MCC vs APS MCC: Which Course Do You Need?

If you are approaching the end of your training, you have probably seen both terms on training-organisation websites: MCC and APS MCC. They sound almost the same, they overlap heavily, and the price difference is real — so which one do you actually need? The honest answer depends on where you are heading, and this guide will help you decide.

Both courses teach the same core skill: how to operate a modern airliner as part of a two-pilot crew rather than flying single-handed. But they were designed with different goals in mind, and over the last few years the industry has increasingly leaned towards the newer, more demanding option. Here is what separates them.

The standard MCC — the regulatory foundation

Multi Crew Cooperation (MCC) is the long-established course required under EASA rules before you can hold a multi-pilot type rating or an ATPL. It teaches the fundamentals of crew operation: task-sharing between Pilot Flying and Pilot Monitoring, standardised communication, Crew Resource Management, and working to shared procedures and checklists.

A standard MCC consists of a minimum of 25 hours of theoretical instruction and around 20 hours in a qualified simulator. It satisfies the legal requirement — with an MCC certificate you are eligible to progress to a type rating. For decades this was all a new pilot needed.

APS MCC — built to close the readiness gap

APS MCC stands for Airline Pilot Standard MCC. It was introduced by EASA in 2019, developed by an industry working group that was chaired by an airline head of training, precisely because airlines had noticed a problem: too many licensed graduates were arriving at assessments and type-rating courses under-prepared, and failure rates were high. The standard MCC, they concluded, no longer bridged the gap between training and the airline flight deck.

APS MCC builds directly on the MCC foundation but goes considerably further:

• Roughly double the simulator time — around 40 hours instead of 20, so you spend far longer actually flying a jet.
• Airline-style operating procedures from day one — you train the way a real airline operates, using their style of SOPs, callouts and flows.
• More advanced scenarios — realistic line-oriented flight scenarios, upset prevention and recovery, and demanding failure management.
• A formal competency-based assessment at the end — you are graded against defined airline pilot competencies, giving airlines an objective benchmark of your readiness.

Why airlines increasingly ask for APS MCC

From an airline's point of view, APS MCC reduces risk. A candidate who has completed it has flown more, trained to airline procedures, and passed a standardised competency assessment — so they are a safer bet to pass a type rating and line training without costly extra hours. That is why a growing number of European carriers, including well-known low-cost airlines, now list APS MCC as a preferred or required qualification for First Officer recruitment.

It also helps you directly. As we covered in our article on airline assessments, around half of new graduates fail their first assessment, very often because 20 hours of MCC simply does not provide enough jet handling to perform under pressure. The additional hours in an APS MCC are exactly what build the fluency and confidence an assessment demands.

So which should you choose?

There is no single right answer — it depends on your goal:

• Choose standard MCC if you simply need to satisfy the regulatory minimum before a specific type rating — for example, if you already have an airline place secured and they only require MCC, or a type-rating course that includes its own airline-oriented training.
• Choose APS MCC if you are heading to open airline assessments and want to stand out, or you want the maximum jet handling and confidence before your first airline job. If an airline you are targeting lists it as preferred or required, the decision is made for you.

One practical point on cost: APS MCC is more expensive because of the additional simulator hours — but those hours are exactly what most new pilots are short of. Viewed as assessment preparation rather than just a certificate, the extra investment often pays for itself by improving your chances the first time round.

If you are unsure which fits your situation, the best step is to talk it through with a training organisation against your specific career plan — including which airlines you are aiming for and what they require.