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The Commercial Pilot course is for students who wish to continue their education in flight training after Private Pilot and Instrument Pilot training as well as students who wish to pursue flying as a career. Most students take the full Commercial Pilot course in a single engine airplane and then add a Multiengine airplane rating afterward. For the Commercial Pilot Airplane Single Engine course at American Air, you will receive training in the Cessna 172 and Piper Arrow II. The Piper Arrow II is a “complex airplane” havin retractable landing gear and a controllable pitch propeller. The Arrow II rents for $218.00 – $238/hour, depending on club membership. The FAA requires some training in an aircraft with this type of equipment for all Commercial Pilots.
When you complete the Commercial Pilot program, you may legally fly for hire under certain conditions. Realistically, you would not be considered hirable without further training and experience. With specific operational training, you could legally fly for a corporation, tow banners, tow gliders and fly for a crop dusting operation. However, you would not be immediately legal to fly for air charter or an airline. For those pilot jobs, you would need significantly more experience and training. With a Commercial pilot Multiengine Rating and several hundred hours more piloting experience, you may be hirable as a copilot for air charter, a corporation or a commuter airline. Some students elect to train for the Flight Instructor, Instrument Flight Instructor and Multiengine Flight Instructor ratings after Commercial and then instruct at a flight school to get the necessary hours to be hired. Some companies as well as the airlines will require you to obtain an Airline Transport Pilot (ATP) certificate before hiring you. You can receive the necessary training for that certificate at American Air. An ATP course would require you to have at least 1500 hours of pilot time logged by the end of that course which would include all of the time you flew since starting on your Private Pilot course. Students who are not seeking a career in flying, but want to learn a lot more about it will also enjoy the Commercial Pilot course.
The Commercial Pilot course at American Air includes at least 55 hours flight training with an instructor (including at least 20 hours in a complex airplane), 65 hours solo flight practice and 30 – 60 hours of ground school. Some of your previous experience may credited towards this.