Commercial Pilot Certificate
Elevate your aviation career with our Commercial Pilot Certificate course! Gain advanced skills, meet industry standards, and prepare for exciting professional opportunities. Our expert instructors ensure you’re ready to soar into a future as a certified commercial pilot. *FAA Part 61
FAA Part 61
A Flight School Focused on Your Success
Your career goals, schedule, and budget are our priority. Our Commercial Pilot training is designed around your needs, not the instructor’s. Learn at your own pace with expert guidance to help you master the skills needed for a successful aviation career. We’re here to support your journey to becoming a confident, professional pilot ready to excel in the aviation industry.
Be a Part of the Nightline Air Community
Becoming part of the Nightline Air community means more than just training to be a pilot—it’s joining a family. We value your time, budget, and personal goals, creating a supportive environment where you can thrive. As a member of our aviation family, you’ll experience camaraderie, encouragement, and shared passion for the skies, making your journey truly rewarding.
Estimated Completion Time
Ground School: 3 Weeks
Flight Training: 2 Months
Estimated Cost
$28,167
Class Commitment
Flight Approx: 150 Hrs
Ground Approx: 36 Hrs
About Our Commercial Pilot Certificate Course
The Commercial Certification Course is not much different from the Private Pilot License, other than being held to higher standards.
Pilots will learn new maneuvers, such as chandelles, lazy eights and eights on pylon; which you will have to demonstrate proficiently on the practical test. Single Engine is for those students who require commercial pilot privileges in single engine aircraft only. To be eligible, students must be 18 years or older, log at least 250 hrs of total flight time in which training and other requirements must be met, and 10 hours training in a complex aircraft or a “Technically Advanced Avionics” aircraft (TAA).
Nightline Air flight instructors are properly trained and certified to provide safety, learning, and enjoyment for the flight training journey. Instructors are committed to each pilot our school enrolls which provides a culture that is unmatched anywhere else. Our team is able to personalize the training material and format to each individual as learning and teaching styles vary. With our in-house maintenance and quick turnaround times, our aircraft provides an exceptional training platform for each course. Our ground and flight training syllabus allows our clients to receive instruction efficiently that allow pilots to build aeronautical knowledge and skill.
Ground School
As a Part 61 Flight Training School, we are authorized to administer a variety of methods to administer ground school. Unlike a Part 141 Program with mandatory in-person training, Nightline Air offers a complete comprehensive online ground school course that can be completed away from the Training Center. This course reviews the required knowledge areas the FAA has set in their Airman Certification Standards (ACS) to pass both the Written Exam and Practical Test with the FAA. These subject include aerodynamics, aircraft systems, weather, navigation, regulations, flight planning, and more. Our flight instructors are properly trained to administer one-on-one ground instruction to students that need in-person training. This variety of training is not only cost-effective, but allows both the structure and flexibility that Part 61 provides.
Flight Training
- Flight Training: Flight Training is able to commence before, during, or after a student completes ground school whether done online, in-person, or a mix of both. Our flight training program is designed to support the success of the student in aircraft knowledge and mastery as required by the FAA Airman Certificate Standards (ACS). We recommend pilots to fly at minimum, 2-3 flights per week to keep student’s on track to complete the program most efficiently.
- Time Building: Pilots usually need to build around 110 hours in order to take the Commercial Pilot Checkride at 250 hours. Since pilots are already a certificated pilot, we coordinate with other pilots to help build necessary flight time by reducing cost and time with other pilots. These flights can include both local and cross country flights. Each flight must be approved under school management.
Program Prerequisites
- Commercial pilot candidates must be at least 18 years old, able to read, speak, write, and understand English, and hold at least a private pilot certificate.
- Under CFR Part 61, a pilot needs at least 250 flight hours. That includes 100 hours of pilot-in-command time and 50 hours of cross-country. Cross-country flights are also part of the training, including one of three legs that is at least 300 nautical miles total, with a single leg of at least 250 miles. Additionally, at least 10 hours of instrument training and 10 hours in a complex aircraft are required. All of these hourly requirements ensure that a commercial pilot is a proficient and experienced pilot.
- While it is not required to have an Instrument rating in order to be a Commercial Pilot, it is highly recommended. An Instrument rating is a practical transition from Private to Commercial. Without an Instrument rating, a Commercial pilot will not be allowed to fly for hire at night or venture further than 50 nautical miles from the home base airport. Most pilots do not want to incur these limitations. So, typically, they’ll get an instrument rating on the way to their Commercial status.
- Since a candidate must have a Private Pilot certificate to be a Commercial Pilot, chances are that they already hold at least a 3rd class aviation medical certificate. Commercial Pilots are still able to fly with a 3rd class medical; however, in order to utilize Commercial Pilot privileges, they must hold at least a current 2nd class medical. Obtaining a 2nd-class medical is highly recommended before commencing commercial training. This ensures the student qualifies for the medical and doesn’t waste time and money on a certificate they can’t use.
- During commercial flight training, students learn new maneuvers and refine familiar ones.