Alaska Airlines Pilot Requirements 2026: Hours, Licence and Hiring Process

Alaska Airlines hires First Officers onto two seniority lists, Alaska’s and Hawaiian’s; the pilots’ joint contract, which comes before the lists are merged, had not been ratified at the last check, on 13 October 2026. That day Alaska’s own careers site listed its First Officer posting for the Alaska list at each of six domiciles, which we saw in search results rather than on the portal itself. Both lists ask for 1,500 hours total and 500 hours of fixed-wing turbine time and a current FAA First Class medical. The certificate is where they differ: the Alaska list takes an FAA Commercial with Instrument–Airplane, the full ATP experience of 14 CFR 61.159 and a current ATP written, preferring the ATP itself, while the Hawaiian list asks for the ATP. No type rating is needed and no direct-entry Captain route is offered. The Alaska list’s domiciles are Seattle, Los Angeles, Anchorage, Portland, San Diego and San Francisco, and the Hawaiian list’s Seattle, Honolulu and Cincinnati; the group’s fleet runs from the E175 and the 737 to the A330 and the 787-9.

Is Alaska Airlines hiring pilots now?

Recruiting at the last check on 13 October 2026 — First Officer seat: Recruiting; Captain seat: Not offered. 1,500 h total and 500 h fixed-wing turbine on both seniority lists; ATP experience and a current ATP written for the Alaska list (ATP certificate preferred), the ATP itself for the Hawaiian list

Requirements, as published

Two seniority lists, two sets of requirements

Alaska publishes the First Officer requirements of each list separately. As recorded at the last check:

Each posting names its list, so read the one you apply to rather than the other. ALPA, the union of both pilot groups, describes the integration of the two lists as the step that follows the ratification of their joint contract; in August 2026 it said the negotiations were still under way, and we found no ratified contract at the last check. The seniority number you receive on the list you join decides your base, your schedule and, in time, your upgrade, so choose the list whose domiciles you can live with.

Reading the requirements line by line

• 1,500 hours under 61.159, not the restricted ATP. The Alaska list asks for all the aeronautical experience an ATP needs under 14 CFR 61.159: 1,500 hours, including 500 cross-country, 100 at night, 75 on instruments and 250 as pilot in command (or as second in command performing the duties of pilot in command under supervision). The restricted ATP’s lower totals, 750 hours for military pilots and 1,000 or 1,250 with a qualifying aviation degree, do not meet the posting as written, although an R-ATP is enough to fly as a First Officer under Part 121.
• 500 hours of turbine, of either kind. The turbine figure is fixed-wing time, airplane and powered-lift combined, so turboprop hours count alongside jet hours. Piston twins do not count towards it, however many hours you have on them.
• The ATP written, current. On the Alaska list the certificate is the Commercial with an instrument rating, but the ATP written must be current. The test can be sat only after the ATP-CTP course, and the result stays valid for 60 calendar months, so a pilot who reaches 1,500 hours without the course and the written does not yet meet the posting. The ATP certificate itself is preferred.
• The Hawaiian list asks for the certificate. An FAA ATP with the Airplane Multiengine Land rating and the English Proficient endorsement, rather than the Commercial and the written.
• Preferred, not required. A four-year degree, 500 hours multi-engine, 500 hours turbine PIC and at least 50 hours in the last 12 months appear among the preferred qualifications on both lists, so a pilot without them still meets the minimums.
• The practical conditions. Age 23 or over, authorisation to work in the US, a high school diploma or equivalent and, on the Alaska list, a driver’s licence issued by a US state or territory and a passport with at least six months of validity left when you are hired.

Entry routes

• Direct entry First Officer — Alaska seniority list
• Direct entry First Officer — Hawaiian seniority list
• Horizon Air Pilot Pathways Program — Horizon pilots on the Pathways List become eligible for an Alaska class date after 1,000 h PIC at Horizon (Alaska’s Ascend Pathways page also asks for 2,000 h total at Horizon)
• Ascend Pilot Academy and the Horizon Air Pilot Development Program — ab-initio routes to a Horizon seat (Ascend recruited for 2026; the Development Program’s 2026 intake not confirmed)
• Direct entry Captain — not offered

Alaska and the other US majors

The US majors on our jobs board, as recorded at each airline’s last check:

Alaska’s own route from a regional seat runs through Horizon Air, which flies the E175. Under Alaska’s Pathways page, a Horizon pilot who passes the Pilot Pathways interview joins the Pathways List in Horizon seniority order and becomes eligible for an Alaska class date after 1,000 hours as pilot in command at Horizon; Alaska’s Ascend Pathways page also asks for 2,000 hours in total at Horizon. For a candidate applying to Horizon, the Horizon and Alaska interviews take place on the same day. Two earlier steps toward Horizon are listed on Alaska’s careers site: the Ascend Pilot Academy, which Alaska’s own job site showed recruiting for 2026 with an application deadline of 7 April 2026, and the Horizon Air Pilot Development Program, whose 2026 intake we could not confirm.

Selection process

1. Online application (iCIMS)
2. Records review
3. Interview
4. Offer

Bases and fleet

Bases: Alaska list: Seattle, Los Angeles, Anchorage, Portland, San Diego and San Francisco · Hawaiian list: Seattle, Honolulu and Cincinnati

Fleet: Boeing 737-700, -800, -900ER, MAX 8 and MAX 9 (Alaska) · Boeing 787-9 (five in operation in January 2026; the January 2026 order took the firm future 787 fleet to 17) · Airbus A330-200, A321neo and Boeing 717 (Hawaiian Airlines) · Airbus A330-300 freighters (Hawaiian Airlines) · Embraer E175 (Horizon Air; SkyWest also flies E175s for Alaska) · On order (January 2026): 105 Boeing 737-10s, with rights to 35 more, and five more 787s, intended as 787-10s

How to prepare

Alaska’s own fleet runs from the 737-700 to the MAX 9, so the B737 bank is where an Alaska-list applicant should start. The aircraft that came with Hawaiian are the A330, the A321neo, the 717 and the 787-9; we could not confirm which type a new First Officer on the Hawaiian list is trained on, so a Hawaiian-list applicant should add the A320 bank, which covers the A321neo, and the B787 bank. A pilot taking the Horizon route flies the E175 first, which the E-Jet bank covers. The Alaska list asks for a current ATP written, so if yours is still ahead of you, the ATP bank covers the ATM test, which you can sit only after the ATP-CTP course and which stays valid for 60 calendar months. Alaska does not describe its interview stages in detail, so prepare for a technical and a behavioural interview with the US airline interview set, and have your logbook totals ready the way the posting counts them: turbine time with airplane and powered-lift combined, and multi-engine and turbine PIC time on lines of their own.

For the interview itself, read the complete airline pilot interview guide and the Library’s competency-based pilot interviews. If the ATP written is still ahead of you, our FAA ATP written test guide covers the ATP-CTP and the test, and the restricted ATP explained sets out the 750, 1,000 and 1,250-hour routes that the Alaska posting’s 1,500 hours do not accept. With two lists, the Library’s ranks, seniority and scheduling explains what your number decides, and pilot career pathways covers time building, turbine time and regional flows such as Horizon’s. To compare another US major, read Delta Air Lines pilot requirements. Check Alaska’s entry on the jobs board for the latest status.

What we could not confirm

• Researched on 13 October 2026 from search-engine results of the airline’s own careers pages, job postings and industry job boards — not from a direct read of the portal. Confirm the vacancy is still open before you apply.
• How the two seniority lists will merge and whether the requirements converge: the joint pilot contract, which comes before the lists are integrated, had not been ratified at 13 October 2026
• Which aircraft a new First Officer on each list is trained on; the material we found does not tie the Hawaiian list’s Seattle domicile to a type
• The interview stages for direct-entry First Officers, which Alaska does not describe in detail on its careers pages
• Which Pathways threshold applies today: Alaska’s Pathways page gives 1,000 h as pilot in command at Horizon, its Ascend Pathways page 1,000 h of E175 PIC with 2,000 h in total at Horizon
• Whether the Horizon Air Pilot Development Program is taking students in 2026, and when the Ascend Pilot Academy’s 2026 cadets start (Alaska’s job site showed Ascend recruiting with an application deadline of 7 April 2026)

These points are not published clearly by the airline. Treat them as leads, not facts, and confirm them on the careers page: careers page.

Common questions

Is Alaska Airlines hiring pilots? Yes, at the last check, on 13 October 2026. Alaska’s own careers site listed First Officer postings for the Alaska seniority list at Seattle, Anchorage, Portland, San Francisco, Los Angeles and San Diego, and set out separate requirements for the Hawaiian list. We saw them in search results rather than on the portal itself, so confirm that a posting is open before you apply.

How many hours do you need to fly for Alaska Airlines? 1,500 hours of total documented flight time, with 500 hours of fixed-wing turbine time, airplane and powered-lift combined, on both seniority lists. The Alaska list also asks for all the ATP aeronautical experience of 14 CFR 61.159, so the restricted ATP’s lower totals do not meet it as written.

Do you need an ATP to fly for Alaska Airlines? On the Alaska list, no: it asks for an FAA Commercial with Instrument–Airplane, the ATP experience and a current ATP written exam, and prefers the ATP certificate. On the Hawaiian list, yes: it asks for an FAA ATP with the Airplane Multiengine Land rating and the English Proficient endorsement.

What is the difference between the Alaska and Hawaiian seniority lists? They are separate lists with their own requirements and domiciles: Seattle, Los Angeles, Anchorage, Portland, San Diego and San Francisco for the Alaska list, and Seattle, Honolulu and Cincinnati for the Hawaiian list. At the last check, on 13 October 2026, the pilots’ joint contract, which comes before the lists are integrated, had not been ratified.

How do Horizon Air pilots move to Alaska Airlines? Through the Pilot Pathways Program. Under Alaska’s Pathways page, a Horizon pilot who passes the Pathways interview joins the Pathways List in Horizon seniority order and becomes eligible for an Alaska class date after 1,000 hours as pilot in command at Horizon; Alaska’s Ascend Pathways page also asks for 2,000 hours in total at Horizon. Alaska offers no direct-entry Captain route, so every pilot joins as a First Officer.