Personnel Licensing: Flight Crew Privileges, Limitations and Records
This domain tests Annex 1 and its European implementation: who may hold which licence, what privileges it confers, which medical certificate is needed, and how long everything stays valid. Questions are commonly calculation-free but hinge on exact age, class and validity wording.
Licence structure
Annex 1 provides for pilot licences (PPL, CPL, MPL and ATPL), air traffic controller licences and ratings such as type ratings, class ratings, instrument ratings and instructor ratings. A licence without the appropriate rating, and without a valid medical certificate, confers no privileges at all. Minimum ages are 17 for a PPL, 18 for a CPL and 21 for an ATPL; the ATPL also requires a substantial total flight time (1 500 hours for the integrated route, with approved-course reductions).
Privileges
A PPL holder may act as pilot-in-command of aircraft engaged in non-commercial operations, may carry passengers and may share costs, but may not fly for remuneration or hire. A CPL holder may act as pilot-in-command in operations requiring a CPL and as co-pilot in commercial air transport. An ATPL holder may act as pilot-in-command in commercial air transport.
Medical certification
Class 1 applies to CPL and ATPL holders, Class 2 to PPL holders and Class 3 to ATC licence holders. Guidance validity: Class 1 twelve months, reduced to six months for single-pilot commercial air transport carrying passengers when the holder is 40 or over; Class 2 and Class 3 twenty-four months up to age 40 and twelve months from age 40. Annex 1 sets 60 as the age beyond which single-pilot commercial air transport is not permitted, with 65 as the ceiling in multi-pilot operations.
Records
Licence holders must maintain a personal logbook recording date, aircraft type, registration, crew position, and flight and instrument times. Operators must retain flight-time and duty records, typically five years under European rules.
Worked example
A 45-year-old ATPL holder flies single-pilot commercial air transport of passengers. The Class 1 medical is valid for six months, not twelve, because both conditions (age 40 or over and single-pilot passenger CAT) are met. A 38-year-old PPL(A) holder needs a Class 2 medical valid for 24 months.
Traps
Age 60 versus 65 is tested frequently: 60 is the limit for single-pilot commercial passenger operations, up to 65 for multi-pilot operations. A type rating expiry does not automatically remove the licence, but the privileges lapse. Class 3 is for controllers, not for private pilots.