Breeze Airways Pilot Requirements 2026: Hours, License and Hiring Process

Breeze Airways hires First Officers directly onto its Airbus A220-300s, and at the last check, on 4 November 2026, its Greenhouse job board carried an Airbus A220 First Officer posting, which we saw in search results rather than on the board itself. Job-board copies of it ask for 1,500 hours total, not counting simulator or flight engineer time, with 750 fixed-wing, 500 cross-country and 500 of fixed-wing turbine time; an FAA ATP, or a Commercial certificate with multi-engine and instrument ratings and a current ATP written; a First Class medical; an age of at least 23 at hire; and the right to work in the US. No type rating is needed: the A220 rating is provided, and the A220 is the only type Breeze has flown since it retired its last Embraer E190 on 7 September 2026. Pilots still building hours can come in through two pathways, Breeze Embark for instructors at its partner schools and Breeze Lift, flying the Pilatus PC-12 for its partner SkyShare.

Is Breeze Airways hiring pilots now?

Recruiting at the last check on 4 November 2026 — First Officer seat: Recruiting; Captain seat: Unconfirmed. 1,500 h total, 750 h fixed-wing, 500 h cross-country, 500 h fixed-wing turbine, age 23+; A220 type rating provided

Requirements, as published

Reading the requirements line by line

Breeze’s own board could not be read on 4 November 2026, so the requirements below are those of its A220 First Officer posting as job boards copied it, seen in search results that day; the FAA rules cited were read in the regulations themselves.

• 1,500 hours, without the simulator. The copies count total time without simulator or flight engineer time. The FAA rule is more generous: up to 100 hours in a full flight simulator or flight training device can count toward the ATP’s 1,500 if they were flown in an approved course under Part 121, 135, 141 or 142 (14 CFR 61.159(a)(6)), and a commercial pilot can credit one hour for every three flown as a Part 121 or US military flight engineer, up to 500 (61.159(d)). A logbook that reaches 1,500 only with that credit meets the rule but not Breeze’s count.
• The sub-minimums. Within the total, the copies ask for 750 hours fixed-wing, 500 cross-country, 250 as pilot in command of a fixed-wing aircraft, 100 at night, 75 of instrument time and 50 multi-engine. A pilot whose hours are mostly in helicopters needs the 750 fixed-wing hours as well as the total.
• 500 hours of turbine time. The copies list 500 hours or more of fixed-wing turbine time among the minimums, so hours on piston twins, however many, do not count toward it. Whether it is a standing minimum or set for one application window is among the points we could not confirm.
• An ATP, or the written. The copies accept an FAA ATP, or a Commercial certificate with multi-engine and instrument ratings with a current ATP written if you do not hold the ATP; the written can be taken only after the ATP-CTP course (14 CFR 61.153(e)). Part 121 lets no pilot serve as second in command without an ATP and the type rating for the aircraft (14 CFR 121.436(b)), and the ATP can be issued together with a type rating (14 CFR 61.153), so a pilot hired on the Commercial certificate must hold both before flying the line.
• 23 at hire, and no restricted tiers. The copies ask for an age of at least 23 at the time of hire, the minimum age for a full ATP (14 CFR 61.153(a)(1)); a restricted ATP can be issued from 21. The copies name no restricted-ATP tier, so the lower totals the restricted ATP allows under 14 CFR 61.160 (750, 1,000 or 1,250 hours) do not meet the 1,500-hour minimum as written; the Embark posting does name the restricted-ATP minimums for partner-school instructors, so ask Breeze how they apply.
• Recent flying. You must have been flying actively in two of the past five years, so a pilot returning after a long gap should check this line first.
• The papers and checks. A valid FCC radiotelephone operator’s permit, a DOT pre-employment drug test, a TSA fingerprint-based criminal history check and Breeze’s background checks, and the ability to join a training class within six months of applying.

Entry routes

• Direct entry First Officer, Airbus A220 — Greenhouse posting “Airbus A220 First Officer”; type rating provided
• Breeze Embark Pilot Program — for flight instructors at Breeze’s partner schools (ATP Flight School, Epic Flight Academy, Utah Valley University and Southern Utah University) from 500 h total fixed-wing time, with mentoring by Breeze pilots while they build time (Breeze’s Greenhouse posting, as search results showed it)
• Breeze Lift — Pilatus PC-12 flying at Charleston for Breeze’s partner SkyShare, a Utah-based Part 135 operator that employs the Lift pilots: a First Officer track from 1,200 h toward the ATP minimums with a conditional offer from Breeze, then an upgrade to PC-12 Captain at SkyShare and a 135.299 line check, a Breeze seniority number and at least 18 months as a SkyShare Captain before a place in the pool for Breeze First Officer training in Salt Lake City (Breeze’s Greenhouse postings and job-board copies, as search results showed them; the copies differ on the order of the steps)
• Direct entry Captain, Airbus A220 — a 2026 Greenhouse posting; job-board copies ask for an ATP, 3,000 h total, 500 h PIC and 2,000 h each of multi-engine and turbine time, with 500 h of Part 121 PIC in the last three years; copies are dated between January and August 2026, and whether it is still open is unconfirmed

Breeze Embark and Breeze Lift

Breeze runs two routes for pilots short of the First Officer minimums. As its Greenhouse postings described them in search results on 4 November 2026:

• Breeze Embark is for flight instructors affiliated with Breeze’s partner schools, which the posting names as ATP Flight School, Epic Flight Academy, Utah Valley University and Southern Utah University. You need 500 hours of total fixed-wing time and must still be more than 400 hours from the ATP or restricted-ATP minimums; you pass the school’s and Breeze’s assessment and interview, are mentored by Breeze pilots while you build your time, and report your flight hours to Breeze’s pilot recruiting team every 30 to 45 days. ATP Flight School’s own page adds that its recommended instructors interview with Breeze at 500 hours total time, receive a conditional offer, and complete a jet transition program with Breeze and the ATP-CTP course between 1,000 and 1,500 hours.
• Breeze Lift is a time-building program with SkyShare, a Utah-based Part 135 operator that flies the Pilatus PC-12, and it is SkyShare, not Breeze, that employs the Lift pilots. Its First Officer track, at Charleston, is for pilots with at least 1,200 hours who are working toward the ATP minimums, with a conditional job offer from Breeze; the posting gives a starting salary of USD 30,000 a year and asks you to live within about an hour’s drive of Charleston International Airport. The copies then describe an upgrade to PC-12 Captain at SkyShare and a Part 135 line check, a Breeze seniority number, and at least 18 months as a SkyShare Captain before a place in the pool for a Breeze First Officer training class in Salt Lake City; they differ on the order of those steps, and a Built In copy of the First Officer posting was marked removed on 16 October 2025, so ask Breeze whether Lift still takes pilots.

Neither route skips the hours: both build your time toward the ATP minimums before Breeze’s First Officer training (the Embark posting also names the restricted ATP’s), so plan the flying that builds them, and confirm the current terms with Breeze, since the material we found for both routes is from postings and school pages seen in search results.

Breeze and the largest US airlines

Breeze beside the four largest US passenger airlines on our jobs board, as recorded at each airline’s last check:

Read the license column with the hours. Breeze’s posting copies, like Delta’s requirements, accept a Commercial certificate with the ATP experience and a current ATP written, while American and United ask for the unrestricted ATP itself.

Selection process

The airline does not publish its selection stages in detail; expect an online application, screening against the published minimums, an interview and a simulator or aptitude assessment before the medical.

Bases and fleet

Bases: Crew bases named on ALPA’s Breeze pilot pages, undated, as search results showed them on 4 November 2026: Akron-Canton, Charleston, Fort Myers, Hartford, New Orleans, Norfolk, Orlando, Providence, Provo, Tampa and Vero Beach; the union’s page counts 13 bases and more than 680 pilots · Raleigh-Durham: announced by Breeze in September 2025 as its 12th crew base, to open in the first quarter of 2026 (RDU airport, as search results showed it) · A220 bases named in job-board copies of Breeze’s 2026 pilot postings: Charleston, Tampa, Hartford, Provo, Providence and Orlando · Breeze does not say which base a new First Officer is assigned

Fleet: Airbus A220-300 only since 7 September 2026, when Breeze flew its last Embraer E190; it had started flying in May 2021 with 10 E190s and three E195s (Breeze press release of September 2026 and Aviation Week, as search results showed them) · 90 A220s on firm order after Breeze took up options for 10 more in 2025 (AirInsight, as search results showed it); reports in September 2026 differed on how many had been delivered

One type, the base and the contract

With the last E190 gone, a new First Officer at Breeze has one type and one rating to learn, whatever the base. Breeze does not say which base a new First Officer is assigned, and the bases listed above come from ALPA’s pages, airport announcements and job-board copies rather than from Breeze’s own careers pages, so ask before you accept a class date.

Breeze’s pilots have been represented by ALPA since 2022 and had no first contract at the last check: in May 2026 the union marked five years of Breeze flying without one, after filing a lawsuit in January 2026 that accused the airline of bargaining in bad faith, and in September 2026 it asked the National Mediation Board for federal mediation (ALPA, as search results showed it). Job-board copies of the A220 posting show a pay table that starts First Officers at USD 105 an hour; confirm the current rates with Breeze.

How to prepare

Breeze flies one type, the A220-300, so the A220 bank is the type preparation: its limitations and its systems, from the fly-by-wire flight controls and the avionics to the PW1500G engines. The rating is trained after you are hired, so learn the aircraft well enough to talk about it rather than its procedures by heart. If you apply without the ATP, the posting copies ask for a current ATP written, which you can take only after the ATP-CTP course, and the ATP bank covers it, with the Part 121, transport performance and turbine-systems questions a US technical interview draws on; the ATPL theory banks below cover the performance, meteorology and navigation underneath, though they follow the EASA syllabus rather than the FAA’s. Breeze does not publish its selection stages. Candidates who reported their 2026 interviews on aviationinterviews.com describe a pilot questionnaire, cognitive and workplace-behavior assessments, a records request, an on-demand video interview, a logbook review and a live interview of behavioral questions, so prepare with the US airline interview set, whose hiring-process questions cover the Pilot Records Database, and the CRM interview set: short, true stories, told first to a camera and then to the panel. Do the paperwork first: total your logbook the way the posting counts it, with simulator and flight engineer time left out of the total and your fixed-wing, fixed-wing turbine and fixed-wing pilot-in-command time on lines of their own, and check that you have flown in at least two of the past five years.

Breeze has no interview guide on v1prep yet, so for the interview read the complete airline pilot interview guide and the Library’s pilot interviews at US airlines and competency-based pilot interviews. For the aircraft, start with the Library’s A220 family and limitations and A220 fly-by-wire flight controls. Our FAA ATP written test guide covers the ATP-CTP and the test, and the Library’s FAA Part 135 and Part 119 explains the rules a Breeze Lift pilot flies under at SkyShare. The whole route from zero hours is on how to become an airline pilot in the USA, and another US airline that flies the A220 is on JetBlue pilot requirements. Check Breeze’s entry on the jobs board for the latest status.

What we could not confirm

• Researched on 4 November 2026 from search-engine results of Breeze’s Greenhouse job board, job boards’ copies of its postings, ALPA’s pages and press reports — not from a direct read of the board, which the runner could not download. Confirm the vacancy is still open before you apply.
• Domicile assignment for new hires, and which is the 13th crew base ALPA counts: a Breeze flight attendant posting of March 2026 named a new Fort Lauderdale crew base, but we found nothing on pilots based there
• Whether the 500 h of fixed-wing turbine time is a standing minimum or set for one application window
• Whether the A220 Direct Entry Captain posting is still open: the job-board copies we found are dated between January and August 2026
• How many A220s Breeze had at the last check: reports in September 2026 gave different figures
• Whether Breeze still recruits Australian pilots on E-3 visas, as reported in January 2022: the listings for it that we found were marked closed
• The current terms of Breeze Embark and Breeze Lift, and whether Lift still takes pilots: the hours, the partner schools and the pay come from postings and school pages seen only in search results; a Built In copy of the Lift First Officer posting was marked removed on 16 October 2025, and the copies differ on the order of its steps

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 Breeze Airways hiring pilots? Yes, at the last check, on 4 November 2026: Breeze’s Greenhouse job board carried an Airbus A220 First Officer posting, marked new, and job boards relayed it, as search results showed them. We could not open the board itself, nor confirm whether an A220 Direct Entry Captain posting seen on it in 2026 is still open, so check the board before you apply.

How many hours do you need to fly for Breeze Airways? 1,500 hours total, not counting simulator or flight engineer time, with 750 hours fixed-wing, 500 cross-country, 250 as pilot in command of a fixed-wing aircraft, 100 at night, 75 of instrument time and 50 multi-engine, by job-board copies of the A220 First Officer posting. The copies also ask for 500 hours of fixed-wing turbine time, a current ATP written if you do not hold the ATP, and active flying in two of the past five years.

Do you need an ATP to fly for Breeze Airways? Not to apply, as the posting copies word it: an FAA ATP meets it, and so does a Commercial certificate with multi-engine and instrument ratings with a current ATP written. Part 121 requires a First Officer to hold an ATP and the type rating for the aircraft before flying the line (14 CFR 121.436), and the ATP can be issued together with a type rating (14 CFR 61.153).

Does Breeze Airways provide the type rating? Yes. No type rating is required: Breeze provides the A220 rating, and since it retired its last Embraer E190 on 7 September 2026 the A220-300 is the only type it flies, so every new First Officer trains on it.

What are Breeze Embark and Breeze Lift? Two routes for pilots short of the minimums. Breeze Embark is for flight instructors at Breeze’s partner schools, ATP Flight School, Epic Flight Academy, Utah Valley University and Southern Utah University, with 500 hours of fixed-wing time and more than 400 hours still to go to the ATP or restricted-ATP minimums; they are mentored by Breeze pilots while they build their time. Breeze Lift is a program with SkyShare, which employs its pilots to fly the Pilatus PC-12 at Charleston: First Officers from 1,200 hours, with a conditional offer from Breeze, upgrade to Captain at SkyShare and, after at least 18 months as a SkyShare Captain, join the pool for Breeze First Officer training in Salt Lake City. Both descriptions are from Breeze’s postings as search results showed them on 4 November 2026, and we could not confirm that Lift still takes pilots.