The Journey

Every pilot are trained professionally & are very highly qualified in their own rights. Every flight is a different one, pilots undergo hundreds if not thousands of hours to ensure each flight is a safe journey for everybody.

Every pilot starts their journey to the top gaining their minimum flying qualification from:

1. Private Pilot Licence (PPL) - A pilot may fly for pleasure or personal business. Private pilots cannot be paid, employed or hired by any operator. 
2. Commercial Pilot Licence (CPL) - A pilot can be paid, employed or hired by any operators.
3. Air Transport Pilot Licence (ATPL) - ATPs as they are called typically are qualified to fly airliners.

Apart from obtaining all these mandatory licences, there are other common ratings & endorsements pilots take up in addition to the above:

1. Night rating
2. Instrument rating
3. Instructor rating
4. Multi engine endorsement
5. Tail wheel endorsement
6. Formation flying endorsement
7. Float plane endorsement 
8. Aerobatics endorsement
9. Low level endorsement

Some pilots start early in their life & there are many that holds a Pilot's Licence well before they even started driving a car. One may undertake the PPL flight training & test while still 16 however one cannot be issued with the licence until one is 17.

In order to hold a CPL, a PPL pilot may undertake the flight training & test at 17 however the licence cannot be issued until the pilot turns 18.

If a CPL pilot wish to fly as pilot in command of a multi crew aircraft (Airliners) one will need to obtain an ATPL.

To be issued with the actual licence, a pilot must have at least 1500 flying hours with specified time as pilot in command. The licence also sets minimum requirements for cross country, night flying & instrument time. A pilot also need to be 21 or older.

For an ATPL on aeroplanes, a pilot must hold or have held a Command Multi Engine Instrument Rating.