Mistake #7: Make sure you get all your paperwork finalised before leaving the sim centre
Most examiners will help you with this, but make sure you get all the paperwork you need before leaving.
With no malice intended, it can be a pain to chase down paperwork in the weeks after, and the last thing you want is for your ATPL application to be rejected because of a paperwork issue.
I had an excellent experience with David from @737Sim guide from start to finish and would thoroughly recommend him if looking to unfreeze your licence.
My licence is probably the most valuable thing I own, given how much I paid for my modular flight training and how much a frozen ATPL costs – and most importantly the earning power the licence provides.
It was a no brainer to invest in unfreezing my ATPL as one never knows what can happen tomorrow.
Can you get a job with a frozen ATPL?
Yes, you can get a job with a frozen ATPL. Low hour pilot jobs are challenging to come by, but these are some steps you can take at each stage of your pilot training to maximise your chances of getting a job.
During your ATPL theory, try and get the best possible marks and try not to have re-sits during your ATPL exams. The reason for this is that during recruitment, the company you are applying to needs to figure out if you are a training risk or not.
Fail many ATPL exams, and doubts will start to creep into the recruiters’ minds as they try and guess whether or not you will be a training risk.
If you fail an ATPL exam, don’t worry; try and finish as well as you can. Just be aware that competition for low-hour pilot roles varies with the wider market — in some cycles demand is strong; in others, competition is fierce. Either way, the best thing you can do is give yourself as clean a training record as possible.
When choosing where to complete your ATPL exams, it is also essential to make sure you complete your ATPL exams in the state where you will most likely get a job. Ordinarily, you need to make sure you have the right to live and work in the given state.
Having a frozen ATPL in a country where you do not have the right to live and work is not much point as you won’t get a job, and in all likelihood, you will need to pay additional fees to convert your licence back to wherever state you have got the right to live and work in.
Pick carefully where you complete your CPL & MEIR for frozen ATPL
Try and pick a flying school to complete your frozen ATPL with a track record of students getting successful pilot jobs. The best schools are not necessarily the most expensive.
Equally, be careful picking the cheapest training from random schools that do not have excellent standards. When visiting perspective flying schools, ask where students have worked after training and get feedback from recent graduates.
Some flying schools also have links to employment. This may not only be with an airline, but certain schools are part of more extensive operations that perform cargo, flight training or survey flying.
Completing your flying training at these organisations may open the doors later to become an instructor with them or even be employed company as a professional pilot.
MCC course plays a big impact in getting a job with a frozen ATPL
I was in the situation towards the end of pilot training where I was running out of money but wanted to get my MCC certificate. The trap of doing any old cheap MCC means that you may not be sufficiently prepared for airline assessment and type ratings.
A strong MCC like the APS MCC can help bridge the gap into airline pilot employment, and it will flatten the curve when it comes to your type rating.
I would love to hear from you if you have any questions about unfreezing your ATPL – please leave a comment in the section below!
Kudzi Chikohora is a B737 Captain and Line Training Captain (LTC) with over 5,000 hours of flying in Europe. He is also a qualified Type Rating Instructor (TRI). He holds a Master’s degree in Aerospace Engineering, is a chartered engineer, and is a member of the Royal Aeronautical Society. Kudzi completed his pilot training via the self-funded modular route and created kcthepilot.com to share honest, experience-based guidance on pilot training and aviation.
Is there a time limit from when you complete your training and obtain an fATPL until when you eventually unfreeze it? I have heard conflicting reports of it being 5 years. Thank you!
Hi everyone,
I have over 3500h as F/O on B737NG and A320, but I never did my ATPL unfreeze, thought it would come naturally with time, but now circumstances have changed and I am looking forward to do it, I am a little puzzled about the criteria to do it, are all items mandatory or are they OR ?
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Flying experience needed to unfreeze ATPL
500 hours in multi-pilot operations on aeroplanes
500 hours as Pilot in command under supervision (PICUS) or
250 hours as Pilot in Command (PIC) or
250 hours to include a minimum of 70 hours as PIC and the remainder as PICUS.
200 hours of cross-country flight time, of which at least 100 hours should be as PIC or as PIC under supervision
75 hours of instrument time, of which not more than 30 hours can be instrument ground time
100 hours of night flight as PIC or co-pilot.
Of the 1500 hours of total flight time required, up to 100 hours can be completed in a suitable simulator (FFS or FNPT – but only a maximum of 25 hours may be completed in an FNPT)
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To summarize I have 3500h TT / 200PIC (total picus and Cessnas) / 50h Double Command, am I eligible?
Thanks for the feedback!
Thanks for reaching out.
Not all mandatory – these items are ‘or’ as you mentioned;
500 hours as Pilot in command under supervision (PICUS) or
250 hours as Pilot in Command (PIC) or
250 hours to include a minimum of 70 hours as PIC and the remainder as PICUS.
Wishing you the best of luck