The Quiet FAA Program That Could Shave A Year Off Becoming An Airline Pilot

The FAA has proposed the Enhanced Qualification Program (EQP) to help address the industry’s aircrew shortage by streamlining parts of airline pilot training. EQP aims to provide a faster, standardized curriculum for restricted-privileges airline transport pilot (R-ATP) candidates under Part 121 or Part 142 certificate holders, using an alternative pathway grounded in an established type-rating practical test standard. The plan is a five-phase pipeline: from airline operations basics and academics, through transport-category academics and multi-crew transition, to practical multi-crew simulation focused on CRM, TEM, and SOP adherence, concluding with maneuvers evaluation in a full-motion Level C or D simulator. The FAA’s Designated Pilot Examiner (DPE) initiative is intended to generate more examiners and reduce check-ride scheduling bottlenecks, though rollout timing remains uncertain amid a still-investigated Miami fatal mishap.