Purdue University is one of the select universities whose graduates can qualify for a Restricted-Airline Transport Pilot (R-ATP) certificate with 1,000 flight hours. Otherwise, pilots who want to be first officers for an airline must complete 1,500 hours of flight time.
On July 10, 2014, Purdue Aviation received word that the FAA has approved our request for exemption from the FAR 141 certification requirement for the eligibility of Professional Flight graduates for the restricted ATP certificate. Students who have graduated or who will graduate from our Professional Flight program between January 1, 2009 and December 31, 2016 will be eligible for the R-ATP at either 1250 hours of total flight time, provided they have completed 30 credit hours of aviation courses on the approved list, or 1000 hours of total flight time if they have completed 60 credit hours of those courses.
More information:
- For students and graduates of the Professional Flight Program, questions and answers about R-ATP
- One Purdue student's perspective about the 1,000-hour and 1,500-hour rules from the FAA