implemented in 2014 was the Airline Transport Pilot Certification Training Program (ATP-CTP), which requires extensive and costly ground and full-motion simulator training, making the multi-engine ATP more complex and expensive to obtain.
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