Akasa Air Pilot Interview Prep: Stages, Sim, Questions (2026 Guide)

Last updated: 2 November 2026

Akasa Air, the Mumbai-based airline that flies only the Boeing 737 MAX, recruits First Officers through two doors, as its “Hiring Pilots” page lists them: experienced First Officers with at least 500 hours of jet or turboprop flying, and freshers who already hold a valid B737 type rating. It also names the parts of its selection, a pre-employment assessment of a personal interview, a psychological assessment and a drug test, a simulator evaluation and an interactive session with the Pilot Recruitment Team. This guide sets out which door fits your hours and how to prepare for each part.

Note for Captains and cadets: Akasa’s pilot page shows no Captain track; it has promoted its own First Officers to Captain since September 2023. Its ab-initio SkyCadet Programme was closed to applications at the last check, so this guide is for licensed pilots.

At the last check, on 2 November 2026, search results still showed Akasa’s “Hiring Pilots” page with both First Officer tracks and no closing date. The live page refuses our requests, and the latest copy we could read in full is the Internet Archive’s of 18 April 2026, so we could not confirm that both tracks are taking applications now. Check the airline pilot jobs board for the current position.

About Akasa Air

Akasa flies one type, the Boeing 737 MAX, in two versions: the 737-8 and the 737-8-200, which can have an extra mid exit door on each side, raising its maximum to 202 passengers on EASA’s type certificate data sheet; the FAA’s Flight Standardization Board found it functionally equivalent to the 737-8 (the Library’s 737 NG and MAX differences and 737 doors, exits and emergency equipment). Its 42nd aircraft, of the 226 it has ordered, arrived on 1 September 2026 (Free Press Journal). It flies from bases in Bengaluru and Mumbai, where its head office is, and, since 27 October 2025, Delhi. Its pilot page names no base for new First Officers, so ask before you name one in the interview.

Akasa hired pilots ahead of its aircraft, then had to wait for them: it paused pilot recruitment in June 2024, when Boeing’s deliveries ran late, and resumed it in December 2025 (CAPA). Its Captains come from within: in September 2023 it upgraded its first First Officers to command, and its pilot page shows no Captain track for pilots from outside. In March 2026 Business Standard reported, from an internal email to pilots, a retention plan worth Rs 25 lakh to Captains and trainee Captains and Rs 10 lakh to Senior First Officers, paid in three installments from August 2027 to those still employed on each date. On what Akasa publishes, a First Officer’s career there is a 737 career, with command by internal upgrade.

Which door fits you

Three points decide most applications. Jet or turboprop: the experienced track names only jet and turboprop time, so a turboprop First Officer’s hours count in full; do not count piston hours from flight school toward the 500 without asking. The rating for freshers: the latest copy of the page we could read in full asks freshers for a valid B737 type rating, while older search results relayed a track for CPL holders without one, so confirm the track is open before you pay for a rating. Valid on the date of joining: your licenses and DGCA medical must still be valid when you join, not only when you apply. A DGCA Class 1 is valid for 12 months for pilots under 60 in multi-crew commercial air transport, and you may renew it from 45 days before it expires (DGCA’s list of Class 1 centers, updated 27 August 2026).

Akasa’s page asks for a DGCA medical, and a job-board profile of Akasa for an Indian DGCA license and the legal right to live and work in India; Akasa’s page states no nationality rule for licensed pilots. A pilot trained abroad needs the DGCA license first: India issues licenses to holders of other ICAO states’ licenses under CAR Section 7, Series G, Part I, and every DGCA CPL requires English at ICAO Level 4 or above. The hours, license and medical rules in full are on our Akasa Air pilot requirements page.

What sets Akasa apart for a pilot

• One type. Every seat is on the 737 MAX, so your technical preparation is the 737, whatever you fly now.
• Turboprop hours count. The experienced track asks for 500 hours of jet or turboprop flying and no type rating, so a First Officer on the ATR or the A320 can apply without a 737 rating.
• A named selection. Four parts, among them a psychological assessment and a drug test, so you can prepare for each one rather than guess.
• Papers valid on the day you join. Your licenses and DGCA medical must still be valid on the date of joining.
• Command from within. No Captain track for pilots from outside; Akasa has upgraded its own First Officers since September 2023.
• No fees. Akasa does not charge for recruitment, and in December 2025 the Delhi High Court ordered the websites and accounts of people impersonating it in a job scam blocked.

The four published stages

Akasa’s page says that candidates who meet its criteria go through a pre-employment assessment, and lists four parts. It does not describe what each contains, or say whether they fall on one day or several, so the second column below is preparation advice, not a description of Akasa’s format.

Two things follow from the list. The page lists the simulator evaluation for every candidate, rated or not, and Akasa does not name the device, so a pilot coming from a turboprop or an Airbus should be ready to be assessed on a type he or she has not flown before. And the psychological assessment and the drug test are part of the assessment itself, not a formality after an offer, so prepare for them like the rest.

The psychological assessment and the drug test

Akasa names a psychological assessment beside the drug test without saying what it contains, and we found no candidate reports of it. In airline selection a personality assessment is commonly a questionnaire about work style and behavior, sometimes with a situational judgment test built around flight deck scenarios; such questionnaires have no right answers to learn, and what they look for is consistency and honesty (the Library’s airline pilot recruitment and selection). Answer quickly and as yourself, not as the pilot you think Akasa wants. For the drug test, the Library sets out how medicines and flying fit together in alcohol, drugs and medication; if you take a prescribed medicine, carry the prescription and declare it when you are asked.

The simulator evaluation

Akasa lists a simulator evaluation but publishes no profile, device or crewing, and we found no candidate reports of it. Prepare for the shape most airline simulator assessments share: a briefing on the numbers to fly, then upper air work, a hold, an ILS to minimums with a missed approach and sometimes an engine failure, flown as one of a two-pilot crew (the Library’s guide to the airline simulator assessment walks through each part).

What to practice

• The briefing. The pitch attitudes and thrust settings given there are the numbers to fly, so write them down, and ask about anything unclear before you start.
• Raw data. Practice level-offs, steep turns and hand-flown ILS approaches without the flight director, with the scan centered on the attitude indicator (see instrument scan technique).
• A Boeing, if you come from an Airbus or a turboprop. On the 737 the pilot trims the airplane, flies a control column with feel and, with the autothrottle engaged, watches the thrust levers move; an Airbus pilot used to automatic pitch trim in normal law must trim actively (the Library compares the two in Airbus and Boeing flight deck philosophies). Make small inputs and fly the numbers you were briefed.
• Both roles. Where the evaluation is flown as a crew, the pilot monitoring is assessed too: standard callouts, checklists and calling deviations (see crew coordination, briefings and callouts).
• The engine failure after V1. Directional control with rudder, rotation at VR and not before, positive climb and gear up, then identification and confirmation with the other pilot before anything is shut down (see engine failure and engine fire).

In the Library’s description, for low-hour pilots the session is largely a test of trainability, of how quickly an unfamiliar aircraft’s numbers are applied, while for experienced pilots the emphasis typically moves toward managing the flight and the crew. Errors are expected; what counts is whether they are noticed, said aloud and corrected.

The interview and the recruitment session

The personal interview

Akasa publishes nothing on the interview’s format. Expect competency questions, which ask for a real past event rather than an opinion: a mistake you made, a disagreement with a Captain, a time you saw something unsafe, a decision on incomplete information. Answer with the STAR structure (situation, task, action, result), keep each story short and true, and show ownership rather than blame. Prepare eight to ten stories that cover the common themes, and raise anything in your record yourself, such as a failed check: an interviewer who finds it later will assume it was hidden. The Library sets out the method in competency-based pilot interviews.

Questions particular to Akasa

• Why Akasa, and why the 737? Three specific reasons that are true for both sides, not led by pay. Know the airline’s story: one type, three bases, its 42nd aircraft in September 2026, and a hiring pause while Boeing’s deliveries ran late.
• Why this door? An experienced First Officer from a turboprop or an Airbus should explain how he or she will handle the move to the 737; a fresher should show what has kept the rating and the flying fresh since the type rating course.
• Which base? Akasa flies from Bengaluru, Mumbai and Delhi, and its pilot page names no base for new First Officers, so have a realistic plan for living near, or reporting on time to, any of them.
• Commitment and notice. Akasa has enforced notice periods: in September 2023 it went to court against pilots who had left without serving them (Outlook Business, September 2023). Expect questions on how long you plan to stay and what notice your present employer requires, and answer them straight.
• Duty and fatigue. India’s revised flight duty time limitations took effect in two phases, on 1 July and 1 November 2025 (as the Indian press reported). Know the basics of fatigue and duty limits, and talk about them as a crew member, not a commentator (the Library covers fatigue and flight time limitations).
• Your English. ICAO Level 4 is the minimum on a DGCA license, but every answer shows how well you communicate.

The interactive session with the Pilot Recruitment Team

Akasa lists an interactive session with its Pilot Recruitment Team as the fourth part, without saying what it covers. Treat it as part of the assessment, and as your chance to ask what Akasa does not publish: who pays for the 737 rating if you join without one, and whether a training bond applies; which base you would be posted to; when training would start; and what the roster looks like. Bring your documents in order: your license, your DGCA medical, your FRTOL and RTR, and logbook totals with your jet and turboprop time on their own line.

Technical questions

Akasa lists no separate technical interview, but at a one-type airline the personal interview and the simulator briefing may turn to the 737 at any point, and a fresher who holds the rating should expect to be asked about it in depth. A pilot coming from another type should know the 737 MAX well enough to show that the conversion will go smoothly, and the ATPL theory underneath in any case. If you do not know an answer, say so, then explain what you do know and where you would find the rest: panels generally score honesty first, then reasoning, then raw knowledge.

737 MAX questions to practice

1. MCAS: in what conditions does it operate, what did the return-to-service changes add, and what stops it? (see pitch control and stabilizer trim and the 737 NG to MAX module on MCAS and stabilizer trim)
2. What are the runaway stabilizer recall items, and why does training stress main electric trim before the cutout switches? (the same article)
3. The LEAP-1B: why did its size and position bring MCAS and a longer nose gear? (see 737 NG and MAX differences and the course’s engines module)
4. Systems A and B and the standby system: what does each power, and how is the airplane flown if A and B are both lost? (see the 737 hydraulic system)
5. What is the difference between SOURCE OFF and TRANSFER BUS OFF, and what keeps running on standby power if every generator is lost? (see the 737 electrical system)
6. The 737-8-200’s mid exit doors: what do they add for the crew? (see 737 doors, exits and emergency equipment)

Weather and operations in India

1. Monsoon thunderstorms: how far do you stay from a cell, and what does the weather radar not show you? (see thunderstorms)
2. Windshear and microbursts: the signs, and the escape maneuver (see windshear and microbursts)
3. Winter fog in northern India: how radiation fog forms, and what low-visibility operations ask of the crew (see fog and low visibility operations)

Theory worth refreshing

1. V1, VR and V2, and what V1 commits you to (see takeoff speeds)
2. The go-around: thrust, attitude, flap and gear, and who may call it (see go-around and missed approach)
3. Decode a METAR and TAF (drill it with our ATPL meteorology questions)
4. The principles of flight behind lift, drag and the stall (drill them with our ATPL principles of flight questions)

What v1prep has for Akasa’s fleet

Where Akasa candidates go wrong

1. Counting the wrong hours. The experienced track asks for 500 hours of jet or turboprop flying; piston hours from flight school do not count toward it as written.
2. Paying for a 737 rating on an old listing. Confirm that the freshers’ track is open, and what it asks for, before you buy a rating.
3. A license or medical that lapses before you join. Akasa wants both valid on the date of joining; check them against a likely start date, not today.
4. Treating the psychological assessment as a test to pass. A personality questionnaire looks for consistency and honesty, so answer it as yourself, not as the pilot you think Akasa wants.
5. A silent simulator session. Accurate flying without briefing, calling and monitoring is weak crew performance.
6. Paying anyone to get in. Akasa does not charge recruitment fees; apply only through the links on akasaair.com.
7. A notice period you cannot serve. Akasa has gone to court over pilots who left without serving theirs; be straight about yours.
8. Stories and records that do not match. Competency answers that do not survive a follow-up question, or figures that differ from your logbook. Across the industry, the commonest reason an offer is withdrawn is a gap between what a candidate declared and what the records show.

From application to a joining date

Akasa publishes no timings for its selection. What is known:

Plan for a range, not a date. If your DGCA Class 1 would lapse before a likely joining date, renew it, which you may do from 45 days before it expires; keep your FRTOL and RTR valid; and keep your theory sharp while you wait.

Akasa Air pilot selection: common questions

The hours, license, medical and right-to-work rules are on our Akasa Air pilot requirements page; the questions below are about the selection itself.

What is the Akasa Air pilot selection process?

Candidates who meet Akasa’s criteria go through a pre-employment assessment in four parts: a personal interview, a psychological assessment and a drug test, a simulator evaluation, and an interactive session with the Pilot Recruitment Team. Akasa’s page lists the parts but does not describe what each contains, and it asks that your licenses and DGCA medical be valid on the date of joining.

What is the Akasa Air simulator evaluation like?

Akasa lists a simulator evaluation but publishes no profile, device or crewing, and we found no candidate reports of it. Prepare for the usual shape: a briefing on the numbers to fly, upper air work, a hold, an ILS to minimums with a missed approach and sometimes an engine failure, flown as one of a two-pilot crew, with raw-data flying and standard callouts in both roles. If you come from an Airbus or a turboprop, practice trimming a Boeing by hand.

What is the psychological assessment at Akasa Air?

Akasa names it beside the drug test without saying what it contains, and we found no candidate reports of it. In airline selection a personality assessment is commonly a questionnaire about work style and behavior, sometimes with a situational judgment test built around flight deck scenarios. Such questionnaires have no right answers to learn: answer quickly, honestly and consistently.

Can I join Akasa Air without a 737 type rating?

Yes, as an experienced First Officer: that track asks for at least 500 hours of jet or turboprop flying and no type rating. The freshers’ track is for pilots who already hold a valid B737 type rating, in the latest copy of Akasa’s page we could read, of April 2026. We found nothing from Akasa on who pays for the rating of a pilot who joins without one, or on a training bond.

Does Akasa Air charge a fee for its pilot selection?

No. In an interim order of 22 December 2025, the Delhi High Court found that Akasa follows no practice of charging process fees and ordered the websites, phone numbers and bank accounts of people impersonating it in a job scam blocked. Apply only through the links on akasaair.com.