Piedmont Airlines Pilot Requirements 2026: Hours, License and Hiring Process

Piedmont Airlines, a regional airline wholly owned by American Airlines Group, flies the 50-seat Embraer E145 as American Eagle and hires First Officers at the airline transport pilot minimums: its First Officer page, read on 24 October 2026, asks that you meet the minimum requirements to hold an ATP or restricted ATP with a multi-engine rating, with 1,500 hours, 50 multi-engine and 250 as pilot in command, or the restricted ATP’s requirements, and adds a current First Class medical, an FCC Radiotelephone Operator Permit and a US passport, or a passport with authorization to work in the US. It lists no type rating, and its FAQ says it does not currently sponsor work visas. Piedmont was recruiting First Officers at the last check and listed no Direct Entry Captain opening. Its pilots move to American through a contractual flow, an estimated five years, and its cadets build their hours where they choose, with Piedmont paying the ATP-CTP. Its crew bases are Charlotte, Philadelphia and Harrisburg, and 45 Embraer E175s are due from 2028.

Is Piedmont Airlines hiring pilots now?

Recruiting at the last check on 24 October 2026 — First Officer seat: Recruiting; Captain seat: Unconfirmed. E145 First Officers at the ATP or restricted-ATP minimums; cadets with the ATP-CTP paid and no further interview; a contractual flow to American; E175s from 2028

Requirements, as published

Reading the requirements line by line

The requirements below are from Piedmont’s First Officer page, its pilot page and its FAQ, read on 24 October 2026; the FAA rules cited were read in the regulations themselves.

• The ATP or restricted ATP minimums. Piedmont’s First Officer page asks, in those words, that you meet the minimum requirements to hold an ATP or restricted ATP with a multi-engine rating. To be issued either one with a multi-engine rating, the rule asks for the graduation certificate of the ATP Certification Training Program before the knowledge test, the knowledge test passed and a practical test (14 CFR 61.153), and every Part 121 First Officer must hold the ATP certificate and the type rating for the airplane flown (14 CFR 121.436). The restricted ATP can be issued from the age of 21 and the full ATP from 23 (14 CFR 61.153). Piedmont’s pages say it pays the ATP-CTP and the written test for its cadets, but not whether it expects other applicants to have them done before the new-hire class, so ask.
• 1,500 hours, or the restricted ATP’s figures. The page’s figures are the unrestricted ATP’s: 1,500 hours of flight time, with 50 hours multi-engine and 250 as pilot in command, toward which the rule lets second-in-command time spent performing the duties of pilot in command under supervision count (14 CFR 61.159). The rule also asks for 500 hours of cross-country time, 100 at night and 75 of instrument time. The page prints no restricted-ATP figure, only “or meet requirements for Restricted ATP”: the rule lowers the total to 750 hours for a US military pilot, 1,000 for a graduate of a bachelor’s degree with an aviation major and 60 aviation credit hours, and 1,250 for an associate degree with an aviation major and 30 credit hours or a bachelor’s with 30 to 59, each from an institution the FAA has authorized, and the cross-country time to 200 hours (14 CFR 61.160), so check your transcript against the rule.
• The papers. The First Officer page adds a current First Class medical certificate, an FCC Radiotelephone Operator Permit, a high school diploma or GED, and a valid US passport, or a valid passport with authorization to work in the United States, and prefers current employment in a pilot position. Piedmont’s FAQ is narrower on the right to work: Piedmont does not currently sponsor work visas, and candidates must be US citizens or permanent residents with unrestricted travel in and out of the United States.
• No type rating. The minimum qualifications name none: Piedmont’s pilot pages say new First Officers train to proficiency under its Advanced Qualification Program at the American Airlines Training Center. We could not read the course’s length or any bond terms on Piedmont’s pages.
• Captains. Piedmont’s pilot page listed no Direct Entry Captain opening at the last check, only First Officer, High Time First Officer and cadet jobs. Its First Officers bid for Captain after 2,500 hours total and 1,000 Part 121 hours, which its FAQ puts at about 18 months at the current pace, and the rule asks a pilot in command in Part 121 for an unrestricted ATP, the type rating and 1,000 hours as a Part 121 second in command or in certain Part 91K and Part 135 commands, or any combination (14 CFR 121.436). Job boards’ copies of a Direct Entry Captain posting, as search results showed them, were undated or carried 2023 and 2024 pay scales, one marked closed, and gave differing minimums, so read Piedmont’s own pages before you apply as a Captain.

Entry routes

• Direct entry First Officer — E145, for pilots who meet the minimum requirements for an ATP or restricted ATP: 1,500 h with 50 h multi-engine and 250 h PIC, or the R-ATP’s
• High Time First Officer — for pilots bringing more experience; Piedmont’s pilot page offers an upgrade in as little as 18 months
• Piedmont Cadet Program — apply at 400 h with a commercial multi-engine certificate and instrument rating, admitted at 500 h; build hours anywhere, at least 60 a month, with USD 4,500 to help build them; at the ATP minimums Piedmont pays the ATP-CTP course and the ATP written, then the next available new-hire class with no additional interview
• American Airlines Cadet Academy — ab-initio at a partner school, then a cadet place at Envoy, Piedmont or PSA (American’s Cadet Academy pages)
• Direct Entry Captain — not currently among the openings on Piedmont’s pilot page; job boards’ copies of a posting were undated or carried 2023 and 2024 pay scales, one marked closed
• Contractual flow to American Airlines: an estimated five years (Piedmont’s FAQ), with top-of-scale pay until the flow

The cadet program, the flow to American and the pay

• Piedmont Cadet Program. Piedmont’s FAQ, read on 24 October 2026, says you apply through AirlineApps.com once you hold a commercial multi-engine certificate with an instrument rating and 400 hours of total time, and that new cadets are admitted with 500 hours; its pilot pages give cadets USD 4,500 to help build flight hours. Cadets build their time anywhere and any way they want, as long as they gain at least 60 hours a month; once a cadet reaches the ATP minimums, Piedmont pays the ATP-CTP course, including the FAA ATP written exam, and the cadet is guaranteed a seat in a First Officer class with no additional interview. Cadets are not employees and receive no company benefits, though the FAQ adds 60,000 AAdvantage miles at enrollment and 60,000 at the move to First Officer, and it says Piedmont is hiring a small number of cadets and has a high volume of applications. Pilots below 400 hours can join its Cadet Ambassador Program, which has no hours minimum.
• American Airlines Cadet Academy. American’s own ab-initio program takes students from zero hours through a partner school to a cadet place at one of its wholly owned regionals, Envoy, Piedmont or PSA (American’s Cadet Academy pages, as search results showed them on 14 October 2026).
• The flow to American. Piedmont’s pilot page describes a company contractual flow to American Airlines and a guaranteed job at American; its FAQ puts the estimated flow time at five years, and under the new pilot contract Captains flow to American at five years or are paid at the top of the scale, USD 213.75 an hour, until they flow. American’s requirements list the flow-through from Envoy, Piedmont and PSA. We could not read the flow agreement itself, so ask Piedmont how it works now.
• The pay. Piedmont’s First Officer wage scale, dated 29 June 2026, starts at USD 102 an hour in the first year and reaches USD 120.75 in the third, with 75 hours a month guaranteed, and its Captains start at USD 161.25 an hour.

Piedmont beside the four largest US passenger airlines on our jobs board, as recorded at each airline’s last check:

Each of the four majors starts at 1,500 hours or more, and American’s First Officer posting, as a job board relays it, asks for the unrestricted ATP, so the restricted ATP’s 750 to 1,250 hours open a seat at a regional airline such as Piedmont; from there, the contractual flow is Piedmont’s way to American.

Selection process

The airline does not publish its selection stages in detail; expect an online application, screening against the published minimums, an interview and a simulator or aptitude assessment before the medical.

Bases and fleet

Bases: Charlotte, Philadelphia and Harrisburg: the crew bases on Piedmont’s pilot pages, which pilots bid for by vacancy and seniority; Harrisburg has had Piedmont pilots and flight attendants since 2022 (abc27)

Fleet: Embraer E145 (ERJ-145), 50 seats; Piedmont says it will fly two fleet types “well into the 2030s” (Piedmont, 10 June 2025) · 45 Embraer E175s (76 seats, two classes) due from the first quarter of 2028, then one or two a month for 36 months (Piedmont, 10 June 2025), part of a larger order American placed in 2024 (Air Data News, June 2025)

The E145 now, the E175 from 2028

Piedmont flies only the Embraer E145, the 50-seat regional jet, as American Eagle. On 10 June 2025 it announced 45 Embraer E175s, with 76 seats in two classes, 12 in business and 64 in the main cabin: the first is due in the first quarter of 2028 and enters revenue service a few months later, with one or two arriving each month for 36 months, and Piedmont says it will fly its two fleet types “well into the 2030s” (Piedmont, 10 June 2025). The E175s are part of a larger order American placed in 2024 (Air Data News, June 2025). The fleet counts we found disagree, and none came from Piedmont itself, so we give none. Piedmont’s pilot pages name three crew bases, Charlotte, Philadelphia and Harrisburg, which pilots bid for by vacancy and seniority; Piedmont has based pilots and flight attendants at Harrisburg since 2022 (abc27), and in June 2025 it said it would announce the E175’s crew bases later.

How to prepare

Piedmont flies only the Embraer E145, and v1prep has no E145 bank: the E145 is a different family from the E-Jets, so revise it from its own manuals, and use the ATPL theory banks for the performance, meteorology and navigation underneath. The E-Jet bank covers the E175 that Piedmont is due to fly from 2028, so start on it if you expect to bid for that fleet. Piedmont asks that you meet the requirements for an ATP or restricted ATP; the certificate itself needs the ATP Certification Training Program and the FAA’s ATP knowledge test (14 CFR 61.153), and a Part 121 First Officer must hold it, with the type rating, to fly as second in command (14 CFR 121.436). If you have not passed the test, the ATP bank for the ATM knowledge test, with its Part 121, transport performance and turbine-systems questions, comes first; Piedmont’s pages say it pays the course and the test for its cadets. We found no account of Piedmont’s interview stages, so prepare as for any US regional airline: the US airline interview set, whose hiring-process questions cover the FAA’s Pilot Records Database, and the CRM interview set for the behavioral questions, with the FAA instrument banks for the IFR regulations, charts and approaches a technical question draws on. Do the paperwork first: total your logbook against 1,500 hours, or the restricted ATP’s figure for your degree or military service, with the multi-engine and pilot-in-command time on their own lines, and keep your First Class medical, your FCC permit and your passport valid.

Piedmont has no interview guide on v1prep yet, so for the interview read the complete airline pilot interview guide and the Library’s competency-based pilot interviews and technical questions in airline interviews. If you are counting on the lower minimums, the restricted ATP explained sets out who qualifies at 750, 1,000 or 1,250 hours, and our FAA ATP written test guide covers the ATP-CTP and the test that follows it. The Library’s FAA Part 121 air carrier operations explains the rules a regional First Officer flies under, and airline pilot ranks, seniority and scheduling how the seniority behind upgrade and base bids works. To see where the flow leads, read American Airlines pilot requirements; to compare American’s other wholly owned regional with a page of its own, Envoy Air pilot requirements. The whole route from zero hours is on how to become an airline pilot in the USA. Check Piedmont’s entry on the jobs board for the latest status.

What we could not confirm

• Read on 24 October 2026 from Piedmont’s own pilot pages and FAQ, downloaded that day; the Direct Entry Captain postings and the American Airlines Cadet Academy terms rest on search-engine results only. Confirm the vacancy is still open before you apply.
• Whether Piedmont is recruiting Direct Entry Captains: its pilot page listed no Direct Entry Captain opening on 24 October 2026, and the Captain postings found were job boards’ copies with 2023 and 2024 pay scales, one marked closed, whose minimums differ (2,450 h with 950 h of upgrade-qualifying time in one, 2,000 h with 500–949 h or 2,500 h with 1,000 h in others)
• Whether a Direct Entry Captain bonus is offered now: Piedmont’s FAQ says there are no bonus incentives for High Time First Officers at this time, and the Captain bonuses in its news of 8 September 2023 were for pilots who applied by 31 December 2023
• Whether Piedmont pays for the ATP-CTP course and the ATP written for direct-entry First Officers: its pages say so only for cadets
• The terms of the flow agreement itself: Piedmont’s pages give an estimated five years and top-of-scale pay until the flow
• The length of new-hire training and any training bond
• A fleet count: the sources found disagree, and none is Piedmont’s own

These points are not published clearly by the airline. Treat them as leads, not facts, and confirm them on the careers page: careers page.

Common questions

Is Piedmont Airlines hiring pilots? Yes for First Officers, at the last check, on 24 October 2026: Piedmont’s First Officer page set out its minimum qualifications with a wage scale dated 29 June 2026, and its pilot page listed First Officer, High Time First Officer and cadet openings. Whether it is hiring Direct Entry Captains is unconfirmed: its pilot page listed no such opening, and the Captain postings we found were job boards’ copies with 2023 and 2024 pay scales, one marked closed. Confirm on Piedmont’s careers pages before you apply.

How many hours do you need to fly for Piedmont? 1,500 hours of flight time, with 50 hours multi-engine and 250 as pilot in command, or the restricted ATP’s requirements, as Piedmont’s First Officer page gave them on 24 October 2026. Under 14 CFR 61.160 the restricted ATP’s totals are 750 hours for a US military pilot, 1,000 for a qualifying bachelor’s degree with an aviation major and 1,250 for a qualifying associate degree, or a bachelor’s with fewer aviation credits. Piedmont’s own pages give 500 hours only as the figure at which cadets are admitted to its cadet program; some job boards’ copies of the First Officer posting give 500 hours, which Piedmont’s First Officer page does not, so go by Piedmont’s page.

Do you need a type rating to fly for Piedmont? No. Piedmont’s First Officer page lists none among its minimum qualifications, and its pilot pages say new First Officers train under its Advanced Qualification Program at the American Airlines Training Center. You do need to meet the requirements for an ATP or restricted ATP, and the certificate needs the ATP-CTP course and the ATP knowledge test; Piedmont’s pages say it pays those for its cadets.

How does the Piedmont flow to American work? Piedmont’s pilot page describes a company contractual flow to American Airlines, and its FAQ, on 24 October 2026, put the estimated flow time at five years: under the new pilot contract, Captains flow to American at five years or are paid at the top of the scale until they flow. American lists the flow-through from its wholly owned regionals, Envoy, Piedmont and PSA. We could not read the flow agreement itself, so ask Piedmont how it works now.

Does Piedmont have a cadet program? Yes. Piedmont’s FAQ and pilot pages, on 24 October 2026, say you apply with a commercial multi-engine certificate, an instrument rating and 400 hours of total time and are admitted with 500; cadets build their hours anywhere, at least 60 a month, receive USD 4,500 to help build them, and at the ATP minimums Piedmont pays the ATP-CTP course and the ATP written exam and guarantees a seat in a First Officer class with no additional interview. Cadets are not employees, and Piedmont says it is hiring a small number of them. American’s Cadet Academy also leads to a cadet place at Piedmont.