How many type certificates can a pilot hold?

[ProPax]

How many current type certificates can a pilot hold simultaneously? I'm not talking about the practical side (though if you have something to say about it, it'd be greatly appreciated). Is there a regulatory limit?

[eckhard]

No, not as far as the National Aviation Authority is concerned. Airlines on the other hand generally don’t let pilots fly more than one type contemporaneously.

[Harry Wayfarers]

No limit on types held but a limit on types one can fly.

The previous poster suggested only one type at a time but I've known pilots to operate both B737-3/4/5 & NG, B757 & B767, A330 & A340, DHC6 & DHC7, BAe Jetstream & ATP to name but a few examples

[India Four Two]

Shouldn't this be type rating?

[eckhard]

No limit on types held but a limit on types one can fly.

The previous poster suggested only one type at a time but I've known pilots to operate both B737-3/4/5 & NG, B757 & B767, A330 & A340, DHC6 & DHC7, BAe Jetstream & ATP to name but a few examples

Good examples Harry.

I suppose that those types were grouped under a common Type Rating with ‘differences training’ required by the operator and maybe some other conditions, e.g. alternate sim checks in each sub-Type or variant.

I hold a B.777/787 Type Rating but I only fly the 787. Some trainers have qualified on both but only fly the 787 for a while before going back to the original 777 fleet. If there was the need, I suppose we could all be qualified to operate both types.

The 757/767 fleet was considered as one fleet but I think that pilots only flew one type within a duty period.

In the past, I flew, instructed and examined contemporaneously on 747, Citation and SEP/MEP but the 747 was the only one on an AOC.

In a previous airline, there was one trainer who flew the 737 and the 757 ‘at the same time’ but that is the only example I’ve seen of that.

[Denti]

There is no limit on type ratings to hold at any given time. However, as far as i know EASA does not allow one pilot in commercial operations to use more than two at any given time. The examples above are actually all within that ruleset. 737-300-900 (in my time, might be up to MAX10 now) is one type rating, so no restrictions at all flying all those different variants. 757 and 767 are a common type rating, so being rated in one gives the rating for the other, but a difference training is required. Same for 787 and 777, and A330 and A350. Then there is MFF or multifleet flying, where two type ratings are used at the same time, however landings in one type count towards recency in the other, same for simulator training. Notably that is available between Airbus type, for example A320/A330 (which does include the A350), A330/A340 or A340/A380. In a former company the head of training was rated both on 737s and A320, but since there is no training benefit he needed to do the simulators for both types every six month, in reality he basically switched between types every six months until he couldn't be bothered anymore and switched to A320/A330 instead. That same previous company actually held the approval for MFF flying between 737NG and 757 or 767, but not between all three. However, they never used that.

[ProPax]

Thank you for all your responses! Very interesting. So, to sum it up, FAA allows any number of current type ratings but EASA allows not more than two at a time?

Any Australians or Canadians? Russians? Chinese? Would be interesting to know what the rules are there. :-)

[Harry Wayfarers]

Thank you for all your responses! Very interesting. So, to sum it up, FAA allows any number of current type ratings but EASA allows not more than two at a time?

Any Australians or Canadians? Russians? Chinese? Would be interesting to know what the rules are there. :-)

No, that is not what we have been saying, an EASA pilot can hold any number of type ratings at any one time but is restricted to how many types he/she can operate and I'm confident that FAA rulies are the same or similar.

Let's say, historically, a pilot operates B707, B727 & A300's whilst he/she currently operates B787's, he/she still holds type ratings for B707, B727 & A300 but cannot operate them whilst he/she is currently operating B787's.

[+TSRA]

Here in Canada, we differentiate between type ratings and pilot proficiency/competency checks (PPC/PCC).

There are blanket type ratings (e.g., single-engine non-high performance, multi-engine non-high performance, etc.) and individual type ratings (DH8, EA32, B738, etc.). A type rating simply says you have been, at some point, trained and certified to fly that type. In Canada (but not all locations around the globe), type ratings are for life. For this reason, a type rating does not imply proficiency or currency.

A Pilot Proficiency Check (PPC) or Pilot Competency Check (PCC) is what says you’re currently legal to operate the type. Without going into too many details, a PPC is what is needed for all pilots operating a high-performance aircraft. A PCC is used for Captains and First Officers of non-high performance aircraft or for First Officers of high-performance aircraft that are certified single pilot but operated multi-crew.

To put this into practice, take an airline instructor I worked with at my first company. He held the normal blanket fixed wing ratings (e.g., all non-high performance single and multi engine land and sea aircraft) and individual type ratings on the DH5, DH6, DH7, DH8, B707, B727, B737, B747, B767, DC3, DC8, DC9 - plus a few other types I’ve forgotten along the way. But, when I first met him he only held a PPC for the DH6. Therefore he could only fly any aircraft covered by the blanket ratings (a C172, PA28, etc.) and the DH6. If he wanted to fly the 747 again, he’d need to take the 747 course and attempt the PPC flight test.

Some more civilized jurisdictions group a type rating and PPC together so that when the PPC (or whatever it is called elsewhere) expires, so too does the type rating. This is why some people will answer “yes, you can have multiple type ratings,” while others answer in a resounding “no.” Please note, this is not the same as “grouped type ratings,” like the above mentioned 757/767.