Type Rating Explained — Boeing 737, A320, 777, 787

Ask any pilot what stands between a fresh commercial licence and the right-hand seat of an airliner, and the answer is almost always the same two words: type rating. It is the single most expensive line item in most pilots' careers, the qualification airlines actually hire against, and one of the most misunderstood parts of professional flying. This guide explains what a type rating really is, when the regulations demand one, and how the four ratings that dominate the airline world — the Boeing 737, the Airbus A320, the Boeing 777 and the Boeing 787 — actually differ in structure, duration and cost.

What a type rating actually is

A licence tells a regulator what you are qualified to do. A rating tells it what you are qualified to do it in. A type rating is an aircraft-specific qualification added to your licence, confirming that you have been trained and checked on one particular aircraft type — its systems, its limitations, its normal and non-normal procedures, and its handling.

Light aircraft do not need this level of granularity, which is why they are grouped into class ratings. Airliners do. Under the FAA's rules, 14 CFR 61.31(a) states that a person acting as pilot in command of a large aircraft (other than lighter-than-air), a turbojet-powered airplane, or a powered-lift must hold a type rating for that aircraft. The FAA's definition of a large aircraft is one with a maximum certificated takeoff weight of more than 12,500 lb — but note the second clause: any turbojet airplane requires a type rating regardless of weight, which is why even a small business jet demands one.

Europe reaches the same destination by a different route. Under EASA's Part-FCL, FCL.010 defines what constitutes a "type of aircraft" and FCL.700 sets out the circumstances in which a class or type rating is required. EASA then publishes a Type Rating and Licence Endorsement List that names every aircraft, the exact wording of the endorsement that goes on your licence, and whether the aircraft is single-pilot or multi-pilot certified. If you want to know precisely what your European licence will say after a course, that list is the authoritative answer.

One rating, many aeroplanes: types, variants and differences training

Here is the detail that trips up most people researching their first rating. A type rating does not always mean "one rating, one aeroplane." Manufacturers deliberately build flight-deck commonality across a family, and regulators reward that by grouping aircraft as variants under a single licence endorsement.

EASA's own explanatory notes to the type rating list spell out how this works. Where several aircraft models appear under the same licence endorsement, they are variants of the same type. Variants that are separated by a horizontal line in the table require differences training — additional knowledge plus training on an appropriate training device or the aircraft — when you move between them. Variants sitting in the same cell require only familiarisation, which is additional knowledge alone.

The worked example EASA gives is, conveniently, the 737 itself: moving from the 737-500 series to the 737-600 series requires differences training, while moving between the 737-300 and 737-400 requires only familiarisation. The practical upshot is that one endorsement can carry you across an enormous range of airframes — but not for free, and not automatically.

The Boeing 737 type rating

The 737 is the workhorse rating of the narrowbody world. On the EASA list, the modern 737 family sits under a single licence endorsement covering the -300 through -900 series plus the 737-8 (MAX) as variants of the same type, classified as a multi-pilot, complex aircraft with Operational Suitability Data published for flight crew. The older 737-100/-200 sit under their own separate endorsement.

What that means in practice: a pilot rated on the 737 NG does not start from scratch to fly the MAX. Because the MAX is a variant rather than a separate type, the transition is handled through a differences course rather than a full new type rating. Training providers accordingly sell "B737 NG", "B737 MAX" and "B737 differences" as distinct products, and which one you need depends entirely on what your target airline flies.

If the 737 is your goal, it is worth understanding the airframe as well as the syllabus — and if the aeroplane has already got under your skin, our Boeing 737 collection is where most 737 pilots end up eventually.

The Airbus A320 type rating

The A320 is the 737's opposite number and, on current order books, the best-selling commercial aircraft family ever built — Airbus reported the family passing 20,000 cumulative orders in 2026. Its commercial dominance is exactly why the A320 rating is the most widely sold type rating in Europe.

The A320's design philosophy pays a dividend on your licence: a single type rating lets you fly the A319, A320 and A321, because the flight decks are close to identical (with differences training applied where the EASA list requires it, for instance across certain ceo and neo variants). Beyond the family, Airbus's Cross Crew Qualification (CCQ) lets an A320 pilot step up to the fly-by-wire widebodies on a shortened course rather than a full standalone rating — a genuine career asset that the Boeing narrowbody world does not replicate in quite the same way.

Concrete numbers help. BAA Training, one of the larger European ATOs, publishes an A320 course of 171 hours over 35 days — 21 days of theory, 14 days of simulator practice and one day of base training. Its published entry requirements are equally instructive, and they are typical of the industry:

• 70 hours as pilot-in-command of an aeroplane
• A valid CPL with ATPL theory credit, or a full ATPL
• Valid multi-engine and instrument ratings
• A valid Class 1 medical certificate
• MCC and Advanced UPRT (for EASA pilots, on the first type rating)

That MCC and UPRT line is the one candidates forget to budget for. The Advanced UPRT requirement applies only to your first type rating, but it is a hard gate: without it, the ATO cannot start you. It is also the point at which most people discover how much of the ATPL theory they have quietly forgotten — which is why it pays to keep the knowledge warm with free ATPL practice questions in the months between passing exams and walking into ground school. Enthusiasts on the other side of the fence can browse our Airbus A320 collection.

The Boeing 777 and 787: a genuine common type rating

The 777 and 787 are the most interesting case on this list, because they are not one aeroplane and not quite two either.

The two jets hold separate type certificates — different airframes, different engines, different systems architecture. Yet the FAA's 787 Flight Standardization Board evaluated them and determined, in accordance with AC 120-53A, that they share common design features, flight-deck similarities and comparable handling characteristics, qualifying them for a common pilot type rating. This is documented in FAA InFO 11016, and European ATOs likewise market the qualification as a combined B777/787 licence endorsement.

Three details from that FAA document matter enormously if you are planning a widebody career:

1. The rating is not automatic. Holding a 777 endorsement does not entitle you to add the 787 without the required training and checking. To earn the 787 endorsement you must be current and qualified on the 777, complete the minimum 787 differences course, and pass the 787 partial proficiency check.
2. The differences training is validated at Level D — meaning a full-motion, full-visual simulator with scenario-based, real-time assessment, not a classroom exercise.
3. The bridge only runs one way. The FAA's 787 FSB validated the 777 → 787 differences course only. As InFO 11016 states plainly, a 787 → 777 differences course is not available, and a 777 type rating cannot be awarded through one.

That asymmetry has real career consequences. A 777 pilot can reach the 787 quickly; a 787 pilot cannot reach the 777 by the same shortcut. If both aircraft are on your airline's fleet plan, the direction you enter the family from is worth thinking about carefully.

Course length follows the same logic. European providers advertising the B777/787 rating typically split it into a standard transition course — on the order of ten days of ground school followed by roughly a week of simulator training, skill test and zero-flight-time training — and a much shorter reduced course to the 787 for pilots who already hold the 777, where the computer-based syllabus covers only the differences between the two aircraft.

What a type rating costs in 2026

This is where honest answers get uncomfortable, because the price depends less on the aeroplane than on where you buy it and who pays.

As a concrete, published data point: at the time of writing BAA Training lists its A320 type rating at €15,500, discounted to €10,300 under a limited-time offer, with base training excluded. Across the wider European market, advertised prices for narrowbody ratings commonly run from roughly €14,000 at Eastern European schools to €35,000 or more in Western Europe, with the 737 typically sitting a few thousand euros above a comparable A320 course simply because fewer providers offer it. In the United States, published 737 programmes are commonly quoted in the $10,000–$30,000 band. Treat all of these as starting points for a quote, not as a price list: currency, simulator availability, base training, accommodation and line training are all variables.

The bigger financial question is who signs the cheque. Self-sponsoring a rating buys you flexibility and costs you a lot of money for a qualification that is only valuable if an airline hires you on that type. An airline-bonded rating costs you far less up front but ties you to an employer for a defined period. Neither is universally correct — but going into that decision without understanding the difference between a type, a variant and a differences course is how pilots end up paying twice.

Choosing your first type rating

Strip away the marketing and the decision comes down to three questions:

• What do the airlines you can realistically apply to actually fly? A rating is only an asset where there is demand for it. Research your regional market before your preference.
• Where does the type lead? The A320 opens the Airbus CCQ path to the widebodies. The 737 leads into the largest narrowbody fleet in the world. The 777 is the entry point to the 777/787 common rating — in that order, not the reverse.
• Is anyone else paying? A cadet programme or an airline-sponsored rating almost always beats a speculative self-funded course, even if it means waiting.

The complete roadmap, from zero to the flight deck

A type rating is the last step of a long ladder, not the first. If you are still working out how the licences, hour requirements, medicals and airline selection processes fit together, our own book — How to Become an Airline Pilot ($20.99) — is the complete step-by-step guide, written by an active Boeing 737 captain who has been through every gate described above.

It covers licence pathways, realistic costs, how to time your type rating, and how to present yourself in an airline assessment — the practical knowledge that no regulation document will give you.

The short version

A type rating is a regulatory requirement, not a marketing upsell: the FAA mandates one for large and turbojet aircraft, and EASA does the same through Part-FCL. But it is not one rating per aeroplane. The 737 endorsement spans the -300 through -900 and the MAX as variants. The A320 rating covers the A319, A320 and A321 and opens the door to Airbus CCQ. And the 777 and 787 — separate type certificates, separate airframes — share a common pilot type rating that runs, officially, in only one direction.

Understand those distinctions before you spend a euro, and you will make a far better decision than the pilot who simply books the cheapest course they can find.