Guide to Check a Commercial Pilot's Credentials

1Become familiar with the minimum experience and education the pilots with the airline on which you are traveling must have. The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) dictates that any person flying a commercial aircraft must have a commercial certificate with instrument rating, but each airline sets its own requirements for minimum experience. The FAA requires commercial pilots to have flown at least 250 hours, but many airlines may require 1,000 hours or more of flight time.
Make a call to the airline's customer service line. Ask how many flight hours their pilots are required to have before they are hired. You can also inquire as to whether or not the airline's pilots are required to have a college degree.
Additionally, there are aviation job search companies that do research on the hiring requirements and trends of all U.S. airlines. You can find information from many of these organizations via an Internet search as well as in flight industry publications.

2Remember that at any time before or during your flight you are completely within your rights to ask the pilot to produce documentation proving that he is qualified to man a commercial flight.
One item the pilot must always have in his or her possession while flying is a commercial Pilots certificate. This document proves that the pilot has in most cases at least the 250 hours of flight time experience required by the FAA, and will also note that he or she has taken and passed the tests necessary to be a qualified commercial pilot. To fly as a captain for any major airline the pilot must have an ATP licence as well as his commercial pilots licence. This is the top tier pilots licence and requires 1500 hours of flight experience and is very difficult to get.

3Go beyond the pilot if you're not comfortable discussing credentials with him or her; ask to speak to a supervisor with the airline or company you are using. Whether you're flying with a commercial airline or have commissioned a charter plane, the company with which the pilot is employed should be able to quickly provide you with documentation of the pilot's credentials. If the company is unable to do so, you should contact the FAA right away.