Career Pilot

The Career Advisor

By Wayne Phillips

I have a question about FAR Part 141 flight schools versus FAR Part 61 flight schools. What are the differences, and do the airlines really care? I’ve heard the term “FAA approved” used by some schools while others do not. What’s the scoop?—Dave from Dubuque, Iowa

Frankly, Dave, the airlines place the most emphasis on total pilot-in-command time followed closely by multiengine time. How you earned those FAA certificates, whether in compliance with Part 61 of the federal aviation regulations or Part 141—which deals with “FAA approved” schools—matters not. However, there could be many direct benefits for the student.

Aaron Cook is the director of aviation for a two-year collegiate program at Northwestern Michigan College in Traverse City. For $50,000 to $60,000, you can acquire all of the requisite FAA certificates and ratings, and a two-year degree. Part of the pricing efficiencies are attributable to the school being “FAA approved.”

Cook says, “The workings of Part 141 are somewhat of a mystery to many students starting out. Like, what’s the big deal? The ‘deal’ is a high degree of professionalism and structure required by the FAA. Plus, there are some real [benefits], especially in a significantly lower number of hours required for the commercial pilot certificate.”

For a program to earn approval under Part 141, all of the school’s instructors must be supervised by a chief instructor, who is held to a higher experience standard than your local FAA designated pilot examiner. Chief instructors submit to regularly scheduled checkrides with the FAA. The chief, or an assistant chief instructor, in turn, conducts periodic proficiency checks for staff CFIs.

One of the real benefits is the exhaustive record keeping. Says Cook, “When our students show up for lessons, they will never hear, ‘So, what did we do last time? What are we supposed to do today?’ That just doesn’t happen, even when instructors change. We track every lesson and the student’s progress with every flight.”

The “pass/fail” rate is of concern to the FAA. Lots of fails? The school could lose that approval. So, there is strong motivation to develop quality pilots. For students earning a commercial airplane single-engine land (ASEL) certificate and rating, FAR Part 61 requires a minimum total of 250 hours of flight time. Training under FAR Part 141, a pilot must acquire a minimum of 35 hours for private pilot ASEL; 35 hours for an airplane instrument rating; and 120 hours of training for commercial. Thus, a commercial pilot certificate with an ASEL rating can be earned, theoretically, in 190 hours—doing so could save you about $9,000, by avoiding 60 hours at an average of $150 per hour. Certain schools, such as Northwestern Michigan College, have earned “self-examining authority.” The school conducts its own FAA certification practical tests. In the event a student should fail the checkridek, he simply undergoes additional training and retakes the final phase check. The airman file in the FAA’s Oklahoma airman database does not show a “fail,” which could please a prospective employer.

Send us your career question and we’ll answer the best ones here. Sorry, but we are not able to provide individual responses. Wayne Phillips is an airline transport pilot with a Boeing 737 type rating. He is a B-737 instructor and operates the Airline Training Orientation Program in association with Continental Airlines. He is an aviation safety consultant in Michigan and speaker for the AOPA Air Safety Foundation.