Frontier Airlines Pilot Requirements 2026: Hours, License and Hiring Process

Frontier Airlines, the Denver-based ultra-low-fare airline, flies only Airbus A320-family aircraft and hires First Officers without the type rating, which comes in new-hire training. Its pilot careers page asks for an ATP certificate, 1,500 hours of total time, a current FAA First Class medical, authorization to work in the US and an age of at least 20, and prefers 2,500 hours total, 750 hours multi-engine, 500 as pilot in command and 500 in jets or turboprops. At the last check, on 16 October 2026, that page said its First Officer and University applications were open, with no closing date, while the University Pathway, F9 Pilot Cadet and Rotor Transition program pages each said its application window was temporarily closed. Frontier had 165 aircraft on 30 June 2026, 72 A320neos, 66 A321neos, 21 A321ceos and six A320ceos, after returning 24 A320neos to their lessor early (second-quarter 2026 results), and its pilot page lists 13 bases, from Atlanta and Denver to San Juan and the Trenton/Philadelphia area.

Is Frontier Airlines hiring pilots now?

Recruiting at the last check on 16 October 2026 — First Officer seat: Recruiting; Captain seat: Unconfirmed. First Officers from 1,500 h with an ATP certificate, A320-family type rating provided; First Officer and University applications open on the pilot page, while the University Pathway, Cadet and Rotor Transition program pages show their windows closed

Requirements, as published

Reading the requirements line by line

• 1,500 hours, counted Frontier’s way. Frontier counts only time in fixed-wing and rotary-wing aircraft toward its minimums: hours in a simulator, or logged as flight engineer, bombardier, navigator, WSO, EWO, RIO, NFO, UAV or special crew, do not count. Helicopter time therefore counts toward Frontier’s 1,500 hours, while the ATP certificate itself still needs the airplane experience of 14 CFR 61.159.
• The ATP certificate, held. The posting asks for an ATP certificate, not a Commercial certificate with the ATP written. A First Officer may also fly under Part 121 with the restricted ATP of 14 CFR 61.160, at 750, 1,000 or 1,250 hours, and Frontier’s University Pathway and Rotor Transition programs take pilots eligible for one; the direct posting, as published, does not mention it, so ask Frontier before you apply with a restricted ATP.
• Preferred, not required. 2,500 hours total, 750 hours of multi-engine fixed-wing time, 500 hours as pilot in command and 500 hours in jet or turboprop aircraft. A pilot at 1,500 hours without them still meets the minimums.
• The papers. A current FAA First Class medical, with vision corrected to 20/20; an FCC Restricted Radiotelephone Operator Permit; authorization to work in the US, which the AirlineApps posting lets you show with a US passport or with a foreign passport and US work authorization (it mentions no visa sponsorship); and a machine-readable passport with at least 13 months’ validity that lets you travel in and out of the US.
• The way of life. Frontier asks that you be able to relocate or commute and to work weekends, nights, holidays and overnight trips, red-eyes included, and that you pass a pre-employment drug test and background checks.
• The rest of the list. Frontier’s page also asks for a high school diploma or GED and an age of at least 20 when you apply; the ATP certificate itself has a higher floor, 23, or 21 for the restricted ATP (14 CFR 61.153). It prefers experience with EFIS and FMS, allows no visible tattoos in uniform, even covered, on the face, ears, hands, wrists or neck, and asks that you can fasten a four-point jump seat harness without an extension.

Entry routes

• Direct entry First Officer — 1,500 h and an ATP certificate; A320-family rating provided; applications open at the last check (Frontier’s pilot careers page, 16 October 2026)
• F9 Pilot Cadet Program — ab initio at ATP Flight School, a commercial pilot in as little as 24 months, then a First Officer role; application window temporarily closed at the last check (program page, 16 October 2026)
• University Pathway Program — partner schools, from 600 h, ATP or restricted-ATP eligible; application window temporarily closed on the program page, while the pilot careers page said University applications were open (16 October 2026)
• Rotor Transition Program — US military-trained helicopter pilots, restricted-ATP military minimums; application window temporarily closed at the last check (program page, 16 October 2026)
• Direct entry Captain — not published

The Cadet, University Pathway and Rotor Transition programs

Frontier runs three programs that lead to its First Officer seat. At the last check, on 16 October 2026, each program’s own page said its application window was temporarily closed, with no date for reopening, while Frontier’s pilot careers page said its First Officer and University applications were open:

• F9 Pilot Cadet Program, for candidates with no flying experience: flight training at more than 70 ATP Flight School locations, which Frontier says can make you a commercial pilot in as little as 24 months, with a direct path to a Frontier First Officer role; employment with Frontier starts once the training is complete. Cadets are not paid as employees, but Frontier’s page lists a monthly stipend of USD 500 until 750 flight hours, then USD 1,000 for the rest of the 24 months, and help in applying for financial aid. The page asks for a valid driver’s license, a standardized pilot aptitude test and a willingness to work nights, weekends and holidays; search results also showed it asking for a First Class medical, vision corrected to 20/20 and a valid passport. We could not confirm the minimum age of 19 announced at the launch in July 2022.
• University Pathway Program, for students at Frontier’s partner schools: Frontier’s page asks for 600 hours of total time or more, eligibility for the ATP or the restricted ATP, a First Class medical and a valid US passport, and Frontier assists with the funding of the ATP-CTP course. The program’s page said its window was temporarily closed on 16 October 2026, while the pilot careers page said University applications were open, so confirm with your school. One partner describes a conditional First Officer offer after an interview and a recommendation from the school (Liberty University, January 2025).
• Rotor Transition Program, for US military-trained helicopter pilots: a military aviator rating from a US Armed Forces pilot training school, a DD-214 or separation within twelve months, eligibility for the restricted ATP’s military minimums within two years, and the ability to start the next First Officer new-hire class and complete up to 10 weeks of training, from indoctrination to IOE, without a break. Frontier assists with the funding of the fixed-wing transition, the ATP-CTP and a jet transition course; its optional bonus funding for the fixed-wing training requires a Frontier-approved flight school, and the page asks you to e-mail Frontier’s pilot recruiters for the current list (search results showed it naming Direct Connect Flight Academy and Sky Warrior). The program is for US military-trained aviators only, not civilian or non-US military helicopter pilots. Its page, as search results showed it, gives the fixed-wing time a candidate needs in two ways, “no fixed wing time required” and 250 hours of fixed-wing pilot-in-command time within 750 hours total, so ask which applies to you.

ATP Flight School also describes a Frontier Airlines Career Track for its students: they instruct at ATP to about 1,250 to 1,500 hours, interview with Frontier for a conditional offer, then take a Frontier-sponsored ATP-CTP and jet transition course in a full-motion A320 simulator (ATP and Frontier, 2021). Check the current terms with the school.

Frontier and the other US airlines

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

Read the license column as well as the hours: some airlines ask for the ATP certificate itself, as Frontier does, others accept a Commercial certificate with the ATP experience and a current ATP written. Spirit Airlines, another US ultra-low-cost airline, stopped flying on 2 May 2026, when it began an orderly wind-down of its operations (NPR, 2 May 2026), and the bankruptcy court approved that wind-down three days later (AP, May 2026). Frontier’s pilot careers page now links to “Pilot Opportunities for Spirit Airlines Professionals”; in June 2026 Frontier said it would continue to hire Spirit employees as openings arise, and Reuters noted that pilots who move to another airline start at the bottom of its seniority list. Frontier’s own pilots, represented by ALPA, have been negotiating a new contract since July 2023, the current one having become amendable on 16 January 2024; the union reported that Frontier hired 259 pilots in 2025 and had 2,260 on its seniority list (ALPA, early 2026).

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: 13 bases listed on Frontier’s pilot careers page on 16 October 2026, “and more to come soon”: Atlanta, Chicago, Cincinnati, Cleveland, Dallas, Denver, Las Vegas, Miami, Orlando, Phoenix, San Juan, Tampa and the Trenton/Philadelphia area · The page does not say which bases take new-hire First Officers: confirm with Frontier

Fleet: 165 Airbus aircraft at 30 June 2026, all on operating leases: 72 A320neos, 66 A321neos, 21 A321ceos and 6 A320ceos (second-quarter 2026 results) · 24 A320neos returned early to the lessor AerCap in the second quarter of 2026, and 69 A320neo-family deliveries moved from 2027–2030 to 2031–2033 (Form 8-K, March 2026) · In mid-2026 Frontier agreed to sell 11 A321neos to the lessor Avolon as they are delivered, and said it expected to end 2026 with 171 aircraft (Frontier filings, as reported)

How to prepare

Frontier flies only the A320 family, so the A320 bank below is the one to work: it covers the A321 too, with the A320ceo to neo quiz for the neo’s differences and the A319/A320/A321 family quiz, and the A320 interview set has the systems and scenario questions a technical interview draws on. Frontier asks for the ATP certificate itself, not only the experience, so if yours is still ahead of you, the ATP bank covers the ATM written test, which you can take only after the ATP-CTP course, with the Part 121, transport performance and turbine-systems questions. Frontier does not publish its interview stages, so prepare for a technical and a behavioral interview with the US airline interview set, and the crew resource management questions with the CRM interview set. Do the paperwork first: total your logbook the way Frontier counts it, with airplane and helicopter time only and no simulator, flight engineer or other crew-member time, and the preferred lines (multi-engine, pilot in command, jet or turboprop) on their own; check that your passport is machine-readable with at least 13 months left; and have the FCC Restricted Radiotelephone Operator Permit and the First Class medical in hand.

For the interview itself, read the complete airline pilot interview guide and the Library’s competency-based pilot interviews. If the ATP 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, which Frontier’s direct First Officer posting does not mention. The Library’s FAA Part 121 air carrier operations explains the rules a Frontier First Officer flies under, including the 1,000 hours of air carrier experience a Part 121 Captain needs, its airline pilot ranks, seniority and scheduling how seniority decides bases and upgrades, and its A320 flight deck design philosophy is a place to start on the Airbus. The whole route from zero hours is on how to become an airline pilot in the USA. To compare another A320-family airline in the US, read JetBlue pilot requirements. Check Frontier’s entry on the jobs board for the latest status.

What we could not confirm

• Read directly on 16 October 2026: Frontier’s pilot careers page, its University Pathway, F9 Pilot Cadet and Rotor Transition pages and the AirlineApps listing. Researched on 16 October 2026 from search-engine results: parts of the program requirements, the fleet figures and ALPA’s figures. Confirm the vacancy is still open before you apply.
• The dates of the First Officer posting: neither Frontier’s pilot page nor the AirlineApps listing gives a posting or closing date
• Whether the University Pathway is taking applications: on 16 October 2026 Frontier’s pilot careers page said “University applications are open”, while the program’s own page said its application window was temporarily closed
• Frontier’s interview and assessment stages: Frontier does not publish them; preparation sites describe an interview day at its Denver headquarters with a simulator session
• Pay and upgrade times: pay is set by the ALPA contract, amendable since January 2024 and still under negotiation in early 2026; Frontier’s pilot page advertises “a fast upgrade (2-3 years)” and “over 200 new aircraft on order”, undated, while under its 2026 agreements Frontier returned 24 A320neos early and deferred 69 deliveries to 2031–2033 (Form 8-K, March 2026)
• Which of the 13 bases take new-hire pilots after the 2026 fleet reductions
• The Cadet Program’s minimum age: 19 at its launch in 2022, not confirmed on the current program page
• Whether Frontier hires Captains from outside: it publishes no direct-entry Captain route

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 Frontier Airlines hiring pilots? Yes, at the last check, on 16 October 2026: Frontier’s pilot careers page said its First Officer and University applications were open, and AirlineApps listed the First Officer posting, with no posting or closing date shown. The University Pathway, F9 Pilot Cadet and Rotor Transition program pages each said its application window was temporarily closed. Frontier hired 259 pilots in 2025, according to ALPA.

How many hours do you need to fly for Frontier? 1,500 hours of total time, with an FAA ATP certificate. Frontier prefers 2,500 hours total, 750 hours of multi-engine fixed-wing time, 500 hours as pilot in command and 500 hours in jet or turboprop aircraft, but these are not requirements. Only fixed-wing and rotary-wing time counts: simulator time and time as flight engineer, navigator or other non-pilot crew do not. The University Pathway Program, for students of Frontier’s partner schools, takes applications from 600 hours; its page said the application window was temporarily closed on 16 October 2026.

Does Frontier provide the A320 type rating? Yes. No type rating is needed to apply: the A320-family rating is part of Frontier’s First Officer new-hire training, on a fleet that is all Airbus A320neo, A321neo, A321ceo and A320ceo aircraft. Frontier also assists with the funding of the ATP-CTP course for University Pathway pilots, and of the fixed-wing transition, the ATP-CTP and a jet transition course for Rotor Transition pilots.

What is the Frontier F9 Pilot Cadet Program? Frontier’s route for candidates with no flying experience: flight training at more than 70 ATP Flight School locations, which Frontier says can make you a commercial pilot in as little as 24 months, with a monthly stipend of USD 500 until 750 flight hours and USD 1,000 after that, and a direct path to a Frontier First Officer role. At the last check, on 16 October 2026, the program’s page said the application window was temporarily closed, with no date for reopening.

Can a non-US citizen fly for Frontier? Only with the right to work in the US already. Frontier asks for authorization to work in the United States, and its First Officer posting accepts a US passport or a foreign passport with US work authorization; it mentions no visa sponsorship. You also need a machine-readable passport with at least 13 months’ validity that allows travel in and out of the US.