Fresh out of high school a friend and I worked at a local restaurant serving tables. My friend told our boss that he was getting his private pilot’s license and had plans to work his way up. Our boss guffawed and told him he wouldn’t amount to anything. Ten years later he was flying 747s out of Hong Kong.
You can technically fly a 747 with just a private pilot’s license. One of my aviation magazines covered it a few months ago. There is the license and then there are ratings like multi-engines and jets. The “higher” licenses like Air Transport Pilot allow you to carry paying passengers. If you have enough money to buy a $250,000,000 million dollar 747 and only want to use it for fun, a private pilot’s license can let you do that as long as you get the right type rating. You cannot however, carry paying passengers unless they just want to split the fuel cost on a plane that carries 500,000 pounds of fuel.
I figured the dude was telling his boss that he planned to start with his private license then work his way up through the rest of the qualifications.