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Studies & Degrees in Airline Pilot Training

Airline pilot training prepares students to fly passenger and cargo aircraft for airlines. It is not an ordinary academic subject: the goal is a professional licence issued by an aviation authority, and a degree is optional in most countries. In an airliner, a captain and a first officer share that work.

Training has two halves. In ground school, students study the theory that the licence exams test: air law, aircraft systems and instruments, mass and balance, performance, flight planning, human performance, meteorology, navigation, operational procedures, principles of flight and radio communications. In the air and in simulators, they learn to fly by visual references and then by instruments, on single-engine and multi-engine aeroplanes, and finally as part of a two-pilot crew.

Licences and levels

The rules depend on the authority that issues the licence. Three systems cover the schools in our directory.

  • European Union (EASA rules). Regulation (EU) No 1178/2011, known as Part-FCL, sets the steps: private pilot licence (PPL), commercial pilot licence (CPL) with an instrument rating (IR), and airline transport pilot licence (ATPL). An applicant for a CPL must be at least 18 and an applicant for an ATPL at least 21. The ATPL also requires a minimum of 1,500 hours of flight time in aeroplanes, so new pilots start as co-pilots with a CPL, a multi-engine instrument rating and the ATPL theory exams passed. They receive the full ATPL once they have the hours.
  • United Kingdom. The Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) applies the same structure: a minimum age of 21 for the ATPL, a Class 1 medical certificate and at least 1,500 hours of flight time.
  • United States. Pilots follow the certificates of the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), usually in this order: student pilot, private pilot, instrument rating, commercial pilot, multi-engine rating and airline transport pilot (ATP) certificate. According to the US Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), all pilot crews of a scheduled commercial airliner must have ATP certificates.

In Europe a course takes one of two forms. An integrated course is one continuous programme at an approved training organisation. Under Part-FCL it includes at least 750 hours of theory and at least 195 hours of flying training, and it trains students to work as co-pilots on multi-pilot aeroplanes. A modular course reaches the same licences step by step, starting from a PPL, and suits students who need to spread the cost or keep working.

Some universities combine the licences with a degree. The BLS notes that some US colleges and universities offer pilot training as part of a two- or four-year aviation degree, and that airline pilots there typically need a bachelor's degree in any field. In Spain, the pilot degree of the Universidad de Salamanca has 240 ECTS credits over four years.

Medical and language requirements

A professional pilot needs a Class 1 medical certificate. It is sensible to pass the medical examination before paying for a course; the Salamanca degree asks for the initial Class 1 certificate at enrolment. Pilots who use the radio also need a language proficiency endorsement on the licence, at operational level or higher, in English or in the language used for radio communications on the flight. English is the working language of international aviation, and much of the teaching is in English even in non-English-speaking countries.

Where to study

SpainExchange lists 4 schools under this subject: two in Spain, one in the United Kingdom and one in the United States.

  • Atlantic Air Academy is a flight school at A Coruña airport. It trains airline pilots and private pilots and offers flight instructor ratings.
  • The Universidad de Salamanca awards the Grado en Piloto de Aviación Comercial y Operaciones Aéreas, taught since the 2013-14 academic year at its attached centre, the Escuela Aeronáutica Adventia. The aviation subjects are taught in English. Applicants take medical, aptitude and English tests, and fees are set by the school and are higher than public university prices.
  • Broward College in Florida runs a Professional Pilot Technology programme, an FAA Part 141 programme that leads to the private pilot, instrument, commercial and multi-engine certificates and to flight instructor certificates.
  • London Metropolitan University teaches a BSc in Airline, Airport and Aviation Management. It is a business degree about the aviation industry and does not include a pilot licence.

A licence is valid in the system of the authority that issued it. A student who trains in the United States and wants to fly for a European airline, or the reverse, has to convert the licence, which means extra exams and tests. Choose the country of training with the country of the first job in mind, and ask each school which authority approves its courses and which licence its students hold at the end.

Careers

Most graduates aim to become a first officer at an airline and later a captain. Before that, many build flying hours as flight instructors or charter pilots. Other paths are cargo, business aviation and aerial work such as firefighting.

For the United States, the BLS counts 154,900 jobs for airline and commercial pilots in 2025 and projects growth of 7 percent from 2025 to 2035. No comparable official figure for Spain was found for this page.

Frequently asked questions

Do I need a university degree to become an airline pilot?

Not for the licence itself: European and UK rules ask for training, exams, flight hours and a medical certificate. In the United States, the BLS says airline pilots typically need a bachelor's degree in any field. Individual airlines set their own hiring conditions.

How many flight hours does an airline transport pilot licence require?

Under European and UK rules, at least 1,500 hours of flight time in aeroplanes. New pilots start work as co-pilots with a commercial licence and the ATPL theory, and receive the full ATPL when they reach the hours.

What is the difference between an integrated and a modular course?

An integrated course is one continuous full-time programme from zero experience to the commercial licence with instrument rating. A modular course splits the same training into separate stages that a student can take at different times.