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Licensing Overview

Please note that this is a brief overview of a complex subject, aimed to introduce you to the routes through licensing, and some of the abbreviations used.

In Europe, the licensing authority is the Joint Aviation Authorities (JAA). The JAA issues licensing instructions in the form of Joint Aviation Requirements (JARs) regarding Flight Crew Licensing (FCL). A licence issued under these regulations is referred to as a JAR-FCL.

To be employed with an airline, and be ready to undergo training onto any type of airliner as a “First Officer”, the following package of qualifications is required:

1. JAR-FCL Commercial Pilots Licence (Aeroplanes) CPL(A)
2. Multi-engine Instrument Rating (ME/IR)
3. Multi-Crew Co-operation Certificate. (MCC)

You should also plan on eventually upgrading to an Airline Transport Pilots Licence (Aeroplanes) ATPL (A). This will allow you to command an airliner, thus enabling you to be promoted to Captain. It is most conveniently achieved by choosing to sit the initial ground exams to ATPL rather than CPL standard.

(This is known as having an “ATP Theoretical Knowledge credit”. Taking the initial exams to only CPL standard is almost unheard of.)