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2 Answers

Change in requirements for ATP certificate

Asked by: 4386 views FAA Regulations, General Aviation

I am a senior in high school and I am trying to figure out the recent law change for getting the ATP certificate. I know that it is 1500 hours and 23 years old, what were the requirements before the change? Was it just 250 hours? Any information you have about this would be well appreciated. If you could direct me to an article about it that would also be great.

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2 Answers

  1. Best Answer


    Lewis Archer on Nov 05, 2015

    1500 hours and 23 years of age have always been required for the ATP certificate. The change that I believe you are referring to is the law that now requires Part 121 (airline) First Officers to hold an ATP certificate.

    Prior to this change, the only requirement was a Commercial certificate which requires 250 hours of flight time (if acquired under Part 61). The regional airlines set their hiring minimums based on staffing requirements due to the economy. Some years, hiring minimums could have been as low as 250 hours, other years they could\’ve been as high as 1500.

    The new law also established the \”Restricted ATP\”, which has different hour requirements depending on how you received your training. If you went to a large Part 141 flight school, for example, you only need 1000 hours. The age restriction is also lowered to 21 for the Restricted ATP.

    To be eligible to take the ATP FAA Knowledge Test (written exam), you are now required to complete an ATP certification training program in a full-motion flight simulator. Most of the regional airlines are covering the cost of that training for their new-hire pilots.

    Here is an article that discusses the requirements for a restricted and full ATP: http://www.boldmethod.com/blog/2013/08/1500-hour-rule-restricted-atp/

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  2. brendanborch on Nov 10, 2015

    Yes thank you, this makes much more sense now.

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