careerpilot? wrote: ↑Sun Mar 29, 2026 7:23 am
twa22 wrote: ↑Sat Mar 28, 2026 10:29 am
careerpilot? wrote: ↑Fri Mar 27, 2026 4:04 pm
I think this is where the confusion lies. You will not get a restricted ATPL for a 705 FO ride, or any FO ride. Restricted ATPL applies only to a PIC ride in a single pilot airplane. A 2 crew aircraft FO cannot meet the skill requirement, even restricted, without a captain PPC.
So what happens in the future when no FO can get an atpl? What happens to all these FOs who are in cadet programs and get into a 705 machine at 250 hours? Not only are they screwed for the PIC requirement, but this just adds an extra hurdle...
According to TC’s explanation, for someone upgrading “in house”, as long as everything else is in place (hours, exams), your command course PPC would meet the requirement. The unknown there is processing times to actually issue the ATPL…
The real problem will be someone without the ATPL but with everything else, who wants to hop to another job that requires ATPL, they can’t. Jazz / Encore FO with lots of hours but delayed upgrade wants to hop over to mainline - they can’t. Good for the regionals I guess, they’ll have fewer FOs hopping over to the other side.
For now I believe regional upgrades are still happening fairly quick, but who knows how that will look in a few years?
For airlines that deal with attrition I think this could also cause a headache for them. Because now you’ll have FO’s who would’ve stayed right seat until moving on if your operation was seen by them as a stepping stone, but now they’ll essentially be forced to upgrade to get that ATPL and move on.
From what friends who used to be at jazz have told me, there if you’re an FO who’s seniority can hold an upgrade, but when you bid for it the company looks and determines that your number for mainline flow is coming up in a short period of time, they’ll give you captain pay but won’t upgrade you because it would be a waste of time, money and resources since you’d be gone so soon. For any airline with attrition to AC you’re now gonna have FO’s who bid to upgrade just so they can get an ATPL and send an application into AC on their first layover of captain LID.
If TC was capable of using logic they would’ve made it so that the skill check not done as PIC, but in a two crew aircraft, would also qualify for this “restricted ATPL”. Instead, now technically someone could do their initial group 1 flight test in a clapped out Seminole, gain all the required time within 12 months of that skill check and be given a restricted ATPL, without having any airline experience whatsoever. TC figured the ICAO ATPL skill check has two requirements, PIC and 2 crew aircraft, and for some reason they made one requirement more valuable than the other.
It’s hilarious how TC had a chance to fix something I think everyone in the industry agreed on (flight instructors and other pilots with no 703/705 experience getting an AIRLINE pilot license) but they still manage to screw it up.