So Tell Me About This 1,500 Hour Rule

To gain a position as a first officer with an Airline Transport Pilot License, a candidate must: 

• Be 23 years old or greater
• Hold a Commercial Pilots License and instrument rating
• Have flown 50 hours in a multi-engine airplane
• Complete an approved ATP training program
• Have flown 1500 qualifying hours
• Have passed all ATP knowledge and practical tests

While the rule will apply to most newer pilots, there are exceptions. This experience (and age) requirement may be reduced somewhat in certain circumstances. These include:

• Being at least 21 years old
• Holding commercial pilot certificate with instrument rating
• Successfully complete new ATP Certification Training Program prior to taking the ATP knowledge test (after July 31, 2014)
• Passing ATP knowledge and practical tests 
• And one of the following:

1. At least 750 hours total time as (military pilots)
2. At least 1,000 hours total time as pilot and a Bachelor’s degree with an aviation major
3. At least 1,250 hours total time as pilot and an Associate’s degree with an aviation major
4. 1,500 total time as a pilot.

The FAA Administrator at the time stated that this increase in flight hours was done to guarantee a “stronger foundation of aeronautical knowledge and experience” before ever being permitted to fly for a commercial air carrier. A very reasonable reaction to protect the 1 billion plus passengers flying in and out of U.S. airports each year alone, not to mention flight crew aboard each flight.

The 1,500 hour rule increased the required flight hours for pilots to begin their careers with commercial airlines by 600%. What are the consequences of this? And how do pilots go about meeting this requirement?

Consequences of the Ruling

Well, one of the more obvious consequences is an increase in the financial pressure placed on aspiring pilots. The cost for the average person, with zero experience, to obtain a commercial multi-engine rating with instrument currency is somewhere between $50,000 and $80,000. By this point you will have about 250 hours, so now only 1,250 to go, right?

To continue from that point, you’re either spending mostly money or mostly time. Many airplanes can be rented for somewhere around $125 per hour which would come out to about $150,000. Even split with another pilot that’d still be around $75,000. For most folks, that’s big money.

What about the slower routes? It takes longer, but many pilots will find other opportunities to build time such as: becoming a Certified Flight Instructor (CFI), taking jobs with lower hour requirements like Part 135 Charter-Type Services, or signing up for a time building program (like ours). We’ll go into more detail into all of these methods further down.

Another symptom of this ruling was a natural increase to the barrier of entry into the Commercial Airline Pilot position. Due to the amount of time and money that is required, becoming an airline pilot is now much more expensive than it once was.

An outstanding effect of this increase is a heavy decline in the total number of new airline pilots each year; and the mandatory pilot retirement age isn’t doing anything to help the total number as well. With a worldwide increase in demand for commercial air travel, this and the other factors presented may lead to a massive pilot shortage in the coming years; some even say it’s already begun. 

This has been beneficial for all American airline pilots however because of the reduced supply in qualified pilots versus the continuingly growing demand. Pilot wages, benefits, and hours have been steadily snowballing in their favor. Many airlines are even partnering with flight schools to sponsor high aptitude pilots in their efforts to fly with these airlines.

In the regional airlines alone, starting pay has increased from $20,000 to over $60,000 since the introduction of the 1,500-hour rule. Other regional airlines have begun offering signing bonuses that can reach as high as $45,000 or more. These bonuses are also coming with promises of quicker promotions with some pilots moving from first officer to the captain’s seat in only two years. 

And finally, there is a controversial point that “experienced pilots equal safer flights”, an easy enough statement to agree with. One would imagine that there is a direct relationship between flight experience and flight safety.

However, there are many types of aircraft, instruments, and conditions to be building flight experience in, and some professionals have been critical of the more nuanced specifications required by the FAA for a pilot to be experienced enough to obtain their ATP. Particularly, the less than strict requirements on some reasonably important elements of flying a Part 121 aircraft such as the required multi-engine aircraft time. Therefore, there has been some pushback against this ruling since 2013, but it doesn’t seem to be changing anytime soon. So, what’s a pilot to do?

How to Jump the “Gap”

So you want to build time right? Well there’s so many ways to do that, and some are naturally better than others depending on how you budget your time and money. We know that it’s hard to figure out what to do with such a large obstacle ahead of us so we wrote a blog post going over this specifically and you can read it HERE!

The 1,500 Hour Rule changed the lives of many pilots (and hopefully many potential passengers) and now it’s up to us to choose our best paths moving forward and learn from the mistakes of our past. Here’s to safe flying and bright futures!