Addendum – EASA Part-FCL & Part-MED — Page 553, Lesson 741

I want to walk you through the ATPL(A) — the Airline Transport Pilot Licence for aeroplanes. This is the highest level of pilot licence, and it's what you need if you want to command commercial air transport operations. Let's start with the privileges and conditions. The minimum age for an ATPL(A) is 21 years. That's a hard requirement. Now, what does holding this licence actually allow you to do? Two things. First, you're privileged to exercise all the privileges of a holder of an LAPL(A), a PPL(A), and a CPL(A). Let me unpack those acronyms for you. LAPL is the Light Aircraft Pilot Licence, PPL is the Private Pilot Licence, and CPL is the Commercial Pilot Licence. So holding an ATPL automatically includes all the rights of those lower licences. Second, and this is the key one, you're privileged to act as PIC — Pilot in Command — of aeroplanes engaged in commercial air transport. That means you can be the captain of an airliner carrying passengers or cargo for hire. There's an important condition attached to getting the licence issued. Applicants for the issue of an ATPL(A) must have fulfilled the requirements for the Type Rating of the aircraft used in the skills test. A Type Rating is the specific qualification that allows you to fly a particular aircraft type, and the skills test is the practical flight test. So you need to have met the type rating requirements for the aircraft you flew during that skills test. Now let's look at the types of courses. The course must be completed at an ATO — that's an Approved Training Organisation. There are two options: an integrated course or a modular course. An integrated course is a single, full-time, structured programme from start to finish. A modular course lets you build up the training in separate modules, often while working. Next, the theoretical knowledge. Applicants must pass the following theoretical examination papers. I'll list them all for you because you need to know every single one. Air Law. Aircraft General Knowledge – Airframes, Systems, Powerplant. Aircraft General Knowledge – Instrumentation. Mass and Balance. Performance. Flight Planning and Monitoring. Human Performance. Meteorology. General Navigation. Radio Navigation. Operational Procedures. Principles of Flight. VFR Communications — that's Visual Flight Rules. And IFR Communications — Instrument Flight Rules. So fourteen examination papers in total, covering everything from the law to navigation to how the aircraft systems work. Now, the prerequisites, experience, and crediting. Let's start with prerequisites. Applicants for an ATPL(A) must hold either an MPL — that's the Multi-crew Pilot Licence — or a CPL(A) together with a multi-engine IR for aeroplanes. IR stands for Instrument Rating, which qualifies you to fly solely by reference to instruments. In that second case, where you hold a CPL(A) and a multi-engine IR, you must also have received instruction in MCC — Multi-Crew Cooperation. That's the training that teaches you to work effectively as part of a two-pilot crew. Finally, the experience requirement. Applicants for an ATPL(A) shall have completed a minimum of 1500 hours of flight time in aeroplanes. That's the total. But within those 1500 hours, you need at least 500 hours in multi-pilot operations on aeroplanes — that means flying in aircraft that require more than one pilot. And then you have a choice for the rest. Either 500 hours as PIC under supervision — that's Pilot in Command while being supervised — or 250 hours as PIC, or 250 hours that include at least 70 hours as PIC with the remaining hours as PICUS. PICUS stands for Pilot in Command Under Supervision. So you can see the structure here: a solid base of 1500 hours, with specific minimums in multi-pilot operations, and then a defined amount of command time, whether that's full PIC, PIC under supervision, or a combination of the two. So to summarise the whole picture: the ATPL(A) is your command licence for commercial air transport, requiring you to be at least 21, to have completed an integrated or modular course at an ATO, to have passed all fourteen theory papers, to hold either an MPL or a CPL(A) with a multi-engine IR plus MCC instruction, and to have logged at least 1500 hours of flight time with the specific breakdowns we just covered.