Decide what “pilot” means for you
“Pilot” covers very different jobs. A private pilot flies for themselves and may share some costs with passengers, within strict rules. A commercial pilot is paid to fly. An airline transport pilot is the licence airlines expect in the left or right seat of a transport aeroplane, after enough experience.
The training, the medical, and the money involved are not the same for those goals. A licence for weekend flying in a light aircraft is a different project from an integrated course aimed at an airline.
Pick the rulebook before the school
Pilot licences are issued by a national authority, under a set of rules. EASA writes common rules for its member states, but the licence itself is issued by a national competent authority, such as the Irish Aviation Authority or France’s DGAC. You train under that state’s oversight.
The United Kingdom is not an EASA state. The UK CAA issues its own LAPL, PPL, CPL, and ATPL. They look similar and they are not automatically the same licence. If you live in the UK, use UK CAA guidance as the primary source.
The United States uses the FAA system. An FAA certificate is not an EASA licence, and the other way around. Conversion paths exist and they change. This site’s guides use EASA as the main frame and only summarise the FAA for comparison.
A practical order of steps
Schools will happily sell a trial lesson first, and that is a good way to see if you like the aircraft. Before you pay for a long course, this order avoids the expensive surprises:
- Be clear whether you want private flying or a professional licence.
- Choose the state that will issue the licence.
- Book a medical with the right examiner for that licence. A failed or limited medical is cheaper to discover early.
- Choose a school whose approval covers that licence. In the EASA system, private training is often done by a Declared Training Organisation (DTO) or an Approved Training Organisation (ATO). Professional courses are done by an ATO.
- Pass the theoretical knowledge exams and the flight training. They usually run in parallel.
- Pass a skill test with an examiner, then apply to the authority for the licence.
The recreational path
For flying light aircraft with friends and family, people in EASA states usually choose an LAPL(A) or a PPL(A). The LAPL is lighter and more limited: aeroplanes up to 2,000 kg and no more than three passengers. The PPL is the broader private licence and the one that travels more easily outside the issuing system. In the UK the CAA stopped issuing new LAPL(A)s on 1 October 2025, and the national NPPL fills that role there. The licence-types guide compares them.
You will need a medical, classroom or distance-learning theory, a set of exams, dual flying with an instructor, solo flying, and a skill test. Night flying, a more complex aircraft, or flight in cloud are extra ratings later, not part of the basic licence.
The professional path
A career usually means a CPL(A), an instrument rating, and the airline transport theoretical exams, then enough flight experience for the ATPL(A) itself. People often call the package of CPL, instrument rating, and ATPL exams a “frozen ATPL”. That is industry jargon. It is not the name of a licence. The ATPL is issued later, when the experience requirements are met.
Training is either modular (you add licences and ratings in blocks, and you can pause) or integrated (one approved full-time course at an ATO). Neither is automatically cheaper or faster. An airline assessment, a multi-crew course, and sometimes a type rating come after the licence. Who pays for the type rating depends on the employer and the market, and it is not something to assume.
What this page will not do
It will not tell you that you will be hired, how many hours you personally will need, or what a course should cost. Those depend on the authority, the school, the aircraft, the weather, and you. The next guides cover licence types, money, the medical, and how to question a school. None of this is a substitute for the regulation or for an approved training organisation.
Sources
Checked on 17 October 2026. Rules are amended, so read the current text before you rely on a figure.
- EASA, Easy Access Rules for Aircrew (Regulation (EU) No 1178/2011), Part-FCL: https://www.easa.europa.eu/en/document-library/easy-access-rules/online-publications/easy-access-rules-aircrew-regulation-eu-no
- UK CAA, LAPL light aircraft pilot licence: https://www.caa.co.uk/general-aviation/pilot-licences/aeroplanes/light-aircraft-pilot-licence-for-aeroplanes
- UK CAA, Private pilot licence for aeroplanes: https://www.caa.co.uk/general-aviation/pilot-licences/aeroplanes/private-pilot-licence-for-aeroplanes/