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2 Answers

Commercial Pilot in Different Countries

Asked by: 3623 views , , ,
Commercial Pilot, FAA Regulations

I currently am working on my CPL here in the U.S. under the FAA for an FAA-issued CPL.  Eventually, I intend on getting my ATP to be able to fly wherever my career takes me.  Say down the road I wanted to fly commercially in Europe, is it possible to hold a CPL with the FAA and the EASA, or would my only option be to convert from one to the other.  Based on what I have seen it is a lot of work to get an EASA license even if you already have one from the FAA.  It would be a bummer to lose my FAA CPL in the process.  Long story short, ignoring currency and all, can I physically hold both the required and valid commercial licenses to work and fly under EASA jurisdiction for a European carrier while simultaneously still having my valid FAA CPL and likely ATP?

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2 Answers



  1. KDS on Apr 03, 2021

    The short answer is YES.

    Once you obtain a US airman certificate (an FAA ATP or Commercial certificate is an airman certificate) you never lose it unless the FAA takes it away for a reason such as an enforcement action for a violation of the regulations.

    As you are probably aware, you can obtain a US Private Pilot Certificate based upon your pilot license from another country. However, to obtain a Commercial or ATP certificate, you have to meet all of the US testing requirements.

    You are 100 percent correct that the EASA certification process is more difficult than the US certification process.

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  2. awair on Apr 06, 2021

    You don’t say where you are from, or if you have the right to live and work in Europe?

    If you are uniquely qualified, special type etc, then it may be possible to get a temporary validation of any ICAO license either from an EASA member state or the UK.

    All currently operate to a common rule book, interpreted differently by almost every country!

    The temporary validation is normally for a year, and could be in conjunction with a job offer.

    Some states are more flexible, with high fees. Draw your own conclusions!

    Good luck.

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