EASA Only
Terms governed by EASA / Part-FCL / Part-M / Part-145 / Part-CAMO with no significant FAA equivalent. Apply primarily to EU-registered aircraft and EU-certificated pilots.
Operational(3)
Pilot Flying / Pilot Monitoring (PF/PM)
Pilot Flying (PF) and Pilot Monitoring (PM) are the two operational roles in a multi-crew cockpit — the PF physically flies the aircraft while the PM runs checklists, communicates with ATC, monitors aircraft state, and cross-checks the PF's actions.
Rotables vs Consumables
Rotables and consumables are the two fundamental aviation parts classifications. Rotables are serial-numbered, repairable components removed, overhauled or repaired, and returned to service — each carrying individual life records and Form 1/8130-3 release documentation.
Squawk
A squawk is a mechanical discrepancy or defect in an aircraft reported by a pilot or mechanic, typically logged in the aircraft's maintenance records for corrective action.
Regulatory(24)
Acceptable Means of Compliance (AMC) & Guidance Material (GM)
AMC and GM are the non-binding EASA materials that accompany the binding aviation rules. An Acceptable Means of Compliance describes a way to comply that EASA accepts by default, while Guidance Material explains and illustrates how a rule should be understood.
Alternative Training and Qualification Programme (ATQP)
The Alternative Training and Qualification Programme (ATQP) was an EASA framework — originated by the UK CAA — that allowed Part-OPS commercial air transport operators to substitute a customised, competency-based, data-driven training programme for the prescriptive type-rating recurrent and operator-conversion requirements. ATQP has been largely superseded by Evidence-Based Training (EBT) under EASA Part-ORO.FC.231 amendments.
Approved Training Organization (ATO)
An Approved Training Organization (ATO) is a flight training provider certified by a national aviation authority under EASA or ICAO standards to deliver approved pilot training courses.
Certificate of Airworthiness (EASA CofA)
An EASA Certificate of Airworthiness (CofA) is the Part-21 document certifying that an individual aircraft conforms to its approved type design and is in condition for safe operation. It is issued once and stays valid while the aircraft is properly maintained and its Airworthiness Review Certificate is kept current.
Competent Authority (National Aviation Authority)
The competent authority is the body responsible in each EASA member state for certifying and overseeing aviation organizations and licence holders — usually the national aviation authority. For organizations based outside the EU, EASA itself acts as the competent authority.
Continuing Airworthiness Management Organisation (CAMO)
A CAMO (Continuing Airworthiness Management Organization) is an EASA-approved organization responsible for managing the continuing airworthiness of aircraft, ensuring they remain safe to fly through proper maintenance planning, record-keeping, and regulatory compliance.
Declared Training Organization (DTO)
A Declared Training Organization (DTO) is a lighter-weight EASA flight training provider that operates by declaration rather than full certification, authorized to offer PPL and LAPL training courses.
EASA Basic Regulation (EU) 2018/1139
The EASA Basic Regulation, Regulation (EU) 2018/1139, is the foundational EU law that established the current European Union Aviation Safety Agency and sets the essential requirements for civil aviation safety across member states. Every EASA Part-regulation derives its authority from it.
FIR (Flight Information Region)
A Flight Information Region (FIR) is a defined volume of airspace, designated under ICAO Annex 11 §2.1 and ICAO Doc 4444, within which a single air traffic services authority provides Flight Information Service (FIS) and Alerting Service (ALRS) — the foundational unit of global airspace organization.
Flight Training Organisation (FTO)
A Flight Training Organization (FTO) is an ICAO and legacy EASA term for an approved organization that provides flight crew training under a structured and regulated curriculum.
Head of Training (HoT)
The Head of Training (HoT) is the EASA-nominated postholder at an Approved Training Organization who carries personal regulatory accountability for the standardization, conduct, and quality of all training delivered.
Operations Manual
An Operations Manual is the regulator-required, controlled document that describes how an air operator or training organization actually conducts its operations, including procedures, responsibilities, and limitations.
Part 145 (EASA Maintenance Organisation)
Part 145 is the EASA regulation that establishes the requirements for organizations approved to perform maintenance, repair, and overhaul (MRO) on aircraft, engines, and components.
Part M (EASA Continuing Airworthiness)
Part M is the EASA regulation that establishes the requirements for the continuing airworthiness of aircraft, including maintenance planning, airworthiness reviews, and the responsibilities of aircraft owners and CAMO organizations.
Part-147 (EASA Maintenance Training Organisation)
Part-147 is the EASA approval for organizations that deliver aircraft-maintenance-licence basic training and type training feeding the Part-66 licence. It is set out in Annex IV to Commission Regulation (EU) No 1321/2014 and should not be confused with the FAA's Part 147, which regulates a different system despite sharing the number.
Part-21 (Design and Production Organisations)
Part-21 is the EASA regulation, found in Annex I to Commission Regulation (EU) No 748/2012, that governs the airworthiness certification of aircraft, parts and appliances and the approval of Design Organisations (DOA) and Production Organisations (POA). It is the initial-airworthiness counterpart to the continuing-airworthiness rules in Part-M and Part-ML.
Part-66 Aircraft Maintenance Licence (AML)
Part-66 is the EASA regulation that governs the Aircraft Maintenance Licence (AML), the personal licence held by maintenance staff who are authorized to certify aircraft as fit to fly by signing the Certificate of Release to Service. It sits in Annex III of Commission Regulation (EU) No 1321/2014.
Part-CAO (Combined Airworthiness Organisation)
A Combined Airworthiness Organisation (CAO) is a single EASA approval, set out in Annex Vd to Commission Regulation (EU) No 1321/2014, that lets one organization hold both continuing-airworthiness management and maintenance privileges for non-complex general-aviation aircraft under one certificate.
Part-FCL
Part-FCL (Flight Crew Licensing) is the EASA regulation that establishes the requirements for the issue, revalidation, and renewal of flight crew licenses and ratings in European aviation.
Part-IS (Information Security Management)
Part-IS is the EASA requirement that obliges aviation organizations to manage information-security risks that could affect aviation safety, introduced by Delegated Regulation (EU) 2022/1645 and Implementing Regulation (EU) 2023/203. It requires each affected organization to run an Information Security Management System (ISMS) covering risk assessment, incident detection, response, and reporting.
Part-ML (Light Aircraft Continuing Airworthiness)
Part-ML is the simplified EASA continuing-airworthiness regime for light general-aviation aircraft, set out in Annex Vb to Commission Regulation (EU) No 1321/2014. It reduces the maintenance-management burden for smaller aeroplanes and helicopters that are not operated on a commercial air transport AOC.
Part-ORO (Air Operations — Organisation Requirements)
Part-ORO is the set of organisation requirements for air operators under the EASA Air Operations Regulation, contained in Annex III to Commission Regulation (EU) No 965/2012. It governs operator certification, the management system, crew, the operations manual, and related organizational obligations that underpin the operational rules in Part-CAT, Part-NCC, and Part-SPO.
SPO (Specialised Operations)
SPO stands for Specialised Operations under EASA regulations, covering commercial aviation activities other than air transport — including aerial work, HEMS, and other mission-specific flying.
Third-Country Licence Conversion (EASA)
Third-country licence conversion is the EASA process by which the holder of a non-EASA (ICAO) pilot licence obtains an equivalent Part-FCL licence. It is distinct from validation, a temporary acceptance of a foreign licence, and from the broader FAA-and-EASA topic of general licence conversion.
Training(19)
APS-MCC (Airline Pilot Standard Multi-Crew Cooperation)
The Airline Pilot Standard MCC (APS-MCC) is an enhanced EASA multi-crew cooperation course, defined in AMC1 FCL.735.A and the European Aviation Safety Agency's Decision 2015/021/R, that extends the standard 25-hour MCC syllabus with airline-style scenario training, jet-orientation handling, performance training, and competency-based assessment to bring frozen-ATPL graduates to the operational standard expected by airline cadet assessment programmes.
Basic Instrument Rating (BIR)
The Basic Instrument Rating (BIR) is a simplified, fully competency-based EASA Part-FCL instrument rating for single-pilot non-high-performance aeroplanes. It was introduced to make instrument flying more accessible to private pilots, has no fixed minimum flight-hour requirement, and is valid only within EASA member states — it is not an ICAO-compliant instrument rating.
Class Rating
A class rating is a regulatory authorization permitting a pilot to fly a specific class of aircraft, such as single-engine piston, multi-engine piston, or single-engine seaplane.
Competency-Based Instrument Rating (CB-IR)
The Competency-Based Instrument Rating (CB-IR(A)) is a modular EASA Part-FCL pathway to the aeroplane Instrument Rating that credits a pilot's prior instrument experience to reduce required training. It confers exactly the same privileges as the traditional IR and is assessed by the same skill test, but its flight-training minimum is lower and its theoretical-knowledge syllabus is more flexible.
Core Competencies (ICAO / IATA / EASA)
Core competencies are the finite set of pilot performance domains — typically nine, defined by ICAO and adopted by IATA and EASA — that together describe what a competent flight crew member does, and against which Competency-Based Training and Assessment is graded.
Crew Resource Management (CRM)
Crew Resource Management (CRM) is the discipline — born from accident analysis in the late 1970s — of using all available resources (information, equipment, and people) to achieve safe and efficient flight, codified into mandatory training under EASA Part-ORO and FAA Advisory Circular 120-51E.
EASA Assessment of Competence (Instructor Competencies, FCL.920)
The EASA Assessment of Competence is the practical and oral examination an instructor candidate must pass to be issued or revalidate a flight-instructor certificate under Part-FCL. It is built on the instructor competencies defined in FCL.920 — the "teaching and learning" abilities an instructor must demonstrate — and is the EASA counterpart to the FAA's Fundamentals of Instructing and CFI framework.
Evidence-Based Training (EBT)
Evidence-Based Training (EBT) is the recurrent-training methodology defined in ICAO Doc 9995 and EASA AMC1 ORO.FC.231 that replaces fixed maneuver-based recurrent checking with training and assessment built from analysis of actual operational data.
JOC (Jet Orientation Course)
A Jet Orientation Course is a non-licence training programme — typically 10 to 20 hours of FSTD time supplemented by ground school — that introduces frozen-ATPL graduates to jet aircraft handling, high-altitude performance, swept-wing aerodynamics, and airline standard operating procedures, bridging the gap between piston-twin commercial training and airline type-rating entry.
Light Aircraft Pilot Licence (LAPL)
The Light Aircraft Pilot Licence (LAPL) is an EASA pilot license designed for recreational flying in light aircraft, offering a lower-cost and less complex pathway to piloting than the traditional PPL.
MEP (Multi-Engine Piston Class Rating)
The Multi-Engine Piston (MEP) class rating is the EASA Part-FCL class rating, defined under FCL.725 and the class rating structure in Appendix 9 to Part-FCL, that authorises the holder of a Private Pilot Licence (PPL), Commercial Pilot Licence (CPL), or higher to operate single-pilot multi-engine piston aeroplanes — typically light twins in the under-5,700-kg MTOM range — with separate land (MEP(land)) and sea (MEP(sea)) variants.
Multi-Pilot Licence (MPL)
The Multi-Pilot Licence (MPL) is an ab-initio pilot license introduced by ICAO in 2006 (ICAO Doc 9868, PANS-TRG) and codified in EASA regulation under Part-FCL FCL.405.A and FCL.410.A, together with Appendix 5 to Part-FCL, creating a competency-based pathway directly from zero flight hours to type-rated airline first officer on a specific multi-pilot aircraft type.
Night Rating
A night rating is an additional qualification under EASA and certain other regulatory frameworks that authorizes a pilot to exercise the privileges of their license during nighttime hours, which is not included in the base PPL or LAPL privileges outside the United States.
PBN Endorsement (Performance-Based Navigation, Part-FCL)
The PBN endorsement is the pilot-side EASA privilege, held on the instrument rating under Part-FCL, confirming a pilot has been trained and assessed to fly Performance-Based Navigation (RNAV/RNP) procedures. Since 2020 it is a required part of every EASA instrument rating.
Rating Revalidation vs Renewal (EASA FCL.740)
Under EASA Part-FCL FCL.740, revalidation means keeping a class or type rating alive before it expires — by proficiency check or, for certain ratings, by experience. Renewal is what you must do after a rating has already lapsed: refresher training determined by an ATO or DTO plus a proficiency check. The distinction turns on whether the rating is still valid on the day you act.
Single-Engine Piston (SEP) Class Rating
The Single-Engine Piston (SEP) class rating is the most common EASA Part-FCL aeroplane class rating, covering single-engine piston landplanes. It is valid for two years and can be revalidated either by a proficiency check or, uniquely among the common ratings, by experience — flying a defined amount in the year before expiry plus a short training flight with an instructor.
Skill Test
A skill test is the EASA practical examination conducted by an authorized examiner to assess a pilot candidate's competency for the initial issue of a license, rating, or certificate, serving as the European equivalent of the FAA checkride.
Training Management System (TMS) in Aviation
A Training Management System (TMS) is the software that runs the training operation at a flight school, ATO, airline cadet program, or air training centre — holding the syllabus, scheduling lessons and instructors, capturing competencies and grades, and producing audit-ready training records for FAA, EASA, UK CAA, CASA, and other authorities.
Type Rating
A type rating is an authorization added to a pilot certificate or license that qualifies the holder to act as pilot in command of a specific type of complex, high-performance, or large aircraft that requires specialized training beyond a standard class rating.
Business(3)
Block-Time Charter
A block-time charter is a commercial aviation arrangement in which a customer pre-purchases a defined quantity of flight hours — typically 25 to 200 hours — for use over a contract period, at a fixed per-hour rate, from a certificated charter operator. It is distinct from per-trip charter, fractional ownership, and wet lease.
Cadet Program and Bonded Training
A cadet program is an airline-sponsored ab-initio pilot training pipeline that recruits zero-time candidates and trains them to First Officer standard; bonded training is any arrangement in which the training cost is sponsored by an employer against a contractual service commitment, with liquidated damages provisions if the pilot leaves before the bond period expires.
Maintenance, Repair, and Overhaul (MRO)
An MRO (Maintenance, Repair, and Overhaul) organization is a certified facility that performs maintenance, inspections, repairs, and overhauls on aircraft, engines, and components.