Airline Transport Pilot (ATP) Certificate
Who Is Required to Hold an ATP?
Per AC 61-138A, In part 121 operations, each pilot in command (PIC) and each second in command (SIC) are required to have an ATP Certificate. Part 135 operations requiring the PIC to hold an ATP Certificate with an airplane category multiengine class rating are (1) commuter operations using multiengine airplanes with nine or fewer passenger seats (Scheduled 135), (2) on-demand operations using multiengine airplanes with 10 or more passenger seats, or (3) turbojets. Part 91K operations require all PICs of multiengine turbine-powered fixed-wing airplanes to hold an ATP Certificate.
Do I need an ATP?
All part 121 and 135 operations require their pilots to hold an ATP certificate. Some carriers will hire someone without the certificate but will complete the requirements before training is completed. As hiring becomes more competitive, this option may not be available.
Here is the training process explained for you:
- Attain CMEL (Commercial Multi-Engine-Land) certificate
- If you have completed military pilot training, you qualify for this already. Simply complete the Military Competence Non-Category knowledge test — test code MCN — and submit the required forms via IACRA. It is 50 questions, two hours, 70% to pass, and it requires no instructor endorsement of any kind. Sheppard Air has a thorough breakdown on how to go about completing this process.
- Military testing locations often offer this test for free, and eligibility includes retirees and veterans — as long as you still have base access. That last part matters more than anything else on this page: outside the gate the same test costs $175. Get it done before your ID card goes away. Contact your nearest Education Office to find out where you can take the test, and call ahead — individual sites choose which tests they deliver, and some go offline for months at a time. Use this site to find a testing facility near you.
- Contact a local FSDO or DPE to complete the filing of your paperwork.
- If you have completed military pilot training, you qualify for this already. Simply complete the Military Competence Non-Category knowledge test — test code MCN — and submit the required forms via IACRA. It is 50 questions, two hours, 70% to pass, and it requires no instructor endorsement of any kind. Sheppard Air has a thorough breakdown on how to go about completing this process.
- Complete an ATP-CTP program
- This typically runs 5 to 7 days depending on the provider, and includes 30 hours of ground instruction plus 10 hours in a simulator — at least 6 of which must be in a Level C or higher full flight simulator. The FAA allows the ground portion to be done live over video, as long as it is real-time and instructor-led. Prerecorded lessons and self-paced computer-based training are specifically not acceptable. Several providers now run the ground days remotely and hold the simulator sessions for a single trip, which is worth asking about if you are still on active duty and burning leave for every appointment.
- Multiple training locations can be found listed by the FAA or in the Links page
- Complete an ATP written exam
- Military testing locations often offer this test for free too — see the note above about base access. Use this site to find a testing facility near you.
- Here is a timing lever almost nobody knows about. An ordinary FAA knowledge test report is good for 24 calendar months. But once you have completed ATP-CTP and passed the ATP multiengine written, that test report is good for 60 calendar months — five years — before you have to finish the practical test. If you have a known separation date, sitting the written on the front end buys you five years of runway. Plan around it.
- Military testing locations often offer this test for free too — see the note above about base access. Use this site to find a testing facility near you.
- Complete ATP practical flight exam (aircraft or simulator)
Use your GI Bill for the ATP. There are some flight schools that are approved by the VA to train, and your GI Bill will pay for it (or at least up to the allowable amount). Find a school that accepts the GI Bill and they will explain how it works. DO NOT sign on to a program, expecting the VA to pay for your schooling, unless you get clear approval from the VA before hand. There are a lot of stipulations and you could be denied.
What are the ATP Requirements?
- Be of good character
- Be at least 23 years old
- Already have a Commercial Pilot certificate and Instrument Rating, or meet the requirements of these
- Have a 1st or 2nd Class Medical Certificate depending on flying as PIC or SIC
- Complete an Airline Transport Pilot (ATP) Certification Training Program (CTP) — note the order, this comes before the written
- Pass the ATP written test
- Pass the Practical test
- Hold a minimum of 1,500 hours total time as a pilot, including:
- 500 hours cross-country time
- 100 hours night time
- 75 hours instrument time, actual or simulated
- 50 hours in the class of airplane being rated (multi-engine land) — no more than 25 of it in a simulator
- 250 hours as PIC in an airplane, or as SIC performing the duties of PIC — including at least 100 hours cross-country and 25 hours night
- No more than 100 hours of your total time may come from a simulator or flight training device
What are the Restricted ATP Requirements
Military members can attain a Restricted ATP (R-ATP) at 750 hours total time instead of 1,500. The certificate carries a printed limitation reading “Restricted in accordance with 14 CFR 61.167.” In plain terms: you can fly as a First Officer under Part 121, and you cannot be a Captain.
Read the next part carefully, because 750 is the most misunderstood number in military aviation transition. Reducing the total time does not reduce anything else. Only two numbers change.
- Be of good character
- Be at least 21 years old
- Already have a Commercial Pilot certificate and Instrument Rating, or meet the requirements of these
- Have a 1st or 2nd Class Medical Certificate depending on flying as PIC or SIC
- Present a DD-214 showing an honorable discharge, or an official record showing you are currently serving
- Present an official record showing you graduated Undergraduate Pilot Training and received a rating qualification as a military pilot
- Complete an Airline Transport Pilot (ATP) Certification Training Program (CTP)
- Pass the ATP written test
- Pass the Practical test
- Hold a minimum of 750 hours total time as a pilot, including:
- 200 hours cross-country time — this is the only other number that drops
100 hours night time — same as the full ATP - 75 hours instrument time — same as the full ATP
- 50 hours in the class of airplane being rated — same as the full ATP
- 250 hours as PIC in an airplane, or as SIC performing the duties of PIC, including 100 hours cross-country and 25 hours night — same as the full ATP
- 200 hours cross-country time — this is the only other number that drops
That last line is where military pilots actually get stuck. A C-17 aircraft commander clears it without thinking about it. A helicopter pilot does not — your rotary time counts toward total time, night, instrument, and cross-country, but it does not count toward the 250 hours of airplane PIC or the 50 hours in class. That gap is the entire reason the regional rotor-transition programs exist.
Removing the restriction. It does not come off by itself. When you reach 1,500 hours total, 200 hours cross-country, and age 23, you apply to have it removed. It is a records review — no written, no checkride. A DPE authorized to issue ATP certificates can do it, and so can a FSDO. Guidance varies by office on whether to file on paper or through IACRA, so ask before you drive.
And do not confuse that with upgrading to Captain. Part 121 separately requires 1,000 hours in Part 121 operations before you can sit in the left seat. Removing the R-ATP limitation does not satisfy that, and satisfying that does not remove the limitation. Two different gates.