easyJet Pilot Requirements 2026: Hours, Licence and Hiring Process
easyJet employs pilots through three airlines with their own certificates (easyJet UK, easyJet Europe on an Austrian certificate, and easyJet Switzerland), so your base decides your licence: the live Gatwick Captain vacancies ask for a UK CAA licence and Class 1, the Marrakesh one for EASA. At the last check easyJet’s own system carried Captain vacancies only, at 4,000 hours; its careers page still describes co-pilot routes at 500 hours on the A320 (rated) or 1,000 hours with 500 on aircraft above 10 tonnes (non-rated), with no live vacancy. Cadets come through two self-funded programmes tied to an easyJet job, the Generation easyJet MPL with CAE and FlightCrew Futures with Skyborne, each meant to supply 500 pilots over five years. ICAO English Level 4 on every route; cadets must be 18, with no upper age limit.
Always confirm on the airline’s own careers page before applying. Every figure here is what the airline published at the date shown against it on our jobs board; entries marked Unconfirmed are ones whose requirements we found but whose current vacancy status we could not establish from the airline’s own pages. Vacancies open and close without notice.
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Is easyJet hiring pilots now?
Recruiting at the last check on 25 August 2026 — First Officer seat: Not recruiting; Captain seat: Recruiting. Captains only - no live FO or cadet vacancy; Gatwick roles need a UK CAA licence
What the airline’s own material showed: CAPTAINS ONLY. Three easyJet pilot requisitions were open and readable on easyJet's own Taleo careers system on 2026-08-25, each with an Unposting Date of "Ongoing": (1) "Captains: A320 Rated (2027) - London Gatwick" (job 17123, req 251743, Flight Operations, permanent, Primary Location United Kingdom-London-London Gatwick Airport); (2) "Captains: Non-Type Rated (2027) - London Gatwick" (job 17124, req 251763, permanent); (3) "Captains: A320 Rated - MARRAKESH (2-year Fixed Term Contract)" (job 17000, req 250063, Primary Location Morocco, contracted through Storm Global, NOT direct easyJet employment). A full sweep of easyJet's Taleo requisition range on 2026-08-25 found NO open Direct Entry Co-Pilot / First Officer vacancy and NO cadet vacancy on easyJet's own system. Pilots should not read this "hiring" as applying to First Officer or cadet entry.
Requirements, as published
| Requirement | As published by the airline |
|---|---|
| Licence | PUBLISHED, and it is restrictive. Live Gatwick vacancies (both type rated and non-type rated Captains): "Hold a UK CAA Licence with a valid A320 LPC at point of easyJet induction" (type rated) / "Hold A UK CAA Licence" (non-type rated). An EASA licence alone does NOT meet the published criteria for the Gatwick Captain vacancies. Live Marrakesh vacancy is the reverse: "An EASA Licence (and be willing to convert to AustroControl prior to OCC)". easyJet's generic careers-page minimum-requirements panels state flying hours only and name no licence type. Cadet routes lead to either an MPL (Generation easyJet) or an Integrated ATPL plus A320 Type Rating (FlightCrew Futures). |
| Minimum hours | LIVE VACANCY FIGURES (easyJet Taleo requisitions, read 2026-08-25) - these are the ones that govern an application: - Captains: A320 Rated (2027) - London Gatwick (job 17123): "A minimum of 4,000 total flying hours." - Captains: Non-Type Rated (2027) - London Gatwick (job 17124): "A minimum of 4,000 total flying hours." - Captains: A320 Rated - MARRAKESH (job 17000, via Storm Global): "A minimum of 4,000 total flying hours." GENERIC CAREERS-PAGE PANEL FIGURES (careers.easyjet.com/en/career-areas/pilots, no publication date shown, read 2026-08-25) - quoted verbatim, but NOT what the live vacancies apply: - "Type Rated Captains: at least 4,000 flying hours, with 1,000 PIC hours on A320" - "Non-Type Rated Captains: at least 4,000 flying hours with 1,000 PIC hours on jet aircraft over 30T MTOW" - "Type Rated Co-Pilots: at least 500 hours on A320" - "Non-Type Rated Co-Pilots: at least 1000 flying hours, including 500 hours on aircraft over 10T MTOW" Cadet routes: easyJet states no previous flying experience is required. |
| Hours on type | LIVE VACANCY FIGURES (read 2026-08-25): - Type Rated Captain, Gatwick (17123): "A minimum of 500 hours on the A320 family." PLUS "A minimum of 500 total PIC hours on jet aircraft over 30 Tonnes MTOW (by easyJet induction date)." NOTE: this is LOWER than the careers-page panel figure of 1,000 PIC on A320 - a Captain who self-excludes on the panel figure may in fact be eligible for the live vacancy. - Non-Type Rated Captain, Gatwick (17124): no A320 time required, but "A minimum of 1,000 total PIC hours on jet aircraft above 30 Tonnes MTOW (by easyJet induction date)." - Type Rated Captain, Marrakesh (17000): "A minimum of 1,000 total PIC hours on A320 family aircraft (by easyJet induction date)." Direct Entry Co-Pilot on-type minimums are published only on the generic panel (Type Rated: at least 500 hours on A320; Non-Type Rated: 500 hours on aircraft over 10T MTOW). With no live Co-Pilot vacancy to check against, treat these as indicative only. |
| Type rating | Not required for every route, but read carefully. Type Rated Gatwick Captains (17123) must "Hold a valid A320 Type Rating at time of joining easyJet" with "a valid A320 LPC at point of easyJet induction". Non-Type Rated Gatwick Captains (17124): easyJet states "Non-Type Rated Captains will complete a full A320 Type Rating with one of our approved training organisations at the start of easyJet employment, followed by an easyJet OCC. (Funding options for the A320 Type Rating will be available.)" - easyJet says funding OPTIONS will be available; it does NOT state the type rating is free, employer-funded or unbonded. Do not assume a free type rating. For the cadet FlightCrew Futures route easyJet states the A320 Type Rating is included in the course; easyJet does not publish the course price. |
| Right to work | PUBLISHED per vacancy and NOT interchangeable. Both live Gatwick Captain vacancies: "The right to live and work in the UK, with unrestricted access across the UK, EEA and easyJet network." Marrakesh (17000): "The right to live and work in the EU." Cadet page: "You need the unrestricted right to live and work in the UK, EU or Switzerland and the ability to travel across our network without restriction." |
| Medical | PUBLISHED per vacancy. Both live Gatwick Captain vacancies: "Hold a UK CAA Class 1 Medical" / "A UK CAA Class 1 Medical." Marrakesh (17000): "An EASA Class 1 Medical (and be willing to convert to AustroControl prior to OCC)." Cadet (Become a Pilot page): "You must be able to get an EASA or CAA Class 1 medical." |
| English | PUBLISHED and consistent across all three live vacancies: "Minimum ICAO Level 4 English." Cadet page states: "You must be able to speak and write fluent English (ICAO Level 4)." |
| Age | Not published for direct entry. None of the three live Captain requisitions states any minimum or maximum age. The only age wording easyJet publishes is on the cadet Become a Pilot page and is worded for the training course: "You must be at least 18 at the start of the course (there's no upper age limit)." Do not apply the cadet wording to direct entry. |
| Also | All figures above were taken on 2026-08-25 from easyJet-owned pages: careers.easyjet.com (Pilots, Become a Pilot) and easyjet.taleo.net requisitions 17123, 17124 and 17000, all of which were readable without accepting any privacy agreement (only Taleo's vacancy SEARCH/listing page is gated - individual jobdetail.ftl pages are not). Closed requisitions on this system return an empty job page, so the fact that these three render full content is itself evidence they were open. easyJet publishes no date on any of its careers pages, and the requisitions show an Unposting Date of "Ongoing" rather than a closing date, so none of this can be pinned to a publication date - only to the date it was observed. |
easyJet publishes TWO different sets of Captain minimums, and they do not agree. The generic "Minimum requirements" panel on the Pilots careers page is NOT the standard actually applied to the live vacancies. Always read the live requisition, not the careers-page panel. The differences are material in both directions - see minTotalHours and minOnType.
Your base decides your licence
easyJet asks you to apply for one base at a time, and the base decides which of its three airlines employs you and under which authority. The vacancies we read on 25 August 2026 show how much that changes:
| Vacancy | Licence and medical | Right to work |
|---|---|---|
| Captain, London Gatwick (type rated and non-type rated) | UK CAA licence, with a valid A320 licence proficiency check at induction if type rated; UK CAA Class 1 | The right to live and work in the UK, with unrestricted access across the UK, the EEA and the easyJet network |
| Captain, Marrakesh (two-year fixed term through Storm Global) | EASA licence and EASA Class 1, both to be converted to Austro Control before the conversion course | The right to live and work in the EU |
| Cadet programmes | Able to hold an EASA or UK CAA Class 1 | The unrestricted right to live and work in the UK, the EU or Switzerland |
UK and EASA licences have been separate since 2021, so an EASA-only Captain does not meet the Gatwick criteria, and nothing on easyJet’s pages offers a conversion route. The Marrakesh role is not an easyJet contract: easyJet says it may lead to a fast-track route onto its EU certificate after two years, subject to vacancies. A pilot who wants both markets open needs both licences.
Entry routes
- Direct entry Captain - type rated (A320) - LIVE vacancy at London Gatwick as at 2026-08-25
- Direct entry Captain - non-type rated - LIVE vacancy at London Gatwick as at 2026-08-25
- Direct entry Captain - type rated, Marrakesh, 2-year fixed term via Storm Global (agency contract, not easyJet employment) - LIVE as at 2026-08-25
- Direct entry Co-Pilot - type rated (A320) - route described on easyJet's careers page, but NO live vacancy found on 2026-08-25
- Direct entry Co-Pilot - non-type rated (joining as Second Officer, First Officer or Senior First Officer depending on experience and hours) - route described on easyJet's careers page, but NO live vacancy found on 2026-08-25
- Cadet / ab-initio - Generation easyJet Pilot Training Programme (MPL, delivered by CAE) - described on easyJet's own page; application status not published by easyJet
- Cadet / ab-initio - easyJet FlightCrew Futures Programme (Integrated ATPL with A320 Type Rating included, in partnership with Skyborne Airline Academy) - described on easyJet's own page; application status not published by easyJet
- Graduates of partner training schools (CAE, Skyborne Airline Academy, Acron Aviation Academy, FTE Jerez, Leading Edge Aviation, Urbe Aero) "should we have additional vacancies" - easyJet states these are "not guaranteed" and are communicated by the schools directly to their trainees
The two cadet programmes side by side
| Programme | Generation easyJet | FlightCrew Futures |
|---|---|---|
| Training partner | CAE (Brussels, Madrid, Milan and London Gatwick) | Skyborne Airline Academy (Gloucestershire, Bournemouth and Vero Beach, Florida) |
| Licence | Multi-Crew Pilot Licence (MPL), with the A320 type rating | Integrated ATPL course, then the A320 type rating |
| Status in 2026 | Partnership extended for five years on 24 April 2026, with new cadets starting in late 2026 (CAE) | Announced in April 2026: 500 pilots over five years (Flight Training News, Halldale) |
| Price, as published by the school | Set by CAE in euros on its own site; its October 2023 flyer gave €100,529, so check the current figure | £129,000 including the A320 type rating and self-catered accommodation (Skyborne programme page). FLYER’s launch report in April 2026 put both courses at around £115,000 |
| The job | Cadets are selected and mentored by easyJet through training | A conditional easyJet offer before training starts |
Both courses are self-funded and both are “tagged”: easyJet says they lead directly into a co-pilot role on completion. The entry rules are easyJet’s own: at least 18 at the start (no upper limit), GCSE grades 4 to 9 in English, maths and science plus two other subjects, ICAO Level 4 English and the ability to hold a Class 1. Together the two schools are meant to supply the 1,000 new pilots easyJet says it needs over five years (Halldale, April 2026). Graduates of other partner schools, such as Acron, FTEJerez, Leading Edge and Urbe Aero, may be offered places “should we have additional vacancies”, which easyJet says are not guaranteed.
The licences differ outside easyJet. An MPL is issued for multi-pilot operation and is built around the airline from the start; an integrated ATPL course ends with a CPL and instrument rating that other operators recognise in the usual way. If easyJet’s intake slowed after you graduated, that difference would matter.
Low-hours and non-rated co-pilots
easyJet’s careers page describes a non-rated co-pilot route at 1,000 hours, including 500 on aircraft above 10 tonnes, joining as Second Officer, First Officer or Senior First Officer by experience. Job boards have also relayed an earlier UK low-hours Second Officer advert for modular pilots: a UK CAA CPL and IR, APS MCC, Advanced UPRT, no more than five ATPL exam resits and no more than 20 hours of remedial flight training, for Gatwick, Bristol, Manchester or Luton, with a self-funded A320 type rating that the relayed advert put at about £22,000, or a 36-month salary deduction of about £620 a month. Neither route had a live vacancy on easyJet’s system on 25 August 2026, so treat these as the terms to expect when one opens, not as an open door.
Selection process
- GENERIC PROCESS published on easyJet's Pilots careers page (five stages): 1. Online Application - choose a vacancy, check minimum requirements, apply with details, documents and a series of questions. 2. Online Test - aptitude tests covering verbal, numerical and spatial reasoning, plus a personality questionnaire to comply with EASA regulations. 3. Application Review - easyJet checks basic requirements are met and questions fully answered, then invites to the next available Assessment Centre. 4. Non-Technical Assessments - held virtually or at one of easyJet's SIM Centres; group exercise, company presentation and a competency-based interview. 5. Technical Assessment - simulator assessment for Direct Entry Captains and Co-Pilots, with a full briefing provided beforehand.
- LIVE GATWICK CAPTAIN VACANCIES (17123, 17124) publish a four-stage version: STAGE 1 Online Application; STAGE 2 Online Assessments; STAGE 3 Application Review; STAGE 4 Assessment Centre - "This will take place in one of our Simulator Centres and will consist of both a Non-Technical and a Technical (SIM) Assessment."
- Assessment centre locations - CONFIRMED on easyJet's own careers page FAQ, verbatim: "For our Direct Entry Co-Pilots and Captains, Assessment Centres will take place in one of our Training Centres (London Gatwick or Milan)." The same FAQ states "Cadet assessment takes place online using Microsoft Teams."
- MARRAKESH VACANCY (17000) uses a different process run by Storm Global: STAGE 1 easyJet passes details to Storm Global; STAGE 2 Application Review by Storm Global; STAGE 3 Online Personality Questionnaire; STAGE 4 Assessment Centre - easyJet states this "will take place at London Gatwick".
- CADET ROUTE variant published on the Become a Pilot page: 1. Prepare/research; 2. Online application; 3. Technical selection (aptitude tests for motor skills and spatial awareness plus computer-based maths and technical tests); 4. Non-technical assessment (virtual - presentation, group exercise, one-to-one interview); 5. The offer.
Bases and fleet
Bases: United Kingdom - the only base with a live pilot vacancy on 2026-08-25 (London Gatwick, and both Gatwick vacancies state "This vacancy is for positions based in London Gatwick ONLY") · France · Germany · Italy · Netherlands · Portugal · Switzerland · Morocco (Marrakesh) - easyJet’s first base in Africa, opened April 2026 with three aircraft (our study-guide research, September 2026); the live Marrakesh Captain role, however, is a 2-year fixed-term engagement contracted through Storm Global, not easyJet employment. · Spain - Barcelona appears on public 2026 base lists (our study-guide research, September 2026), though not on easyJet’s careers-page country list
Fleet: Airbus A320 family - A319, A320 and A321 are all named in easyJet's own live Captain requisition text ("A319/A320/A321 Captains will complete a standard easyJet OCC upon joining") · 356 aircraft at 30 September 2025 (FY2025 results, via our study-guide research, September 2026): 82 A319, 180 A320ceo, 75 A320neo, 19 A321neo; 290 firm orders, and the last A319 due out by the end of September 2029
Fleet and bases: where new pilots fly
- A newer, larger fleet. 356 aircraft at 30 September 2025 (82 A319s, 180 A320ceos, 75 A320neos and 19 A321neos); the 100th neo-family aircraft arrived in June 2026, and in May 2026 easyJet brought the exit of its last A319 forward to the end of September 2029. One rating covers them all, but a new pilot’s sectors will increasingly be on the neo and the 235-seat A321neo.
- New bases. A three-aircraft base at Newcastle opened in March 2026, easyJet’s eleventh in the UK; Marrakech opened in April 2026 with three aircraft, its first base in Africa; Milan Linate and Rome Fiumicino opened in March 2025. In September 2026 easyJet said it would base a fourth A320neo at London Southend for summer 2027.
- Seasonal bases. Palma, Malaga and Alicante have run as summer-only bases (April to October in 2025), so ask whether a base offer in Spain is year-round.
Both Gatwick Captain vacancies are titled “2027”, which most likely means the joining year, though easyJet does not say so. If a base is not listed as a vacancy, easyJet says it is not recruiting there and invites you to register a general profile instead.
How to prepare
easyJet flies nothing but the A320 family, from the A319 to the A321neo, so the A320 bank is the technical preparation for every direct-entry route; candidates describe a raw-data A320 simulator with no autopilot or autothrust. Cadet selection is different: aptitude tests of motor skills and spatial awareness, computer-based maths and technical tests, then a virtual non-technical assessment, so the ATPL theory banks and timed reasoning practice matter more than type knowledge. Online tests come before any assessment centre on every route.
The stages, the simulator profile candidates describe and the questions particular to easyJet are in our easyJet pilot interview guide, which also covers waiting periods before reapplying and how base choice works. For the other big UK employer, compare British Airways pilot requirements; for the cadet market as a whole, the cadet programmes page. The Library article on class and type ratings explains what one A320 rating covers. Check easyJet’s entry on the jobs board for the latest status.
What we could not confirm
- Whether any Direct Entry Co-Pilot / First Officer vacancy is open. A sweep of easyJet's Taleo requisition ID range on 2026-08-25 returned only the three Captain vacancies listed above and no Co-Pilot vacancy. easyJet publishes generic Co-Pilot minimums but nothing live to check them against. Do NOT infer First Officer hiring from the Captain vacancies, and do not treat the generic Co-Pilot hour figures as an application standard - on the Captain side the generic panel demonstrably does not match the live vacancy.
- Whether cadet programme applications (Generation easyJet MPL via CAE, FlightCrew Futures via Skyborne) are open. easyJet's own pages carry an 'Apply now' call to action but publish no dated application window and no cadet requisition exists on easyJet's own system. The partner academies' own sites indicate applications were open in 2026 (Skyborne shows an "applications currently open" banner; CAE indicates recruitment is open), but these are partner-published, not easyJet-published, and were not corroborated on any easyJet page.
- Cadet course cost. easyJet publishes no price. Skyborne's own easyJet programme page states approximately GBP 129,000 including the A320 Type Rating, and a UK CAA Class 1 plus FAA Class 3 medical before training starts. Partner-published only - not confirmed by easyJet, and not used as a requirement above.
- Whether easyJet funds, part-funds or bonds the A320 type rating for non-type-rated direct entry Captains. easyJet says only that "Funding options for the A320 Type Rating will be available". The actual cost, bond length and repayment terms are not published.
- How easyJet reconciles its generic careers-page Captain minimums with the lower/different live vacancy minimums. easyJet publishes both and explains neither. The live requisition wording is the safer basis for an application, but this has not been confirmed with easyJet's Pilot Recruitment team (PilotRecruitment@easyJet.com, published on the careers page).
- Whether the Gatwick vacancies' UK CAA licence requirement is ever waived or supported by a conversion path for EASA licence holders. Nothing on any easyJet page says so. An EASA-only Captain should assume they do not meet the published Gatwick criteria.
- Specific pilot base cities. easyJet’s careers pages publish base countries only; London Gatwick and Marrakesh are known from the current vacancies. Public base lists for 2026 (our study-guide research, September 2026) show eleven UK bases plus Geneva, Basel, EU bases in France, Italy, Germany, the Netherlands, Spain and Portugal, and Marrakech — check the current advert.
- The "(2027)" in both Gatwick vacancy titles most likely denotes the intended joining year, but easyJet does not define it anywhere on the requisition and no induction or course date is published.
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 easyJet hiring First Officers in 2026? Not on its own vacancy system at the last check. On 25 August 2026 easyJet’s system carried three Captain vacancies (type rated and non-type rated at London Gatwick, and a fixed-term role in Marrakesh through Storm Global) and no direct-entry co-pilot or cadet vacancy. The cadet partners were recruiting for their own programmes: CAE for Generation easyJet, with cadets starting in late 2026, and Skyborne for FlightCrew Futures.
How many hours do you need to fly for easyJet? Captains need 4,000 hours, with 500 on the A320 family and 500 in command of jets above 30 tonnes if type rated, or 1,000 in command of such jets if not. The careers page gives co-pilots at least 500 hours on the A320 if type rated, or 1,000 hours including 500 on aircraft above 10 tonnes if not. Cadets need no flying experience.
How much does it cost to train with easyJet? easyJet publishes no price and both cadet programmes are self-funded. Skyborne’s FlightCrew Futures page gives £129,000, including the A320 type rating and accommodation; CAE sets the Generation easyJet price in euros on its own site (its October 2023 flyer gave €100,529). Add the Class 1 medical, travel to assessments, which easyJet does not pay for, and living costs.
Can I fly for easyJet with an EASA licence? It depends on the base. The live Gatwick Captain vacancies require a UK CAA licence and a UK CAA Class 1, and an EASA licence alone does not meet them; the Marrakesh role asks for an EASA licence to be converted to Austro Control. easyJet Europe, on an Austrian certificate, employs pilots at its EU bases, but no EU-based pilot vacancy was open on 25 August 2026.
Should I choose the MPL or the integrated ATPL cadet route? Both lead to an easyJet co-pilot job and both are self-funded. The Generation easyJet MPL with CAE is built around easyJet from the first day, and the licence is for multi-pilot operation; FlightCrew Futures with Skyborne is an integrated ATPL course ending with a CPL and instrument rating plus the A320 rating, which other airlines recognise in the usual way. If keeping other options open matters to you, that is the difference to weigh.
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