Pilot CV Builder: Airline Pilot CV Template

Free, €4.99 per CV, or included

Everything you need to build the CV is free with a v1prep account: every field, the checks on hours, dates and expiry dates, the live A4 preview and the JSON backup.

An optimised CV, €4.99 per CV. Press Send my CV and v1prep works on the CV you built:

• The profile and bullet points rewritten in the plain, factual style airline screeners expect, with the licence, hours and type where a screener looks first.
• Tailored to the airline you pick from Pilot Jobs, against its published requirements.
• Your facts untouched. No hour, date, licence, rating, employer or achievement is ever added or changed. Anything that looks wrong or missing is pointed out to you in the e-mail, not guessed.
• Back within 2 days by e-mail, with a link that opens it in this builder and the CV as a file. It downloads as an A4 PDF without the watermark, in any of the five layouts, and you can keep editing it.

v1prep optimises CVs with the help of AI (Claude, by Anthropic), within the rules above. One payment per CV, no subscription: each purchase is one CV credit. You get a full refund within 14 days of purchase as long as the optimised CV has not come back to you yet (refund policy). Pay on Gumroad with the e-mail of your v1prep account and sign in here; the credit appears within a minute.

Pilot CV Pro, included with PRO, Lifetime, the Interview Pass and Difference Training. Members get all of this, with a CV optimised by v1prep once a week:

• The PDF. Your CV as an A4 PDF, without the PREVIEW watermark, whenever you like.
• Three more layouts. Executive (serif, for experienced first officers and captains), Compact (dense, to keep a cadet CV on one page) and Key facts (licence, hours, type, medical, English and right to work in a box at the top, where a screener looks first). All black on white and print-safe.
• The pilot wording library. Profile sentences and bullet points written by v1prep for cadets and low-hours pilots, instructors, first officers, captains and other aviation roles, and by topic: hours, type ratings, CRM, safety roles and training achievements. One click inserts a phrase, filled in with your hours and type where the CV has them, and you edit it freely. None of it invents figures: what only you can supply is left in [square brackets].
• Airline tailoring. Choose an airline from Pilot Jobs and its published requirements appear beside your CV, with the date they were last verified and a checklist of what your CV already shows and what to make prominent: licence, hours, hours on type, type rating, medical, English level, languages and right to work.
• A matching cover letter. Written from your CV and the airline you choose, in the same typeface as the CV, editable, and printable as its own A4 page.

It comes with the plan or course, for as long as that runs: sign in to v1prep in this browser and the page opens it. Your CV stays in your browser until you press Send my CV.

What airlines screen for

A recruiter’s first pass is a comparison with the advert: the licence and the authority that issued it, total and type hours, a valid type rating if one is required, the medical class, the ICAO English level and the right to live and work where the base is. A CV that makes the reader hunt for any of these starts at a disadvantage, which is why this builder puts them all in the top half of page one.

Once the minimums are met, screeners look at the story the CV tells: steady progression, recent flying, a clean training record and no unexplained gaps. Many airlines take applications through an online portal and ask for a CV alongside, and the two are read side by side, sometimes again at the assessment day. How the whole process runs, from screening to the simulator check, is covered in airline pilot recruitment and selection, and the minimums airline by airline in airline pilot requirements by region.

The flight hours table

Take every figure from your logbook totals on one date, and print that date on the CV. Use the categories the airline uses on its application form. If the form asks for a figure your logbook does not total, such as turbine or multi-crew time, work it out once, keep the working, and use the same number everywhere. To present hours honestly:

• Round down, never up, and round the same way on the CV, the form and in the interview.
• Keep simulator (FSTD) time out of flight time. If the airline asks for it, give it as a separate figure.
• Put each hour in the right column. EASA and FAA rules define PIC, PICUS and co-pilot (SIC) time differently, so a pilot moving between systems should check how each hour was logged rather than relabel it.
• Check that it adds up. PIC plus co-pilot time cannot exceed total time, no category can exceed it, and hours by type should not add up to more than the total. The builder warns you when they do.

A figure that differs between the CV, the form and the logbook will be noticed, and “I rounded it differently” is a weak answer at an interview. How each category is defined is explained in logging flight time and recent experience.

Licence and rating wording

Name the authority, the licence and the category: “EASA ATPL(A), issued by the Irish Aviation Authority” is complete; “ATPL” on its own is not. Spell out a frozen ATPL: “EASA CPL(A) with IR(A) and ATPL theory credit” tells a screener exactly what you hold. Give type ratings with their validity, and class ratings such as MEP(land) and SEP(land) as they appear on the licence. Name MCC, APS MCC, a jet orientation course or UPRT with the year and the training organisation. For the medical, state the class, the authority and the expiry date; for English, the ICAO level and, for levels 4 and 5, the expiry date. The licence number is optional on a CV, since the application form will ask for it. The licences and class and type ratings articles in the Library explain what each one allows.

Cadet, first officer and captain CVs

• Cadet or low-hour pilot: the training record leads. Licence and ratings, ATPL theory with the school and dates, MCC or APS MCC, first-time passes if that is true, then earlier work that shows teamwork, responsibility and dealing with the public. One page is enough. See low-hour pilot jobs for where to send it.
• Experienced first officer: the current type, hours on type and the kind of operation (short-haul, long-haul, cargo, regional) lead. Add extra roles such as line training support, safety or standards work, with dates.
• Captain: command hours on type, the operations and bases flown, and training or checking roles such as TRI, TRE or line training captain with dates. Leadership belongs in the job entries as facts: what you led, and what changed.

Where each route leads, from cadet schemes to command, is set out in pilot career pathways.

Length, tailoring and the cover letter

One page suits most cadets and low-hour pilots; experienced pilots should stop at two. The preview shows an estimated page count. Tailor each CV: read the advert, put what it asks for near the top, use its words (first officer or co-pilot, direct-entry captain) and mention its fleet type if you hold that rating. A generic CV reads as one. With Pilot CV Pro, Tailor to an airline puts the airline’s published requirements beside the preview and lists what to move up.

Keep the cover letter to one page, addressed to the airline. Say why this airline, which of its requirements you meet, and your availability and base preference if it asks; do not repeat the CV. Pilot CV Pro (included with PRO, Lifetime, the Interview Pass and Difference Training) drafts one from your CV for the airline you choose, leaving the reasons only you can give in [square brackets]. The research you do for it is the start of your interview preparation: see the airline pilot interview prep guide and airline guides such as Ryanair, easyJet and Emirates.

Common mistakes

• Hours that differ between the CV, the application form and the logbook.
• Unexplained gaps. A line such as “time building while working as a dispatcher” answers the question before it is asked.
• A long profile that pushes licences and hours down the page.
• Decorative templates, logos, colour and photos that print badly or confuse automated screening software.
• Personal details nobody asked for, such as marital status or a full street address.
• An expired medical, a lapsed rating, or an “hours as of” date months out of date.
• Spelling mistakes and mixed date formats.
• Overstating anything. Airlines check licences, logbooks and references, and an exaggeration found there can end an application.

Frequently asked questions

Should a pilot CV include a photo? Only if the airline asks for one. Many do not, and where a photo is required the application form usually says so. This builder leaves the photo out on purpose. If an airline does want one, use a recent, plain passport-style photo in business dress or uniform, and add it to that application only.

How long should a pilot CV be? One page for cadets and low-hour pilots, and no more than two for experienced first officers and captains. Your licences, current type and the hours table belong on page one, where a screener looks first.

How do I write a frozen ATPL on my CV? Write out what you hold, for example “EASA CPL(A) with IR(A) and ATPL theory credit”, and give the ATPL theory course, the school and the year in the education section. “Frozen ATPL” and “fATPL” are common shorthand, but spelling the licence out leaves the screener no doubt.

Is a pilot CV the same as an airline pilot résumé? For practical purposes, yes. Airlines in the United States usually say résumé, while European, Middle Eastern and Asian airlines usually say CV. Both are short, factual summaries of your licences, ratings, hours and experience, and the same rules on presenting hours apply to both.

What is free, and what does the €4.99 buy? Filling in the builder, the checks on hours, dates and expiry dates, the live A4 preview (with a PREVIEW watermark) and the JSON backup are free with a v1prep account, which costs nothing. For €4.99, v1prep optimises one CV: the profile and bullet points rewritten in airline style and tailored to the airline you pick, without adding or changing a single fact. It comes back within 2 days by e-mail and downloads as an A4 PDF without the watermark, in any of the five layouts.

Is Pilot CV Pro included in v1prep PRO? Yes. PRO, Lifetime, the Interview Pass and either Difference Training course include Pilot CV Pro for as long as they run: the PDF, all five layouts, the wording library, airline tailoring, the cover letter, and a CV optimised by v1prep once a week. Sign in to v1prep in this browser and it opens.

Who optimises my CV, and can it invent anything? v1prep does, with the help of AI (Claude, by Anthropic). The rules are strict: every hour, date, licence, rating, employer and achievement stays exactly as you wrote it. The wording, order and emphasis change; the facts do not. If something looks wrong or is missing, the e-mail tells you instead of guessing.

How do I get my optimised CV? Pay on Gumroad with the e-mail address of your v1prep account (or create a free account with the address you paid with), sign in here, fill in the CV and press Send my CV. Within 2 days an e-mail arrives with a link that opens the optimised CV in this builder, and the same CV as a file for Import JSON. Paid with another address? Link the purchase from your v1prep account with the order number on your Gumroad receipt.

Can I get a refund? Yes, a full refund within 14 days of purchase as long as the optimised CV has not been sent back to you. Once it has, the service is complete; if something in it is wrong, reply to the e-mail and it is put right. The refund policy has the details.

Does v1prep see or store my CV? Only if you press Send my CV. Until then the builder runs in your browser: what you type is saved only in this browser’s local storage, under the key v1_cv_draft. When you send it, the CV goes by e-mail to v1prep, which keeps it for 90 days after sending it back and then deletes it; v1prep’s server keeps only a record that you sent a CV and when. The privacy policy has the details. If you are signed in, the page also asks v1prep’s server what your account includes, with your account e-mail and sign-in token. Export a JSON backup to keep a copy, and use Clear all on a shared or public computer.