The first step towards becoming an airline pilot is earning your Private Pilot Certificate. The Private Pilot Certificate is where we all start our aviation journey. By earning a private pilot license, you can legally fly an aircraft. Private pilots are trained to navigate small aircraft by themselves. Flight training includes aircraft maneuvers, navigation, emergency procedures and cross-country flight planning. While people may seek the license for hobby or sport reasons, a private pilot certification is the first major milestone on the road to becoming an airline pilot.

After getting your Private Pilot License, the next step is getting Instrument Rating. On this phase, you’ll discover that it’s much nicer flying above those clouds where the air is calm, and the visibility is endless. It will all starts feeling like being a true professional pilot.

A commercial pilot license, or certificate, is a type of pilot license that allows someone to operate an aircraft for compensation. A licensed commercial pilot may act as pilot-in-command of an aircraft for compensation or hire, as well as carry persons or property for compensation or hire. To put it another way, holding a commercial pilot license means you are legally allowed to get paid as a pilot and will be your first step to becoming a certified flight instructor.

As a certificated flight instructor, you can build flight experience quickly to meet the airline and corporate hiring minimums. Flight instructors aim to be role models in the aviation community, sharing knowledge and experience with their students, and for many people, it is the first job in aviation that earns them a paycheck. By achieving your CFI certificate, not only every teaching hour becomes a flight time for you, but you will also start generating an income. This is where you can cover the rest of your ATP training by making your flight teaching times pay your tuition.

As an instrument flight instructor, you can build additional flight time by preparing students for their instrument rating certification. By achieving your CFII certificate, not only you will receive a raise in your salary, but you can also build more flight time.

For all candidates, even those that already hold a pilot certificate, the multi-engine aircraft is the first exposure to performing their duties in a complex aircraft. Complex aircraft implies the aircraft has retractable landing gear, flaps, and a controllable pitch propeller. These systems can present new procedural challenges and understanding of new systems to a candidate, in addition to new concepts such as multi-engine aerodynamics, rules governing certification of multi-engine aircraft, and unique engine failure scenarios, including shutting an engine down in flight.