How Long Does It Take For New Pilots To Become Airline Captains?

The dream job of many young aviators is to one day sit in the seat in the left seat of an airliner. Upgrading to captain takes years of training and thousands of hours of flying. The time needed to upgrade to captain depends on the pilot’s country, the airline, and the path the pilot takes to get to the airline. Here’s a rough estimate of how long it takes to become a captain and what goes into the upgrade.