Originally Posted by
diego5614
I have a question on attaining an RATP license. From my understanding, I can be 21 years old and attain an RATP. However, my question is, do I need to graduate with an aviation degree to be able to apply as a 21-year-old with the 1500 hours? Or can I simply apply to attain my RATP at age 21 even without an aviation degree (having 1500 hours of course)? I am hoping to major in aerospace engineering but most of the colleges that offer these aviation degrees that lower your time requirements (1250 or 1000) are focused more on the management side which does not really interest me. Thanks guys, this forum has really helped me a lot!
The degree program itself has to be approved and the Instrument and Commercial training must be completed via Part 141 in conjunction with the degree, so you'll have to check with each specific university if they have an approved R-ATP engineering degree. I've never heard of a school offering one, but I've also never researched it.
It's my (unqualified) understanding that if a school offers it, you could theoretically get a 4-year
approved engineering degree and qualify for the 1,000 hour or 1,250 hour R-ATP as long as you take X amount of credits that were approved. The primary focus would then be to find if there's an Aerospace Engineering degree out there that is approved at a certain school which also enables you to take enough electives to at least qualify for the 1,250 hour.
So for your questions:
Do you need to graduate with an aviation degree to be able to apply as a 21 year old with the 1500 hours? A 21 year old with 1,500 hours does not need a degree (let alone an aviation degree) to apply for the unrestricted ATP.
Same question above with 1,000 hours? You would be targeting the R-ATP then, so yes you'd need an
approved degree with the Instrument and Commercial flight training done via Part 141.
Or can I simply apply to attain my R-ATP at age 21 even without an aviation degree (having 1500 hours of course)? This goes back to your first question... with 1,500 hours you're not targeting the Restricted ATP anymore, you can just go for the regular unrestricted ATP.
The trade-off that you'll most likely be facing is to do one of the following:
1. Get an approved aviation degree (non-engineering) with your flight training for the R-ATP.
2. Get an engineering degree and take the traditional, longer route to 1,500 hours and apply for the unrestricted ATP.
3. Get lucky and find a school that offers an engineering degree that is also approved for the R-ATP, then take your flight training through the same school and take enough approved electives to qualify for at least the 1,250 hour R-ATP.
Good luck, hope you find something that works well for you.