You must be 16 to solo an airplane, 17 to hold a private pilot certificate, 18 to hold a commercial certificate or a flight instructor certificate, and 23 to hold an unrestricted Airline Transport Pilot certificate, or 21 for a restricted ATP. There is no minimum age at all to take flying lessons with an instructor, and there is no upper age limit on any FAA pilot certificate.
Those five numbers come straight from 14 CFR Part 61 and they have not changed in many years. What confuses people is the gap between them: a fourteen-year-old can log every hour of dual instruction they fly, can handle the controls, and can build real skill, but cannot go solo until their sixteenth birthday and cannot be issued a private certificate until their seventeenth. This page sets out every age threshold, what you can do before each one, and how it works in practice. If you are a parent looking at local options, our page on teen flight training in Los Angeles covers the course, the scheduling and the supervision.
Every Age Requirement In One Table
| Milestone | Minimum Age | Regulation |
|---|---|---|
| Take flying lessons with a certificated instructor and log the time | No minimum | No age requirement in Part 61 |
| Student pilot certificate, glider or balloon | 14 | 14 CFR 61.83(b) |
| Solo a glider or balloon | 14 | 14 CFR 61.83(b) and 61.87 |
| Student pilot certificate, airplane | 16 | 14 CFR 61.83(a) |
| Solo an airplane | 16 | 14 CFR 61.83(a) and 61.87 |
| Private pilot certificate, glider or balloon | 16 | 14 CFR 61.103(b) |
| Sport pilot certificate | 17 (16 for glider or balloon) | 14 CFR 61.305 |
| Recreational pilot certificate | 17 | 14 CFR 61.96 |
| Private pilot certificate, airplane | 17 | 14 CFR 61.103(a) |
| Commercial pilot certificate | 18 | 14 CFR 61.123(a) |
| Flight instructor certificate | 18 | 14 CFR 61.183(a) |
| Restricted privileges ATP certificate | 21 | 14 CFR 61.153(a)(2) and 61.160 |
| Airline Transport Pilot certificate, unrestricted | 23 | 14 CFR 61.153(a)(1) |
| Upper age limit for any FAA pilot certificate | None | No provision in Part 61 |
Before 16: There Is No Minimum Age To Start
This is the most common misunderstanding we hear at Van Nuys. Nothing in the regulations stops a child from flying with a certificated flight instructor, handling the controls, and having every minute logged as dual instruction. The hours do not expire. A twelve-year-old who flies once a month for four years arrives at their sixteenth birthday with a substantial logbook and, more importantly, with skills that are genuinely present rather than theoretical.
In practice, three things set a sensible floor. The child needs to reach the rudder pedals and see over the glareshield, usually with a cushion. They need the attention span for a 45 to 60 minute lesson plus a briefing. And they need to want to be there, which is the one nobody can manufacture.
Our Teens Pilot Course is built for ages 10 to 15 and costs $4,200: 10 hours of flight time, 3 hours in the full-motion simulator and 7 hours of classroom instruction, payable as $2,500 down and one payment of $1,700. It is designed as real training rather than an experience day, and everything logged in it counts toward a certificate later. Parents can read more on our parent's guide to teen flight training.
Sixteen: Solo
On your sixteenth birthday, two things become possible. You can be issued a student pilot certificate under 14 CFR 61.83(a), and once your instructor endorses you under 14 CFR 61.87 you can fly the airplane alone.
Solo is not automatic on a birthday. Section 61.87 requires that you have received and logged training on a specific list of maneuvers and procedures for the make and model you will fly, that you have demonstrated satisfactory proficiency in them to an authorized instructor, and that you have passed a pre-solo written examination administered by that instructor covering the applicable regulations, the airspace rules for the airport concerned, and the flight characteristics and operating limitations of the aircraft. The endorsement is valid for 90 days.
You also need a medical certificate before solo in an airplane, so the third class medical exam is a thing to arrange in the months beforehand rather than the week before. Sport pilot students are the exception, since a valid US driver's license may be used instead, which is not much help at sixteen in California where a provisional license has its own restrictions.
A well-planned teenager can have the training complete and the pre-solo written passed so that the solo happens within days of turning 16. Plenty do exactly that. Our page on your first solo flight covers the 61.87 requirements in detail.
Seventeen: The Private Pilot Certificate
14 CFR 61.103(a) requires a private pilot applicant for a rating in other than a glider or balloon to be at least 17 years of age. Everything else in the private pilot requirements can be completed before that birthday: the 40 hours under 61.109, the written exam, the cross-countries and the solo time. Only the practical test and the certificate issue have to wait.
The efficient sequence for a motivated teenager is: start lessons whenever you like, solo at 16, complete the hours and the written at 16, and take the checkride on or shortly after your seventeenth birthday. The knowledge test result is valid for 24 calendar months, which gives plenty of room.
A 17-year-old private pilot holds exactly the same certificate and exactly the same privileges as a 50-year-old private pilot. They may carry passengers, fly at night, fly cross-country nationwide, and fly any single-engine land airplane they are checked out in. The limits in 14 CFR 61.113 are about compensation, not age.
Eighteen, Twenty-One And Twenty-Three: The Professional Ladder
At 18 you can hold a commercial pilot certificate under 14 CFR 61.123(a) and a flight instructor certificate under 14 CFR 61.183(a). In practice the binding constraint at 18 is not age but the 250 hours of flight time that 61.129 requires, which is why a commercial certificate at 18 means having started early and flown consistently.
At 21 you can hold a restricted privileges ATP under 14 CFR 61.153(a)(2), which is the certificate that lets you fly as a first officer for a Part 121 airline at 750, 1,000 or 1,250 hours depending on the route in 14 CFR 61.160.
At 23 you can hold an unrestricted ATP under 14 CFR 61.153(a)(1), with 1,500 hours under 61.159. Our pages on the 1,500-hour rule and the R-ATP and how to become an airline pilot cover the route from there.
Is There A Maximum Age To Be A Pilot?
Not for the certificate. Part 61 contains no upper age limit for a student, sport, recreational, private, commercial, instructor or ATP certificate. What governs older pilots is the medical, not the calendar, and the medical is a functional test rather than an age test.
There is one age ceiling in US aviation and it applies only to scheduled airline flying: a pilot may not serve as a required pilot crewmember in Part 121 operations after reaching age 65. That rule has no effect on private flying, flight instruction, most charter and corporate work, or anything else you might do with a certificate.
Medical certificate durations do change at 40, which is the age threshold most pilots actually notice.
| Class And Privilege Exercised | Under 40 At Examination | 40 Or Over At Examination |
|---|---|---|
| First class, exercising ATP privileges | 12 calendar months | 6 calendar months |
| First or second class, exercising commercial privileges | 12 calendar months | 12 calendar months |
| Any class, exercising private, recreational, student, sport or instructor privileges | 60 calendar months | 24 calendar months |
A third class medical taken at 39 therefore lasts five years, while the same exam taken at 41 lasts two. Timing the first exam just before a fortieth birthday is a small but real saving. Our sibling guides to the third class medical certificate and BasicMed cover what the exam involves and the alternative route for private flying.
Learning To Fly At 40, 50, 60 Or 70
We train people in every one of those decades and the pattern is consistent and encouraging. Older students almost always take fewer hours than they fear, because they bring judgment, they take preparation seriously, and they do not need to be persuaded to use a checklist. What they find harder is raw stick and rudder reflex in the first few hours and, occasionally, the pace of radio work.
The real gate is the medical certificate, and it is worth dealing with early rather than late. If you have a condition that might complicate an FAA medical, speak to an Aviation Medical Examiner or an aviation medical consultant before you submit an application, because a denial closes off options that would otherwise remain open. Our page on changing career to become a pilot covers the realistic plan at 30, 40 and 50, including whether a professional route still makes financial sense.
Related Reading
- Teen flight training in Los Angeles — the Teens Pilot Course, supervision and scheduling around school.
- Flight lessons for kids in Los Angeles — what a first lesson looks like for a younger child.
- Your first solo flight — the 14 CFR 61.87 training, endorsement and pre-solo written.
- Private pilot license requirements — the hours and tests behind the certificate you can hold at 17.
- Career change to pilot — starting at 30, 40 or 50 and what is realistic.
- FAA medical certificate classes — first, second, third and BasicMed compared.
Pilot Age Requirements FAQ
How Old Do You Have To Be To Get A Pilot License?
Seventeen for a private pilot certificate in an airplane under 14 CFR 61.103(a), and 16 for a glider or balloon rating. A sport pilot certificate also requires 17, and a commercial certificate requires 18.
What Is The Minimum Age For A Private Pilot License?
Seventeen years of age for an airplane rating, under 14 CFR 61.103(a). All the training, the written exam and the solo flight time may be completed before that birthday; only the practical test and certificate issue must wait.
How Old Do You Have To Be To Fly A Plane Solo?
Sixteen for an airplane and 14 for a glider or balloon, under 14 CFR 61.83. You also need an instructor endorsement under 14 CFR 61.87, which requires specific training, a demonstration of proficiency and a pre-solo written examination.
Is There A Minimum Age To Start Flying Lessons?
No. There is no minimum age to take instruction with a certificated flight instructor, and all of it is loggable. In practice a child needs to reach the pedals with a cushion and hold attention for a lesson. Our Teens Pilot Course is designed for ages 10 to 15.
How Old Do You Have To Be To Be An Airline Pilot?
Twenty-three for an unrestricted ATP under 14 CFR 61.153(a)(1), or 21 for a restricted privileges ATP under 61.153(a)(2) and 61.160, which qualifying military pilots and aviation degree holders can obtain at 750, 1,000 or 1,250 hours.
Is There An Upper Age Limit For Pilots?
Not for holding an FAA pilot certificate. The only age ceiling in US aviation applies to scheduled airline flying, where a pilot may not serve as a required crewmember in Part 121 operations after reaching 65. Private flying and instruction have no limit.
Can A 14-Year-Old Fly A Plane?
A 14-year-old may fly with an instructor and log every hour, and may solo a glider or balloon with a student pilot certificate under 14 CFR 61.83(b). Soloing an airplane requires being 16.
Does A Medical Certificate Last Longer If You Take It Before 40?
Yes. Under 14 CFR 61.23(d), a medical certificate exercised at private, recreational, student, sport or instructor level lasts 60 calendar months if the exam was taken before your 40th birthday, and 24 calendar months if taken at 40 or older.
Whatever Your Age, Start With An Hour
A discovery flight is $229 for 60 minutes out of Van Nuys, you fly it from the left seat with an instructor beside you, and it is logged as dual instruction at any age. Parents of younger children can sit in the back on a flight for two. If you want to plan a route from a teenager's first lesson to a solo at 16 and a certificate at 17, book a free consultation or call (818) 330-1318. We are at 7900 Balboa Blvd, Van Nuys, CA 91406, open every day from 9 AM to 9 PM.