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Is there any chance to have unified licenses in the near future?

Thinking about all the challenges with European pilots wanting to fly in the US and the other way around, N-registered aircraft in Europe, etc. I was wondering if there is even an idea of unifying the licenses in the world. From what I’ve heard I suspect it is not even considered but it’s interesting if the question has ever been raised.

Of course I understand that there are different standards and requirements but wouldn’t it be nice to have the pilot’s license and not an XYZ country/region pilot’s license?

Last Edited by Vladimir at 04 Aug 09:11
LSZH, LSZF, Switzerland

My view: Yes it would be nice and no it will never happen.

It has been raised on many a pilot’s forum, and closer alignment of major authorities is underway (FAA & EASA), but it’s way short of unification.

Darley Moor, Gamston (UK)

You can fly a plane worldwide (ICAO Contracting States, about 200 of them) if the country which issued your license+rating is the same as the country of aircraft reg.

That applies to VFR and IFR, non-commercial, non-instruction.

That is e.g. how bizjets fly worldwide.

And the pilot(s) can be paid if they have CPLs and they are flying the owner around. It gets a bit more “grey” if the passengers are not related to the owner… but it happens a lot.

Commercial stuff is regulated locally (and bilaterally e.g. airline routes) and instruction is regulated differently in each country.

I think EASA has (or is going to) unified the instruction side of things in as much as you can use an instructor in any EASA country for revalidation or training, but there are many exceptions to this right now. The national CAAs are trying to prevent such a unification.

In addition to the above, some countries allow their own reg aircraft to be flown on any ICAO license. For example, until recently, the UK allowed a G-reg to be flown worldwide VFR (and IFR too if you had an ICAO IR, but only OCAS). That ended a few years ago but continues for “non EASA” aircraft e.g. Annex 2. Most such countries require a formal validation; the UK was unusual in making it automatic (via an article in the ANO). Greece allowed an SX-reg to be flown worldwide IFR if you had a Greek PPL and any ICAO IR – that ended a few years ago too.

There are many practical exceptions to the above but they aren’t related to pilot licensing. For example only civilised countries allow free overflight and landings. Africa mostly requires permits for these two. So if you fly from say UK to Cape Town, you get as far as Greece and then you need to buy permits, from overflight agents. It becomes a significant logistical / money throwing exercise. Plenty have done it, but all those I spoke to used overflight agents to book the whole lot (as well as positioning avgas drums in some places). Most of the accounts of such trips forget to mention the overflight agents.

Administrator
Shoreham EGKA, United Kingdom

The case that lead me to thinking about this was the possibility to fly in the US (which I asked about here). The general opinion is that if one wants to fly in the US the easiest way is to get a US license and rent a plane there. That might work with people having the possibility to stay there 6 months using the first to get the license and then the rest to fly around. But if you have a normal 2 week holiday and have to make a US license just to make five flights, it is a bit too much of an effort. Of course you can bring your EASA registered plane with you but that’s not very realistic for a short trip either.

Now compare that with the option to have a worldwide license with which you could go, make a check flight and rent a plane the same day, no matter in which country you are. Wouldn’t that be nice?

Last Edited by Vladimir at 04 Aug 12:18
LSZH, LSZF, Switzerland

It would indeed. And ICAO recognition does work in some countries.

But I suppose the problem comes down to individual countries wanting to retain control about who is licenced to fly in their country, and the standards achieved to get and retain that licence.

Imagine for a second that you could get an FAA licence and fly anywhere with that.

If it was percieved as easier to get or maintain, and came with no restrictions over say a German licence, then perhaps everyone in Germany would get one instead of a German licence. The German authorities would probably become a bit annoyed about the fact that their country was full of pilots flying around, but they had no knowledge of them or no control over them and no say in the standards that they reached.

Imagine such a pilot making frequent violations (airspace busts, or landing at German airfields without someone present…yes that’s not allowed there!) but all they could do was prosecute and fine them. They had no control over the licence, other than to ask the Americans to do something about them.

That’s probably why most states seek to keep control themselves.

EIWT Weston, Ireland

What you need to get for holiday purposes is the US 61.75 license which is based on your European license. It takes half a day between picking it up at the FSDO and the theory and flight check. It then remains valid for as long as your Swiss license is.

@dublinpilot: What comes in mind are drivers licenses. I don’t need to revalidate my European license to drive in the US, nor the other way around. And it still works somehow.

@Shorrick_Mk2: Good to know about that one.

LSZH, LSZF, Switzerland

You don’t need to revalidate the driver license as the Vienna conventions on road traffic ensure mutual recognition between member states’ residents. However, and therein lies the catch: much like what Europe threatens to do with FAA licenses, once you become resident of another member state you have one year to get a local driver’s license.

Shorrick_Mk2 wrote:

you have one year to get a local driver’s license

By giving your current one and getting a new one in a week. No theory or practice exams. And not an issue e.g. for a six month stay.

LSZH, LSZF, Switzerland

Vladimir wrote:

That might work with people having the possibility to stay there 6 months using the first to get the license and then the rest to fly around. But if you have a normal 2 week holiday and have to make a US license just to make five flights, it is a bit too much of an effort.

I do not think this is the way it works. In order to obtain a FAA license based on a foreign license (FAR 61.75) you start the application process on-line or by contacting the FAA Airmen Certification Branch by e-mail. The FAA sends a request to the NAA that issued your license asking for license verification. Your NAA may bill you for this service. The initial phase takes 3 months. In your application you must designate the FSDO (Flight Standards District Office) you want to visit for the issuance of your pilot’s license.

You will find the detailed procedure here.

When I applied to convert my FAA paper certificate to the new plastic format, the FSDO required that I had a US Medical certificate, although according to the FARs I am not required to have a US medical to exercise the privileges of my FAR 61.75 license. So I am not sure whether a US medical is really required, or whether it was just an over-zealous FSDO employee. As a matter of fact, they also indicated they would require an English language test because the NAA had indicated in the verification letter that I had not passed the English Language Proficiency check. When I showed up at the FSDO there was no mention of the English test, and when I asked, the inspector said it was obvious that I spoke English well enough and that no test was required.

LFPT, LFPN
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