Guides
Part 135 Pilot Requirements: What Charter Minimums Mean
The FAA hour minimums for Part 135 charter pilots, and how to check
The FAA’s minimum experience requirements for Part 135 pilots are lower than many buyers realize, and often well below the standards set by charter operators and their insurers. The regulation sets a floor: as little as 500 total flight hours for a VFR-only charter, or 1,200 hours for IFR operations. But those numbers are only a baseline. In practice, operators and insurance underwriters typically set the bar two to five times higher. This guide explains the FAA minimums, the additional requirements operators impose, and how to verify a crew’s actual experience before you fly.
What Part 135 actually requires
14 CFR § 135.243 sets pilot-in-command qualifications by aircraft and operation type, and the numbers split hard on two questions: is the aircraft a turbojet or large (10+ seat) airplane, and is the flight flown under VFR or IFR.
- Turbojets, large aircraft, and scheduled commuter operations require an airline transport pilot (ATP) certificate with the appropriate type rating. There is no separate hour floor written into this section for these operations; the ATP certificate itself already carries a 1,500-hour minimum under 14 CFR § 61.159.
- VFR-only PIC in other aircraft needs a commercial certificate plus at least 500 hours total time, including 100 hours cross-country and 25 hours at night.
- IFR PIC in other aircraft needs at least 1,200 hours total time, including 500 hours cross-country, 100 hours night, and 75 hours instrument time (at least 50 of which must be actual, not simulated).
Almost every charter jet flies under IFR, so the 1,200-hour figure is the realistic FAA floor for a non-ATP PIC. But since most charter jets are turbojets, the ATP path is what actually applies on the majority of trips, which pushes the effective floor to 1,500 hours before an operator’s own standards are even considered. Pilots weighing which fractional employer to target once they clear that ATP minimum can compare hiring bars and crew models in our NetJets vs. Flexjet pilot jobs guide.
The gap between the FAA floor and what operators require
Charter operators set internal minimums above the FAA floor for two reasons: their insurance policy requires it, and route-specific competence (a given tail number, a mountain airport, an oceanic crossing) takes more than the regulatory minimum to fly safely.
Aviation insurance underwriters typically layer on their own hour requirements before they’ll write a policy. According to BWI Fly, an aviation insurance brokerage, open-pilot warranties for turbine aircraft commonly specify minimums in the range of 2,500 total hours, 1,500 multiengine hours, and 50 to 100 hours in the specific make and model, alongside recurrent training from an approved provider within the past 12 months. Requirements scale with the aircraft: a light single-pilot jet might insure a 1,500-hour pilot, while a large-cabin, two-pilot jet typically wants several thousand hours and a captain upgrade history.
This is why a charter operator’s own minimums, not the FAA number, are the ones that actually gate who is in the cockpit on your flight. A Part 135 certificate holder that only enforced the regulatory floor would struggle to get insured at any reasonable premium.
Total hours is the wrong number to ask for
“How many hours does the pilot have?” is the question most buyers ask, and it’s the wrong one. Total time lumps together everything from single-engine trainer hours logged decades ago to last month’s flights in your exact aircraft type, and those two kinds of experience are not interchangeable.
The more useful questions:
- Hours in type. How much time does this crew have specifically in the aircraft you’re flying, not just “similar” jets? A pilot with 8,000 hours total but 40 hours in type is closer to a new hire on that airframe than the total suggests.
- Recent experience. 14 CFR § 61.57 requires three takeoffs and landings in the preceding 90 days to carry passengers, and Part 135 operators layer recurrent simulator training on top, typically every 6 to 12 months depending on the operations specification.
- PIC vs. SIC time. Second-in-command hours accumulate quickly on a two-pilot jet but do not reflect the same decision-making load as time actually in command. A resume heavy in SIC time and light in PIC time on the specific type is worth asking about directly.
Why US and European hour-logging rules don’t produce comparable numbers
A pilot’s logbook total means something different depending on which regulator issued the license, and this matters if you’re comparing a US-based operator to a European one, or reading a crew bio that mixes both systems.
Under FAA rules, 14 CFR § 61.51(e) ties PIC logging to being the sole manipulator of the controls (or sole occupant, or meeting a narrow set of other conditions), a copilot on a two-pilot jet generally cannot log PIC time simply for occupying the right seat, even while performing command-level duties.
The EASA Part-FCL rules take a different approach. A copilot who performs the full duties of PIC under the supervision of the actual commander, without the commander needing to intervene, can log that time as “PICUS” (pilot-in-command under supervision) in a dedicated logbook column, countersigned by the supervising captain. Under FCL.510(a)(2), up to 500 hours of PICUS time counts directly toward the 1,500-hour PIC requirement for an ATPL.
The practical effect: two pilots with identical flying careers, one trained under FAA rules and one under EASA rules, can show meaningfully different PIC hour totals on paper for the same amount of time in the right seat of a multi-crew jet. A European-trained captain’s logbook total is not directly comparable to a US-trained captain’s without knowing how much of it is PICUS.
What to actually ask a charter operator or broker
- “What’s your internal minimum for PIC on this aircraft type?” Ask for their own number, not the FAA number.
- “How many hours does this specific crew have in this specific tail number or type?”
- “What’s your safety rating?” Third-party auditors like ARGUS International and Wyvern assess an operator’s training records, maintenance program, and pilot qualifications against a standard higher than the FAA minimum, and a rating from either is a faster proxy than trying to vet a crew resume yourself.
- “Is this a Part 135 flight on your certificate, or a Part 91 flight under someone else’s?” The pilot-qualification rules above apply to Part 135 charter. A Part 91 flight (owner-flown, or flown under certain fractional and dry-lease arrangements) is not held to the same regulatory floor, and the buyer should know which one they’ve booked.
None of these questions require aviation training to ask, and a reputable operator or broker should answer all of them without hesitation. That last question matters beyond crew qualifications, too. Our operational control guide covers why only the certificate holder can legally decide whether your flight goes at all.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the minimum FAA hours for a private jet charter pilot?
It depends on the aircraft and the type of flight. A commercial pilot flying IFR in a non-turbojet Part 135 aircraft needs at least 1,200 total hours under 14 CFR 135.243. Turbojets and large aircraft require an ATP certificate instead, which carries its own 1,500-hour minimum. Most charter jets fall into the ATP category, making 1,500 hours the realistic regulatory floor, before any operator or insurance minimum is applied on top.
Do charter operators require more hours than the FAA minimum?
Yes, almost always. Aviation insurance underwriters commonly set minimums such as 2,500 total hours, 1,500 multiengine hours, and 50 to 100 hours in the specific aircraft type before they will write a policy, and operators build their hiring standards around what their insurer requires. The FAA number is a legal floor, not the number that determines who is actually flying.
What is the difference between PIC and SIC hours?
PIC (pilot-in-command) time is logged by the pilot who has final authority and responsibility for the flight. SIC (second-in-command) time is logged by the other pilot on a two-pilot aircraft. The two are not equivalent experience: a resume heavy in SIC hours and light in PIC hours on a given aircraft type reflects less command-level decision-making than the total-hours figure implies.
Why do European and US pilot hour totals sometimes not match up?
The two systems log pilot-in-command time differently. FAA rules generally require a pilot to be the sole manipulator of the controls to log PIC time. EASA's Part-FCL rules let a supervised copilot log up to 500 hours of "PICUS" time toward their PIC total. A European-trained pilot's PIC hours can include time a US-trained pilot in the same seat would only be able to log as SIC.
What's the fastest way to check an operator's safety standard without auditing pilot records myself?
Ask whether the operator carries an ARGUS or Wyvern safety rating. Both audit an operator's training program, maintenance records, and pilot qualifications against a standard set above the FAA minimum, and a current rating is a reasonable proxy for due diligence a buyer cannot perform directly. Our private jet safety guide covers what those specific rating tiers mean and how to check one yourself.
Part 135 sets the legal floor for who can sit in the left seat of a charter aircraft, but the floor is not the number that should reassure you. Ask the operator’s actual minimum, ask about hours in the specific aircraft type, and check for a third-party safety rating before you book. Our charter process guide covers the rest of what to verify before your first flight.
We update this guide as aircraft, program, and route pricing changes. Spotted something out of date? Tell us and we'll check it.