How to Become a Commercial Pilot in 2026

A commercial pilot certificate is what makes it legal to be paid to fly. It is not the same as flying for an airline, which takes an ATP certificate and 1,500 hours, but it is the step every airline pilot passes through. Here is what the FAA requires, in the order you will meet it.

Figure	What it is	Source
18	Minimum age for a commercial certificate	14 CFR 61.123
250 hrs	Minimum flight time under Part 61	14 CFR 61.129
Second class	Medical needed to fly for pay	14 CFR 61.23
$123,220	Median US commercial pilot pay	Bureau of Labor Statistics, May 2025

The path, step by step

Get a private pilot certificate. You must hold one before you can earn a commercial certificate. Most people fly 50 to 70 hours to get it.
Add an instrument rating. The FAA does not strictly require it first, but a commercial certificate without one carries a limitation that rules out most paying jobs (more below).
Build time to 250 hours, with the specific training and experience the FAA lists.
Pass the commercial knowledge test, a written exam.
Pass the commercial checkride with a FAA examiner.
Add a multi-engine rating, which most airline and charter jobs expect.

A career program runs all of these back to back, full time. Ours takes students from zero experience to commercial, instrument, multi-engine and flight instructor in about nine months, 282 hours of training in all.

If you are starting from zero, our guide on how to become a pilot in California covers the steps before this one, from the discovery flight to the private certificate, and what training here costs.

The requirements

To be eligible for a commercial pilot certificate you must:

Be at least 18 years old
Read, speak, write and understand English
Hold at least a private pilot certificate
Pass the knowledge test and the practical test (checkride)
Have the aeronautical experience in the next section, with your instructor's endorsements

What the 250 hours must include

The 250 hours are a total. Within them, the FAA requires specific experience for a single-engine airplane certificate:

Requirement	Minimum
Total time as a pilot	250 hours
Powered aircraft	100 hours, 50 of them in airplanes
Pilot in command	100 hours, 50 in airplanes and 50 cross-country
Training with an instructor	20 hours, including the items below
Instrument training	10 hours
Complex, turbine or technically advanced airplane	10 hours
Day cross-country with an instructor	One flight of 2 hours, over 100 nautical miles
Night cross-country with an instructor	One flight of 2 hours, over 100 nautical miles
Checkride preparation	3 hours in the 2 months before the test
Solo or pilot in command with an instructor aboard	10 hours, including the items below
Long cross-country	300 nautical miles total, landings at 3 points, one leg of 250
Night flying	5 hours, with 10 takeoffs and landings at a towered airport

Since 2018, a technically advanced airplane, one with a glass cockpit and an integrated autopilot, can count for the 10 hours that used to require a complex airplane with retractable gear. Up to 50 hours in an approved simulator with an instructor can count toward the total.

Part 141 is shorter on paper. A FAA-approved Part 141 commercial course requires 120 hours of flight training and 35 hours of ground training instead of the 250-hour total. The certificate and the checkride are the same either way. Our guide on Part 61 vs Part 141 covers the difference.

The medical

To use a commercial certificate for pay you need a second class medical. For commercial privileges it lasts 12 calendar months at any age, after which it still covers private flying until it expires at that level. Get a first class medical instead if you are aiming for the airlines: it is the one an airline captain needs, and finding a problem early is cheaper than finding it at 250 hours.

The knowledge test

The commercial pilot airplane knowledge test has 100 questions in 2.5 hours, and the passing score is 70%. It covers regulations, aerodynamics, weather, performance and navigation at a commercial level. You need an instructor's endorsement to take it.

The checkride

The practical test is given by a FAA examiner and follows the Commercial Pilot Airman Certification Standards, FAA-S-ACS-7B. It has an oral part on the ground and a flight part, where you fly the commercial maneuvers to tighter limits than for the private certificate: steep turns, chandelles, lazy eights, eights on pylons, steep spirals and precision landings.

Why the instrument rating matters

A commercial certificate issued without an instrument rating carries a limitation: you may not carry passengers for hire on cross-country flights of more than 50 nautical miles, or at night. That rules out most of the paying jobs. Charter pilot-in-command jobs under Part 135 also require an instrument rating. So almost everyone earns the instrument rating first, and a career program includes it.

What you can do with it

A commercial certificate lets you act as pilot in command carrying people or cargo for pay, as long as the operation is approved for it. The common first jobs:

Flight instructor, with a CFI certificate on top. The most common way to build hours.
Banner towing, aerial survey, pipeline patrol and other utility flying
Tour flights, skydiving drops and ferry flights
Charter and corporate flying, once you have the hours those operators require (500 hours for most Part 135 pilot-in-command jobs)

The Bureau of Labor Statistics puts the median commercial pilot at $123,220 a year. Our pilot salary guide breaks down pay at each step.

From commercial pilot to airline pilot

An airline captain or first officer needs an Airline Transport Pilot (ATP) certificate, which takes 1,500 hours and a minimum age of 23. A restricted ATP lets you start as a first officer sooner, from age 21:

Background	Hours for a restricted ATP
Former military pilot	750
Aviation bachelor's degree, 60+ aviation credits	1,000
Aviation associate's degree, or bachelor's with 30 to 59 credits	1,250
Everyone else	1,500 (full ATP)

Most commercial pilots close the gap from about 250 hours to 1,500 by instructing, which takes 12 to 18 months at a busy school. What happens after flight school covers that stretch in detail.

Questions

How many hours do you need to become a commercial pilot?

250 hours under Part 61, including 100 hours as pilot in command, 50 hours of cross-country and 20 hours of training. A Part 141 course requires 120 hours of flight training and 35 of ground training.

How long does it take to become a commercial pilot?

Full time, about 6 to 12 months from zero experience, including the private pilot certificate and instrument rating. Part time it usually takes two years or more.

How much does it cost to become a commercial pilot?

Most zero-experience career programs that end at commercial and flight instructor cost $89,000 to about $124,000 before examiner fees. See our flight school cost guide for the line items.

Can a commercial pilot fly for an airline?

Not on a commercial certificate alone. Airline pilots need an ATP certificate, which takes 1,500 hours (fewer with a restricted ATP). The commercial certificate is the step before it.

What medical do you need to be a commercial pilot?

A second class medical to fly for pay, valid 12 months for commercial privileges. Future airline pilots should get a first class medical from the start.

Sources

Last reviewed October 2026. FAA rules and test standards change, so check the source before you rely on one of these details.