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Obtaining your Airline Transport Pilot (ATP) Certificate

In this guide, we will cover the requirements and path necessary to obtaining your FAA Airline Transport Pilot Certification.

You must complete the following in order:

  1. Obtain your FAA Commercial Pilot Certificate
  2. Complete the Airline Transport Pilot Certification Training Program (ATP-CTP) course
  3. Take the ATP Written exam at an approved FAA testing center
  4. Pass the ATP Practical checkride in a multi-engine aircraft

Let’s walk through each one of these steps in detail.

Obtaining Your Commercial Pilot Certificate

FAA Reference

After completing Pilot Training, you are eligible to receive your Private Pilot License, Instrument Rating, and Commercial License. Many Pilot Training locations have local services that assist you with studying for and taking the Mil Competency (MCN) examination required to obtain your Commercial Pilot Certificate.

If you have not already done this, you must take a 50 question exam and pass with at least a 70% at an approved local FAA Testing Center. After passing the test, you must meet with a local or virtual FSDO to update your FAA Airman Profile in IACRA. Many military base Education Centers offer FAA testing for free, and can be scheduled using the same FAA official website linked below.

Study for the test using Sheppard Air

Schedule your test at a local FAA Testing Center

Completing the ATP-CTP Course

There are a number of options for completing the ATP-CTP course. This is typically a week-long training that includes both classroom academics and simulator training. To help offset the costs, you may prioritize offerings that are Part 141 and VA approved in order to use your GI bill. Roughly 3 months of GI bill credit is required for ATP-CTP reimbursement. See Using your GI Bill Towards an ATP.

Here is a shortlist of ATP-CTP courses, though there are many others. Share us your experiences with ATP-CTP courses in the comments below.

Be sure to seek class availability early as they can fill up.