The Hungry Pilot

Here you can find a collection of the acronyms and abbreviations I’m using in my posts. I’ll try to give a brief explanation of the terms as well, and I might link to some website or Wikipedia article where you can find further details. This one is a work in progress, things will be added here as more articles are published.

A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z

A

• AME: Aviation medical examiner (or aeromedical examiner) – Aviation doctor who examines pilots for their fitness to fly
• ATPL: Airline Transport Pilot License – The highest level pilot license one can hold. It is needed to act as a commander of aircraft engaged in commercial air transport

C

• CAA: Civil Aviation Authority – An authority or governmental organization which oversees civil aviation
• CPL: Commercial Pilot License – The license one needs to fly as a pilot in commercial air transport

E

• EASA: European Union Aviation Safety Agency – The joint European aviation authority. It creates and amends our aviation regulations, a lot of it based on ICAO rules and recommendations. The European Commission turns these into EU laws, which is adopted into national legislation by the member countries

F

• FAA: Federal Aviation Administration – The CAA of the USA
• fATPL: frozen ATPL or frozen Airline Transport Pilot License – A CPL license stating that the holder has passed all ATPL theory exams. Will be “unfrozen” by satisfying the EASA flight hour requirements for ATPL licenses

I

• ICAO: International Civil Aviation Organisation – An organisation of the United Nations which develops and coordinates procedures, standards and techniques for international air navigation

L

• LPC: License proficiency check – A check flight to revalidate (extend) one or more ratings in your pilot license, which is usually done once per year

P

• PPL: Private Pilot License – Your first pilot license, which will allow you to fly for fun and to gain flight experience on your way to becoming a pro