As an important methodology to describe plastic deformation behavior of anisotropic heterogeneous materials at the mesoscale， the crystal plasticity （CP） model can predict the macroscopic mechanical properties of crystal materials based on their microstructures， and play a part in the development of new alloys for aerospace applications. The development history of various CP models is summarized. In particular， the similarities and differences between the phenomenological CP model and the physically based CP model are compared and analyzed in terms of flow rules， hardening model， and internal state variable evolution. Then， the practical application of CP finite element method （CPFEM） for the prediction of metal fatigue life is introduced. This method relies on the fatigue indicator parameters and life evaluation criteria. Typical efforts for predicting the fatigue crack initiation life of aerospace metals by CPFEM are overviewed to demonstrate the predictive ability and appropriateness of various models. Finally， an outlook on the future development tendency of CP model and its applications， as well as the related research directions which need to be strengthened， is provided.