Becoming an airline pilot has gotten complicated with all the pathways flying around. As someone who’s been through the training gauntlet, I learned everything there is to know about getting to the flight deck. Today, I will share it all with you.
Here’s the thing nobody tells you upfront: there isn’t just one way to get hired at an airline. There are half a dozen routes, and each one has tradeoffs that’ll shape your career for decades. Picking the wrong one won’t ruin your life, but picking the right one? That can save you years and tens of thousands of dollars.
Understanding the Requirements
Probably should have led with this section, honestly. Before you dive headfirst into comparing programs and figuring out where to train, you need to know what the FAA actually requires before you can sit in the left seat of a 737.
The big number everyone fixates on is 1,500 hours of total flight time for the Airline Transport Pilot (ATP) certificate. But here’s where it gets interesting — if you graduate from an approved Part 141 flight school and have a bachelor’s degree, that drops to 1,250 hours. Military pilots? They only need 1,000. Beyond raw hours, you’re also looking at 500 hours of cross-country time, 100 hours of night flying, and 75 hours under the hood doing instrument work. It adds up fast, and trust me, you’ll be counting every single one.
Age-wise, you’ve gotta be 23 to hold an ATP certificate, and you’ll need a first-class medical — that’s the most stringent medical exam the FAA dishes out. Now, do you legally need a four-year degree? No. But will every major airline look at your resume differently if you don’t have one? Absolutely. It’s one of those unwritten rules that’s becoming less unwritten every year.
The Traditional Flight School Route
This is the bread-and-butter path, the one most working airline pilots took before the big academies showed up. You find a local Part 61 or Part 141 school, earn your ratings one at a time, and piece together a career from there. It’s not glamorous, but it works.
Step 1: Private Pilot Certificate
Everything starts here. Your Private Pilot Certificate lets you fly single-engine airplanes in fair weather, and it’s where you’ll fall in love with aviation or realize it’s not for you. The FAA says 40 hours minimum, but I don’t know anyone who actually passed their checkride at 40. Most people land somewhere around 55-65 hours, which takes 3-6 months and runs $10,000-$18,000 depending on where you’re training. California schools? Pricier. Midwest? More affordable. You get the idea.
Step 2: Instrument Rating
Remember how flying under blue skies felt freeing? Well, the Instrument Rating is where aviation gets serious. You’re learning to fly in clouds, in rain, in conditions where you can’t see anything outside the windshield. It requires 50 hours of cross-country PIC time and 40 hours of actual or simulated instrument flying. Budget roughly $10,000-$15,000 and 3-4 months. This rating changed how I thought about flying completely — suddenly you’re not just a fair-weather pilot anymore.
Step 3: Commercial Pilot Certificate
Here’s where you legally become allowed to get paid for flying. What a concept, right? The Commercial Certificate requires 250 total flight hours (190 under Part 61) and involves learning advanced maneuvers like chandelles, lazy eights, and steep spirals that honestly feel amazing once you nail them. Training adds 30-50 hours at $8,000-$12,000.
Step 4: Multi-Engine Rating and CFI
You can’t fly an airliner on a single-engine ticket, so a Multi-Engine rating is non-negotiable. That runs about $5,000-$8,000. Then there’s the Certified Flight Instructor certificate, which most people get not because they dream of teaching, but because it’s the most reliable way to build hours. CFI training costs $5,000-$10,000. Fair warning — the CFI checkride has a reputation for being the hardest practical exam in all of aviation. It earned that reputation.
Step 5: Building Hours
And here’s where the rubber meets the runway. You need those 1,500 hours, and you’ve got maybe 300-400 after all your training. So what do you do? Most folks instruct. You teach at the same school where you trained, making $20-$35 per hour, and if you’re flying full-time you can stack up 700-1,000 hours in a year. Some people go other routes — banner towing (yes, that’s a real job), aerial survey, cargo runs, or flying skydivers up and kicking them out the door all day long. All valid. All a grind. But it’s a grind with a purpose.
Cost and Timeline
All told, the traditional route costs $60,000-$100,000 and takes 2-4 years from zero time to ATP minimums. That range is huge, I know. Where you train, how often you fly, how quickly you pick things up — it all matters. I’ve seen sharp students do it in under two years. I’ve also seen people take five. No shame either way.
University Aviation Programs
If you’re young enough and planning to get a degree anyway, why not knock out both at once? That’s what makes university aviation programs endearing to us aviators — you walk out with a bachelor’s degree, all your ratings, and a head start on your career before most people your age figure out what they want to do.
Top University Programs
Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University is the name everyone knows, with campuses in Daytona Beach and Prescott offering BS degrees in Aeronautical Science. Their alumni network in the industry is genuinely staggering — you’ll run into Riddle grads at basically every airline.
Purdue University runs a rock-solid program that pairs serious academics with professional flight training on a modern fleet. Being near Chicago doesn’t hurt when it comes time to apply at regionals, either.
Other programs worth your time include University of North Dakota (they fly in weather that would ground most schools), Ohio State, Western Michigan, and Auburn. Each has a slightly different flavor. UND is all about volume and structure. Auburn has a southern charm to it. You’ve really got to visit and see which one clicks.
Advantages and Considerations
The structure is a real selling point — you’ve got a curriculum, a timeline, access to newer aircraft and simulators, and often direct pathways to regional carriers. But we need to talk about cost, because university programs aren’t cheap. When you combine tuition with flight fees, you’re looking at $100,000-$200,000. That’s not a typo.
On the flip side, the four-year timeline means you could be sitting in a regional airline cockpit at 22 or 23. Compared to someone who finishes an unrelated degree and then starts flight training at 26, you’ve got years of seniority stacking up. In an industry where seniority is literally everything, that matters more than you’d think.
Airline-Sponsored Training Programs
This is the newer kid on the block, and honestly? It’s changed the game. Major airlines got tired of waiting for pilots to show up at their door, so they decided to build their own pipelines. Can you blame them?
United Aviate Academy
United Airlines went all-in with their Aviate Academy out in Goodyear, Arizona. They’ll take you with zero flight experience — literally none — and put you through roughly 12 months of ground school and flight training. Graduates flow into United Express carriers and eventually onto mainline United metal.
It costs around $70,000-$90,000, and financing options exist. Here’s the kicker: qualified applicants get a conditional job offer before they even start training. Think about that. You haven’t logged a single flight hour, and you’ve already got a pathway to a major airline. Ten years ago, that was unthinkable.
Other Airline Programs
Delta has Propel, which partners with selected flight schools to create a structured pathway to Delta Connection carriers. American Airlines runs something similar through their Cadet Academy. These programs don’t usually run their own training facilities — instead they certify partner schools and guarantee interviews when you finish. It’s not quite the same certainty as Aviate’s conditional offer, but it’s a whole lot better than crossing your fingers and hoping.
Military to Airline Transition
Military aviators, you’ve already done the hard part. Seriously. The reduced ATP minimum of 1,000 hours is nice, but it’s almost beside the point. What airlines really value from military pilots is the leadership training, the crew resource management experience, and the fact that you’ve handled genuinely high-pressure situations that civilian training can’t replicate. When someone’s flown combat missions or refueled fighters in the dark, airline operations feel manageable.
Most airlines actively recruit at military job fairs, and the transition usually kicks off during your last year of obligation. Hiring bonuses, scheduling flexibility for reservists, priority interview slots — carriers roll out the red carpet for military folks, and for good reason.
Accelerated Training Programs
Got the money and the motivation to go all-in? Accelerated programs compress what normally takes years into months. It’s intense. It’s expensive. But for the right person, it’s absolutely the way to go.
ATP Flight School
ATP (that stands for Airline Training Professionals — confusing name, I know, given the ATP certificate) runs the biggest accelerated program in the country. Their Fast Track takes you from zero hours to CFI in about 9 months of full-time, nose-to-the-grindstone training. We’re talking flying five or six days a week, studying every evening.
The program runs around $100,000 and you’ve got to commit completely — no side jobs, no distractions. They even offer housing near their training locations. Once you finish, you can instruct at ATP locations and pull in $50,000+ per year while grinding toward that magic 1,500-hour number. It’s a fast track in every sense.
Regional Airlines: The First Professional Step
Here’s a reality check for anyone dreaming about flying a widebody across the Atlantic on day one: virtually every airline pilot working today started at a regional. Every single one. SkyWest, Republic, Envoy, PSA, Piedmont — these are the carriers flying as United Express, American Eagle, and Delta Connection to smaller cities. They’re also where you cut your teeth as a professional pilot.
Current Regional Hiring
If you’d told me a decade ago what regionals are paying now, I would’ve laughed. Starting first officer pay has exploded, with carriers like SkyWest, Republic, and Envoy offering north of $80,000 annually right out the gate. Add signing bonuses of $20,000-$50,000 on top of that, and some carriers are even covering ATP certification and type rating costs. The pilot shortage is real, and regionals are throwing everything they’ve got at recruitment.
Career Progression
Once you’re in the door, you’ll upgrade from first officer to captain in roughly 2-4 years, depending on the carrier’s growth and how many pilots are leaving for the majors. Captain upgrade means more training and a type rating in whatever you’re flying — CRJ, E-175, and so on.
Most pilots park at a regional for 3-7 years before making the jump to a major, though flow-through agreements can speed that up or lock in a guaranteed timeline. During those years, you’ll rack up thousands of hours and — maybe more importantly — develop the judgment and decision-making skills that major airlines care about even more than raw stick-and-rudder ability.
Making Your Choice
So which path is right for you? Honestly, I can’t tell you — but I can help you think through it. Here’s what to weigh:
Financial resources: Strapped for cash? The traditional flight school route with CFI hour-building keeps upfront costs lower and spreads them out. Got savings or access to financing? An accelerated program saves time, and time is money in this industry — especially when seniority runs the show.
Time constraints: If you’re switching careers at 35 or 40, every year counts. Accelerated programs maximize your earning years at a major. If you’re 18 and have time on your side, a university program lets you build a foundation while you train. No rush.
Learning style: Be honest with yourself here. Do you need structure, deadlines, and someone keeping you accountable? University and airline-sponsored programs provide that. Do you prefer setting your own pace, flying when you want, taking a break when you need to? Part 61 training gives you that flexibility. Neither approach is wrong — but the wrong fit for your personality will make an already difficult process even harder.
Geography: Where you train matters more than people realize. Major airline hubs mean more networking opportunities and easier commuting once you’re hired, but cost of living is steeper. Smaller markets often have cheaper flight training, shorter waits for aircraft, and less competition for instructor gigs.
The Road Ahead
I won’t sugarcoat it — becoming an airline pilot requires serious commitment, real sacrifice, and more money than most people expect. But I’ve never met a single airline pilot who regretted it. Not one.
The timing right now couldn’t be better. Pilot demand is at levels the industry hasn’t seen, and projections say it’s going to stay that way for at least another decade. Regional carriers are paying what majors paid not that long ago. Airlines are investing heavily in training pipelines. The opportunities are genuinely unprecedented.
Every pathway I’ve described here leads to the same place — the flight deck of a commercial airliner. The traditional route, the university track, the airline academy, the military pipeline, the accelerated program — they all work. The question isn’t which path is “best.” It’s which path is best for you, right now, given your age, your finances, your family situation, and your timeline.
My honest advice? Go take a discovery flight at your local airport. Doesn’t matter which school, doesn’t matter which airplane. Just go fly. You’ll know within 30 minutes whether this is something you’re willing to fight for. And if it is? Pick a path, commit to it, and don’t look back. The flight deck is waiting.
