Commercial Pilot License Requirements: The 250 Hours, Itemised

Under FAR 61.123 you must be at least 18 years old, read, speak, write and understand English, already hold at least a private pilot certificate, complete the required training with an endorsement, and pass a 100-question knowledge test and a practical test. Under FAR 61.129 you need 250 total flight hours in the Part 61 route, and you need at least a second-class medical certificate to exercise commercial privileges.

250 hours total flight time under Part 61, or 190 hours through an FAA-approved Part 141 course. Inside the 250 you need 100 hours in powered aircraft, 100 hours of pilot-in-command time, 50 hours of cross-country PIC, 20 hours of commercial training including 10 hours in a complex or technically advanced airplane, and 10 hours of solo or duties-of-PIC time containing a 300 nm cross-country and 5 hours of night VFR.

About 250 hours of flying and, in practice, 18 to 24 months at a normal pace. That covers the private certificate at 55 to 75 hours, the instrument rating on top of 50 hours of cross-country PIC, then time-building to 250 and around 30 hours of commercial-specific training. Full-time accelerated students have done it in 12 months; people training around a job usually take longer.

18 to hold a commercial pilot certificate. That is the age the FAA sets in FAR 61.123, and it is different from the airline rules — 21 for a restricted ATP certificate and 23 for an unrestricted ATP. You can start logging hours toward the 250 long before 18, since there is no minimum age to begin training.

No, but you effectively do. Without an instrument rating your commercial certificate carries a limitation under FAR 61.133(b)(1) that prohibits carrying passengers for hire on cross-country flights over 50 nautical miles or at night. Almost no commercial flying job fits inside that box, so the instrument rating is treated as part of the package rather than an option. Ours is $11,700.

At least a second-class medical certificate, required by FAR 61.23(a)(2) when you exercise commercial pilot privileges. A second-class medical is valid for 12 calendar months regardless of age, after which it downgrades to third-class privileges. It is issued by the same FAA aviation medical examiner who issues a third-class.

Eighteen to twenty-four months from zero at a steady two or three flights a week, and roughly 12 months if you train full time. The limiting factor is almost never the training — it is accumulating 250 hours. Once you hold a private certificate and an instrument rating, the commercial add-on itself is typically 30 to 40 hours of flying spread over two to three months.

Yes, that is exactly what the certificate does — it lets you be compensated for flying. Common first jobs are flight instruction, banner towing, aerial survey, pipeline patrol, skydive operations and sightseeing under Part 91 or 135. Airline flying needs more: an ATP or restricted ATP certificate, which means 1,500 hours, or 1,000 to 1,250 with a qualifying degree.

Our zero-to-airline program is $89,000 and carries you 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. Enrolled students fly on package pricing at $179 an hour, wet, single-engine, and financing starts from $2,500 down.