Can You Count Simulator Hours Toward Your ATP Flight Time Requirements?

Why the question keeps coming up

Pilots working toward an Airline Transport Pilot certificate almost always ask the same thing at some point: can the hours I've logged in a simulator replace hours I'd otherwise have to fly in an actual airplane? The short answer is that the FAA does allow some simulator and training device time to count toward the ATP's aeronautical experience requirements, but the allowance is narrower than many applicants assume, and it depends heavily on the device's qualification level and the specific rule being applied.

It helps to separate two things that get conflated: the flight time and aeronautical experience requirements in 14 CFR Part 61, and the ATP Certification Training Program (ATP-CTP) required under Part 121 before you can even sit for the ATP written exam. The CTP is a distinct 6- to 8-day, 42-hour training event, made up of 32 hours of academic ground training and 10 hours of simulator training, and it is a prerequisite for the knowledge test, not a substitute for total flight hours.

What Part 61 actually allows

Under Part 61, applicants pursuing an ATP certificate generally need 1,500 hours of total flight time, with specific minimums in categories like night, instrument, cross-country and multiengine time. Full flight simulator (FFS) and flight training device (FTD) time can, in limited circumstances, be credited toward some of the instrument time and toward training received under an approved Part 141 or Part 142 curriculum, but it cannot be used to satisfy the bulk of the 1,500-hour total time requirement for most applicants.

The restricted ATP pathways (R-ATP), available to graduates of certain approved aviation degree programs or military pilots, reduce the total hour threshold to 1,000 or 1,250 hours, but even there the reduction comes from academic or military credit, not from stacking simulator sessions. Simulator time is valuable for building instrument proficiency and procedural fluency, and portions of it can be logged and applied to specific instrument currency and training requirements, but treat it as a supplement to your flight time log, not a way to shortcut the total.

Where simulator time genuinely matters

Simulator hours carry real weight in a few specific places. The 10 hours of full flight simulator training built into the ATP-CTP is mandatory and cannot be waived, and it's where you'll first be exposed to multi-crew, jet-transport-category procedures, including upset recovery, that many candidates haven't seen in single-pilot general aviation flying. That exposure is graded and logged, and it directly satisfies the CTP simulator requirement.

Type rating training later in your career is almost entirely simulator-based. Full flight simulators approved to Level C or D standards are what checkrides for the A320, A330, ATR 42/72, B737 NG/MAX, B737 Classic and B757/767 are actually flown in, and hours in those devices are logged as type-specific training time even though they don't add to your basic ATP total-time count.

• ATP-CTP: 10 simulator hours are mandatory and built into the 42-hour course
• Type ratings: nearly all training and checkride hours occur in a full flight simulator
• Instrument training: some FTD/FFS time may count toward instrument experience under Part 61/141, subject to limits
• Total ATP flight-time minimums: still require actual aircraft flight time for the large majority of applicants

Common mistakes applicants make

The most frequent error is assuming a training provider's simulator hours will be accepted by the FAA the same way logged aircraft time is, without confirming the device's qualification level and the specific regulatory citation that allows the credit. Not all simulators are created equal in the eyes of the regulation — a basic training device does not carry the same credit as an FAA-qualified Level C or D full flight simulator, and paperwork from the training provider needs to clearly document the device's approval.

Another common mistake is trying to use simulator hours to make up a shortfall in cross-country or night time close to a checkride date. If you're unsure whether specific hours will count, the safest approach is to verify with your training provider and, where necessary, with the FAA before you build a flight training plan around an assumption.

How this fits into your training plan

Understanding what simulator time does and doesn't do for your ATP eligibility should shape how you plan the sequence of your training. Build your actual flight hours first, use the CTP simulator sessions to convert into a multi-crew, jet-oriented mindset, and treat type-specific simulator training as the final, airline-facing phase of preparation once your certificate is in hand.

If you're mapping out a realistic timeline toward the airlines, it's worth talking through your specific hour totals and certificate pathway with a training provider before you commit to a CTP or type rating course date.