How Many Flight Hours To Become An Airline Pilot in the United States
The road to become an airline pilot in the United States might seem overly burdensome considering how many flight hours are required, but the investment of effort and practice are appropriate given the great responsibility of the role. Paragon Flight provides a single source for training and logging flight hours.
Headquartered in Fort Myers, FL, Paragon Flight brings together all the resources required for sufficient training for pilots to earn a variety of credentials. These factors include Certified Flight Instructors (CFIs), Technically Advanced and appropriate aircraft, and world-class Jeppesen curriculum. Wherever your starting point on the journey of aviation happens to be, mark it with us here at Paragon Flight.
The ultimate goal of Paragon Flight is to put student-pilots at the center of every program. We create custom courses for every student pilot, addressing their goals, past experiences, time availability, and other relevant factors like finances and learning styles.
Airline Pilots Begin with a Commercial Pilot License
While the first step toward becoming an airline pilot is to earn a commercial pilot license, you must have a private pilot license before pursuing your commercial pilot license. You will also need to be at least 18 years old, fluent and literate in English, and in possession of a current 2nd class medical certificate.
Once you have a private pilot license, you’ll be able to pursue an Instrument Flight Rating (IFR); a Commercial License for Single-Engine or Multi-Engine Aircraft; or certification to be a flight instructor for single-engine, multi-engine, or instrument rating training. Each course will include ground and flight training, providing you with all of the foundational knowledge needed for consistently safe flight.
Once you have the Commercial License, a Multi-Engine endorsement, and Instrument Flight endorsement, you can move on to clearing an Airline Transport Pilot Certification course. This license will also require completion of 1,500 flight hours documented.
The fantastic weather conditions here in Fort Myers makes fulfilling these hours much easier than it would be otherwise. We have the ideal aircraft, access to plenty of practice fields, and no shortage of opportunities for flight time.
Our fleet houses a wide range of aircraft for all of the credentials we assist student-pilots in pursuing. Aircraft within the fleet include the Cessna C172S Skyhawk and Piper PA28 “Pilot” for single-engine training, the Piper PA-44-180 Seminole for twin-engine training, the Cessna T182T Skylane for transitional training, the Cirrus SR20 G6 and SR22 G5/G6 for advanced training, and the ALSIM AL172 Flight Simulator for simulation training. The entire fleet is equipped with Glass Cockpit and Garmin avionics to qualify as Technically Advanced Aircraft.
When training with Paragon Flight, you’ll be armed with the best curriculum, most suitable flight instructors, safe and appropriate aircraft, and ample opportunities to get in the sky as you log those 1,500 flight hours you’ll need to apply to become an airline pilot!
Knowing how many flight hours it takes to become an airline pilot in the US, choose Paragon Flight. You won’t find a more convenient or well-qualified place for all of your training or logging of flight time. Learn more about our facilities, courses, instructors, or more by reaching out online with this online contact form or by calling (239) 274-3170 to speak with our staff.