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Private Jet Pilot Qualifications: What the FAA Requires

October 22, 2026

A pilot who flies paying passengers on a private charter must hold at least a commercial pilot certificate, a second-class medical, and the right ratings for the aircraft. The pilot must also pass recurring checks, and must fly for an operator that holds an FAA air carrier certificate. A private pilot license alone is not enough, however many hours the pilot has. This guide covers each requirement, the numbers behind it, and how to check them before you book.

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TL;DR

  • To be paid to fly you, a pilot needs a commercial or airline transport pilot certificate and must fly under Part 135, for an operator holding a Part 119 certificate.
  • Charter pilots need at least a second-class FAA medical. BasicMed, which many private pilots use, does not cover flying for compensation or hire.
  • Pilots must pass instrument proficiency checks every 6 months and recurrent testing every 12 months to keep flying passengers for pay.
  • Turbojets and heavy aircraft require a type rating for that specific model.
  • You can verify the operator before you pay, and you should ask about the pilot, not just the plane.

Table of Contents

Why a private pilot license is not what you want in your pilot

The phrase “private jet pilot” confuses two different things. A private pilot certificate is the entry-level license for flying for personal reasons. Its holder can take friends and family up, usually sharing fuel costs, but cannot be paid to fly them. A pilot flying you on a charter is doing something the FAA treats very differently.

The FAA says that an air charter, also called commuter or on-demand operations under 14 CFR Part 135, requires a higher level of pilot training and certification, maintenance procedures and safety rules than a pilot taking family or friends for a ride. The agency’s own reasoning is simple. When you pay, you are entitled to a higher level of safety than a free flight from a friend, including pilots who have the required qualifications and training.

The practical consequence: the checklist of qualifications for a charter pilot is long, and it has nothing to do with how the aircraft looks or how much the flight costs. For a fuller look at how the regulatory framework changes who is responsible for your flight, see our piece on Part 135 versus Part 91.

The certificate ladder: from student to airline transport pilot

The FAA’s pilot requirements for charter work start with a basic fact: to engage in air transportation, a pilot must hold a commercial or airline transport pilot certificate. Here is how the ladder works in plain terms.

Certificate What it lets the pilot do Can fly you for pay?
Student Train and fly solo under instructor endorsement No
Recreational Limited personal flying No
Private Fly for personal reasons, carry passengers, share costs No
Commercial Fly for compensation or hire Yes, when the operator and pilot meet Part 135 rules
Airline transport pilot (ATP) Highest certificate, required for some aircraft and operations Yes

The private pilot’s own requirements are modest by design: at least 17 years old, able to read, speak, write and understand English, and a passing grade on knowledge and practical tests, as laid out in 14 CFR Part 61 Subpart E. Forty hours is the commonly cited minimum for the private certificate. Real-world pilots usually log more.

A commercial certificate adds precision flying standards, more advanced knowledge, and more experience. Then come ratings, which are add-ons to the certificate: an instrument rating to fly in clouds and low visibility, a multi-engine rating for twin-engine airplanes, and type ratings for particular aircraft. A charter pilot’s qualifications are really the combination of all of these, not any one card.

How many hours a charter pilot needs

How many hours a charter pilot needs — overview diagram

Hours are the number people search for most, and the answer depends on the type of flying. Under 14 CFR 135.243, the pilot in command of a passenger-carrying flight must meet minimum qualifications. The experience route tied to an instrument rating asks for at least 1,200 hours of flight time, including 500 hours of cross-country, 100 hours of night flying, and 75 hours of actual or simulated instrument time, at least 50 of them in actual flight.

Three things are worth knowing about that figure:

  1. It is a floor, not a typical profile. Many charter pilots log well beyond it, but the regulation sets the minimum, and an operator can set its own higher standard.
  2. It sits on top of the certificate. Hours alone never replace a commercial certificate or an instrument rating.
  3. Different aircraft trigger different rules. The same section requires an airline transport pilot certificate and a type rating for the pilot in command of a turbojet airplane in passenger-carrying operations.

So a pilot with a lot of experience in piston airplanes does not automatically qualify to fly a jet for hire. The aircraft and the operation decide which box has to be ticked.

The medical certificate: second-class or better

This is the requirement that surprises most travelers. Private pilots can fly under BasicMed, a simplified path. But BasicMed allows flights with up to 5 passengers in aircraft up to 12,500 lbs and strictly prohibits flying for compensation or hire. A charter pilot, in contrast, must hold at least a second-class FAA medical certificate, the class the FAA’s medical standards guide for examiners assigns to commercial pilots.

BasicMed limits beside charter medical requirement

The standards screen for conditions such as substance dependence, psychosis, bipolar disorder, and certain cardiovascular problems. A pilot with one of those can fly commercially only after documented clinical evidence of recovery is provided to the Federal Air Surgeon. That process is called special issuance and it can be slow.

A second-class medical is not a one-time event. It is issued by an FAA-designated Aviation Medical Examiner and has to be kept current. If you wonder what disqualifies someone, this is the main gate: a pilot who cannot hold the required medical cannot serve as pilot in command on a charter, whatever their skill.

The medical sits alongside drug and alcohol rules. Operators must maintain an FAA-compliant drug and alcohol testing program, according to the FAA’s safe charter material.

Type ratings: the qualification most travelers never hear about

A type rating is a certification for a specific make and model. It is required for any turbojet-powered aircraft and any aircraft above 12,500 lbs maximum takeoff weight. Getting one means aircraft-specific training plus an oral and practical exam in that aircraft. A pilot who is a seasoned ATP in other airplanes still cannot fly the new jet for hire until the rating is on the certificate.

This is why “private jet pilot qualifications” can’t be answered with one number of hours. A pilot flying a light piston airplane and a pilot flying a business jet may both be fully legal, but they hold different paperwork. When you evaluate a charter, ask which aircraft the pilot is rated in and how recently they trained in it.

Staying qualified: the checks that repeat

Initial certification is only the start. Under Part 135, a pilot has to keep proving competence.

  • Instrument proficiency check, every 6 months. Section 135.297 says an operator may not use a pilot as pilot in command under IFR unless, since the beginning of the 6th calendar month before the service, the pilot has passed an instrument proficiency check in an aircraft of the appropriate category.
  • Competency and recurrent testing, every 12 months. Section 135.293 requires that, since the beginning of the 12th calendar month before service, a pilot has passed a written or oral test and a competency check on the aircraft operations.
  • Who gives the checks. They must be administered by an authorized check pilot or an FAA representative, not by the pilot’s own friend.

A pilot who misses a window is ineligible to serve as pilot in command under Part 135 until it is made up. That is the rhythm that separates professional charter flying from casual private flying: the pilot must be current right now, not just once upon a time.

The operator matters as much as the pilot

A fully qualified pilot still cannot legally take your money. The operator holds the authority. The FAA tells passengers to confirm that the charter company holds a valid Part 119 certificate, which authorizes it to carry passengers for hire. The agency also monitors and acts against illegal charter operators who sell flights without that authority.

The danger is real, because an illegal charter looks identical from the ramp. The aircraft might be gorgeous and the pilot friendly. But if the operation is not run under Part 135, the pilot may not be properly qualified to be paid, the aircraft may not meet maintenance rules, and your insurance position can be very different from what you assumed.

Five questions to ask before you pay

  1. Who is the operator, and does it hold a Part 119 air carrier certificate?
  2. Is the flight operated under Part 135?
  3. Does the pilot in command hold a commercial or ATP certificate, an instrument rating, and any type rating the aircraft needs?
  4. Does the pilot hold a current second-class medical?
  5. Is the pilot current on the 6-month and 12-month checks?

A legitimate operator answers all five without hesitation. If a broker, or anyone else, becomes vague about who actually flies the airplane, treat that as your answer. Our guide on how to charter a private plane walks through the booking process with these checks built in.

Our perspective: qualifications are the floor, not the pitch

We built Littlebird around regional airports and small groups, which means most of our travelers have never thought about pilot paperwork until the day they book. We think they should. Here is how we look at it.

First, the regulations tell you who is allowed to fly you. They do not tell you how an operator trains beyond the minimum. That is why we stress standardized safety procedures and pilot safety training across our flights, rather than leaving each pilot to do things their own way. Standardization is what makes a short flight between two regional airports feel routine.

Second, the aircraft matters alongside the pilot. All our flights use Cirrus aircraft with the Cirrus Airframe Parachute System, CAPS, a whole-airframe parachute. A parachute is not a substitute for a well-trained pilot, and we would never present it as one. It is an extra layer for the rare day when everything else has failed.

Third, ask the questions. A traveler who asks “who is the pilot, and what are they rated in?” is doing what the FAA itself encourages. We would much rather answer that question than have it go unasked. Our article on what to ask about the pilot, the weather and the gear is the checklist we hand to nervous first-time flyers.

Finally, pricing is part of trust. When the whole airplane has one fixed price shown upfront, there is no incentive to hide anything behind a per-seat fare structure. Transparency about cost and transparency about qualifications come from the same habit.

— Nick

Fixed whole-airplane pricing between regional airports

If you are comparing charter options, we price the entire airplane, not individual seats, so a group of up to five splits one published figure. Current examples on our site include Austin to Dallas at $1,417 one-off, Tampa to Miami at $3,022 one-off, and Houston to New Orleans at $10,121 one-off. You can see live pricing for your own route and book online at littlebird.aero, or browse state pages such as Florida to see which regional airports we connect.

How hard is it to become a private jet pilot?

For readers asking from the pilot’s side, the path is long but well mapped. Roughly, it runs:

  1. Private pilot certificate, with a first medical and a knowledge and practical test.
  2. Instrument rating, which opens up flying in clouds and low visibility.
  3. Commercial certificate, which allows flying for compensation.
  4. Multi-engine rating, if flying twins.
  5. Hours. Building toward the experience thresholds in Part 135, such as the 1,200 hours above, usually through flight instructing, banner towing, cargo or other paid flying.
  6. ATP certificate and a type rating for jets.
  7. Hiring and training with an operator, including its own initial and recurrent training and checks.

It is demanding mainly because of time and cost, and because the medical and proficiency standards never stop applying. A pilot who is hired still checks in with an examiner every six and twelve months.

About pay, public numbers vary widely by aircraft, operator and seniority, and we have not sourced a figure here. If compensation is your question, look at current job postings from operators and the federal labor statistics rather than headline claims.

FAQ

Can a private pilot fly me on a charter?

No. A private pilot certificate does not allow flying for compensation or hire. For a paid flight the pilot in command needs at least a commercial certificate and must fly for an operator that holds a Part 119 certificate and operates under Part 135.

Do charter pilots need a special medical?

Yes. They need at least a second-class FAA medical certificate. BasicMed, which some private pilots use, does not allow flights for compensation or hire.

How often are charter pilots tested?

Under Part 135, a pilot in command flying under IFR needs an instrument proficiency check every 6 calendar months, and pilots must also pass recurrent testing every 12 calendar months. A pilot who lapses cannot fly passengers for the operator until the check is completed.

Does every pilot need a type rating?

No. A type rating is required for turbojet-powered aircraft and aircraft above 12,500 lbs maximum takeoff weight. Many smaller piston airplanes need only the category and class ratings, but the operator should tell you what the pilot is rated in.

How can I check that a charter is legal?

Ask for the operator’s name and confirm it holds a Part 119 certificate and will operate your flight under Part 135. If the operator cannot or will not say who is flying the aircraft, do not pay.

Sources

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