What Jobs Can You Get With a Private Pilot Licence?
A Private Pilot Licence lets you fly aeroplanes for your own purposes. The short answer to the question in the title is that it does not, by itself, let you earn a living as a pilot. There is one exception, and there is a clear route from here to paid flying.
What a PPL allows
- Flying as pilot in command of aeroplanes in non-commercial operations, without being paid.
- Carrying passengers, but not for hire or reward.
- Flying by day under visual flight rules. Night flying needs the night rating, and flying in cloud needs an instrument rating.
- Adding further ratings, such as multi-engine or towing.
You can fly a friend to lunch in another country. You cannot be paid to do it.
The one exception: instructing
Part-FCL allows a PPL holder who also holds an instructor certificate to be paid for teaching students for the private licences. It is not a shortcut. To become a flight instructor a PPL holder must, among other requirements, pass the CPL theory exams and have at least 200 hours of flight time, 150 of them as pilot in command, then complete an instructor course of at least 125 hours of ground training and 30 hours of flight instruction, and pass an assessment of competence.
What needs a commercial licence
Everything else people think of as a flying job: aerial photography and survey for a client, banner towing for a fee, sightseeing flights, air taxi, and of course airlines. Flying a tow aircraft at a gliding club as an unpaid member is private flying; being employed to do it is not.
The route to paid flying
- PPL: at least 45 hours of flight instruction.
- ATPL theory: 13 EASA subjects.
- Hour building to the 200 hours the commercial licence requires, and the night rating.
- Multi-engine and instrument ratings, and the Commercial Pilot Licence.
- A multi-crew course, if you are aiming at an airline.
FlyInPoland's current six-stage modular planning pathway is shown at €79,500, paid module by module, with every module figure indicative. From zero to a frozen ATPL in six stages sets out each stage.
The honest answer
If your goal is an airline flight deck, a PPL is the first of several stages. If your goal is to fly for the pleasure of it, a PPL is the whole journey. Both are good reasons to learn. Decide which is yours before you start spending money.
FlyInPoland.com plans and coaches your route. The training itself is delivered by the approved training organisation named in your written offer, and the figures here are the legal minimums, not a quotation.
