Corporate Pilot License and Ratings

Basic Requirements

Corporate pilots fly for compensation, so by definition, you must posses at least a commercial pilot license to get hired. However, successful corporate pilot candidates most often earn the following licenses and ratings: private pilot, single-engine, multi-engine, land, instrument rating, commercial pilot, certified flight instructor. Depending on the type of flying you want to do, you could also earn your seaplane rating and or tailwheel endorsement. Although technically, you only need a commercial license to get an entry-level corporate pilot job, you'll probably want to continue on and earn your airline transport pilot license or ATP. The ATP license is one of the toughest licenses to earn and also has the stiffest requirements. You must be at least 23, have at least 1,500 hours total time, including hours logged as cross country, instrument meteorological conditions (IMC), and night flying. Learn about corporate pilot training.

Corporate Pilot Currency

All Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) pilots licenses and ratings are good for life. However, in order to exercise your privileges as pilot in command, or piloting as a required crew member, you must remain "current". Currency requirements for corporate pilots typically include periodic medical examinations of which you must pass, bi-annual flight and ground instruction reviews given by a certified flight instructor, FAA check rides for certain types of operations, and recurrent training focusing on emergency procedures, systems, and recent changes to the rules governing pilots, aircraft, navigation, weather, safety, and procedures.

Corporate Pilot Specialty Training

Type ratings are also a fact of life for corporate pilots. As a corporate pilot, chances are good that you'll be flying aircraft that require training specific to the type of aircraft, or to a family of aircraft that share similar flying characteristics and onboard systems. All aircraft certified with a maximum gross takeoff weight of 12,500 lbs. or more, and all turbojet (jet powered) aircraft, regardless of weight, require the pilot to hold a type rating for that aircraft.