Commercial Pilot and ATP Certified Aviation Professional Business Cards

Commercial pilots, airline transport pilots (ATP), and certified flight instructors (CFI) are the FAA-certificated aviation professionals who fly commercial airlines, corporate jets, charter aircraft, cargo planes, helicopters, turboprops, and piston aircraft — and train the next generation of aviators through ground instruction and flight training. Aviation is one of the most extensively credentialed professions in the world: every pilot certificate, rating, type rating, and medical certificate has precise FAA regulatory requirements, and the specific combination of certificates, ratings, and flight hours a pilot holds defines exactly what they are authorized to fly and for what purpose.

What Aviation Professional Cards Include

Your FAA Certificates and Ratings

Pilot certificates (in ascending order):

• Student Pilot Certificate — entry-level; solo authorization; not typically on business cards
• Private Pilot Certificate (PPL) — first independent pilot certificate; authorizes private flight but not compensation; add aircraft category and class ratings (Airplane Single-Engine Land — ASEL, Multi-Engine Land — MEL, etc.)
• Instrument Rating (IR) — authorizes flight in IMC (Instrument Meteorological Conditions); added to PPL or CPL
• Commercial Pilot Certificate (CPL) — allows flight for compensation; required before working as a paid pilot; minimum 250 hours
• Certified Flight Instructor (CFI) — FAA certificated flight instructor; teach student pilots; requires passing CFI knowledge test and practical test (checkride)
• CFI-I (Certified Flight Instructor — Instrument) — additional rating to teach instrument flight training
• MEI (Multi-Engine Instructor) — additional rating to teach multi-engine flight
• Airline Transport Pilot (ATP) — the highest FAA pilot certificate; required for airline first officer (SIC ATP) and captain (PIC ATP); minimum 1,500 hours (R-ATP possible at 1,000 or 1,250 hours with military service or aviation degree); airline first officers now required to hold at least R-ATP
• R-ATP (Restricted ATP) — reduced minimums for aviation university graduates, military pilots, or Part 141 graduates

Aircraft category and class ratings:

• ASEL (Airplane Single-Engine Land)
• AMEL (Airplane Multi-Engine Land)
• ASES (Airplane Single-Engine Sea) — seaplane rating
• Rotorcraft — Helicopter — helicopter rating
• Glider — glider rating
• Sport Pilot Certificate — light sport aircraft

Type ratings:

• Type rating — specific to a particular aircraft requiring type rating (heavy aircraft, turbojet-powered aircraft, etc.)
• Common type ratings seen on cards: B737, A320, B777, CRJ, E145, CL65, PC12 — indicating specific aircraft the pilot is type-rated and current in
• Airline-specific type ratings reflect the specific fleets flown

FAA medical:

• First Class Medical Certificate — required for airline transport operations; must be current
• Second Class Medical Certificate — commercial operations
• Some pilots note "FAA First Class Medical" to signal airline-ready medical currency

Other aviation ratings and endorsements:

• CFII — CFI Instrument Instructor
• MEI — Multi-Engine Instructor
• FAA Gold Seal CFI — FAA recognition for CFI excellence (student pass rate)
• DPE (Designated Pilot Examiner) — FAA-designated examiner authorized to conduct practical tests (checkrides)

Drone / UAS:

• FAA Part 107 Remote Pilot Certificate — for commercial drone operations; some pilots note this
• FAA Part 107 certified — drone operations

Your Aviation Career and Specialty

Airline flying:

• Major airline (Part 121 carrier — Delta, United, American, Southwest, etc.)
• Regional airline (Part 121 — Endeavor Air, PSA, Piedmont, SkyWest, Mesa, Republic, CommutAir)
• Low-cost carrier
• Cargo airline (FedEx, UPS, Atlas, ATSG)
• First Officer vs. Captain

Corporate and business aviation:

• Corporate pilot (Part 91 — single-operator flight department)
• Charter pilot (Part 135 — air carrier operating certificate; on-demand charter)
• Fractional ownership pilot (NetJets, Flexjet, Wheels Up)
• VIP transport / VVIP charter
• Business jet aircraft types (Gulfstream G450/G550/G650, Bombardier Challenger/Global, Dassault Falcon, Embraer Phenom/Legacy/Lineage, Cessna Citation, Pilatus PC-12)

General aviation:

• Flight instructor (CFI, CFII, MEI)
• Charter or air taxi (Part 135)
• Aerial photography and survey
• Pipeline and powerline patrol
• Agricultural aviation (crop dusting — Air Ag pilots, NAAA member)
• Air ambulance (medical transport aviation, CAMTS)
• Firefighting aviation (air tankers, helitack)
• Glider / soaring instruction
• Seaplane and floatplane

Military aviation (veterans and guard/reserve):

• U.S. Air Force pilot (USAF)
• U.S. Navy pilot (USN) — carrier qualified
• U.S. Army aviation (Army Aviator badge)
• U.S. Marine Corps pilot (USMC)
• Military transport, fighter, helicopter, special operations

Flight training:

• Part 141 flight school instructor
• Part 61 independent instruction
• Ground school instructor
• FITS (FAA Industry Training Standards) authorized
• Instrument ground instructor (IGI)

Design for Aviation Professionals

Color palette:

• Navy + white: airline authority and professionalism
• Steel blue + white: aviation sky
• Dark charcoal + silver: corporate aviation elegance
• USAF blue + white: military aviation heritage

Back of Card

1. "ATP (Airline Transport Pilot) | FAA | CFI-I | MEI | Type: B737/A320/CL65 | First Class Medical"
2. "Airline | Corporate Part 91/135 | Charter | Air ambulance | Cargo | Flight instruction"
3. "ASEL/AMEL/Helicopter | IFR | Glass cockpit | RVSM | ETOPS | High altitude"
4. "[Total flight hours] hrs | [Turbine/Jet hours] | [PIC hours] | [Aircraft hours on type]"
5. "[Airline / operator] | [Base / domicile] | [ALPA member | FAPA | NBAA member] | [email] | [LinkedIn]"

Checklist

• [ ] Pilot certificate level (ATP, Commercial, CFI)
• [ ] Category/class ratings (ASEL, AMEL, helicopter, etc.)
• [ ] Type ratings (specific aircraft)
• [ ] Instructor ratings (CFI, CFII, MEI)
• [ ] FAA First Class Medical (if airline)
• [ ] Part 135 (charter) or Part 91 (corporate)
• [ ] Airline or operator affiliation
• [ ] Flight hours (if including for networking/career)
• [ ] Union membership (ALPA, TWUA)
• [ ] NBAA membership (corporate aviation)
• [ ] DPE (if examiner)
• [ ] FAA Part 107 (if drone)
• [ ] Gold Seal CFI (if instructor)