The ATP Certificate And The 1,500-Hour Rule, Without The Mythology

The requirement that every pilot flying for a US scheduled airline under Part 121, captain or first officer, holds an airline transport pilot certificate or a restricted ATP. It came from the Airline Safety and FAA Extension Act of 2010, passed after the Colgan Air 3407 accident, and took effect on 1 August 2013. Before that a first officer needed only a commercial certificate and around 250 hours.

Under FAR 61.159 an unrestricted airline transport pilot certificate requires 1,500 hours total flight time, including 500 hours cross-country, 100 hours night, 75 hours instrument and 250 hours of pilot-in-command time. You must also be at least 23, hold a commercial certificate with an instrument rating, hold a first-class medical to exercise the privileges, complete the ATP Certification Training Program under FAR 61.156, and pass a 125-question knowledge test and a practical test.

A certificate under FAR 61.160 that allows a pilot to serve as second in command at a Part 121 airline before reaching 1,500 hours. The thresholds are 750 hours for qualifying military pilots, 1,000 hours with a bachelor's degree with an aviation major and 60 semester credit hours of aviation coursework, 1,100 hours with a bachelor's and 30 credit hours, and 1,250 hours with a qualifying associate degree. Minimum age is 21.

Most civilian pilots instruct. Dual instruction given counts as pilot-in-command time under FAR 61.51(e)(3), so a full-time flight instructor builds hours while being paid rather than paying. The gap typically takes twelve to twenty-four months depending on the school and the season. Banner towing, aerial survey, pipeline patrol, skydive operations and traffic watch are the common alternatives.

Two and a half to three years from zero for most people. Roughly 18 to 24 months to a commercial certificate with an instrument rating at around 250 hours, then another 12 to 24 months building to 1,500 hours, usually as a flight instructor. Full-time students with a qualifying aviation degree and a restricted ATP at 1,000 hours can compress that, but the calendar is driven by hour accumulation rather than by training.

Twenty-three for an unrestricted airline transport pilot certificate, and 21 for a restricted ATP under FAR 61.160. A pilot who reaches 1,500 hours at 22 waits for the birthday. At the other end, pilots flying under Part 121 face a mandatory retirement age of 65.

Yes, to exercise airline transport pilot privileges. A first-class medical is valid for 12 calendar months if you were under 40 at the examination and 6 calendar months if you were 40 or over, under FAR 61.23. It requires 20/20 distant vision in each eye with or without correction and an electrocardiogram at the first application after age 35 and annually after 40.

The 500 hours of cross-country catches more pilots out. Instructing produces enormous amounts of local flying and comparatively little cross-country, so instructors regularly reach 1,500 total while short on the sub-requirements. One useful detail: the cross-country definition in FAR 61.1 used for ATP eligibility does not carry the 50-nautical-mile threshold that applies to private and commercial certificates, so more instructional flying counts than pilots often assume.

Our zero-to-airline program is $89,000 and runs from no certificate through commercial and instructor ratings. Taken separately, the private pilot programs are $10,900, $15,900 and $22,500, the instrument rating is $11,700 and the multi-engine add-on is $5,100. Financing starts from $2,500 down, and enrolled students fly on package pricing at $179 an hour, wet, single-engine.