Smartwings Pilot Requirements 2026: Hours, License and Hiring Process

Smartwings, which calls itself the largest Czech airline, flies Boeing 737s, with a few Airbus A220s and A320s; since 1 October 2026 it has belonged to Pegasus Airlines. At the last check, on 6 November 2026, its careers page listed a B737 Type Rated Captain vacancy: 3,000 hours in total, 500 of them as Captain on the 737, a 737 rating not expired for more than a year, an age of 26 to 62, ICAO English Level 4, a Class 1 and a valid EU passport, for contracts starting between January and March 2027 in Bratislava, Budapest or Brno, with Katowice and Warsaw as needed. No First Officer vacancy was listed. Its earlier First Officer listings, as search results showed them on 29 September 2026, took non-type-rated 737 First Officers with a CPL and the ATPL theory, or an ATPL, 70 hours as pilot in command and an advanced UPRT course, EASA’s own prerequisites for a first multi-pilot type rating, with ICAO English Level 4 and a written English test at B2 level; job boards still carry a copy dated January 2026.

Is Smartwings hiring pilots now?

Recruiting at the last check on 6 November 2026 — First Officer seat: Unconfirmed; Captain seat: Recruiting. B737 Type Rated Captains on its careers page on 6 November 2026: 3,000 h with 500 h as Captain on the 737, aged 26–62, EU passport; no First Officer vacancy, earlier listings took non-rated B737 First Officers from 70 h PIC with UPRT and ATPL theory

Requirements, as published

Reading the requirements line by line

The Captain requirements above are those of the B737 Type Rated Captain vacancy on Smartwings’ careers page, read directly on 6 November 2026. The First Officer requirements are those of Smartwings’ earlier listings, as search results showed them on 29 September 2026 and as job boards’ copies have repeated them since; its careers page listed no First Officer vacancy on 29 October or 6 November 2026. The rules are quoted from EASA’s Easy Access Rules for Aircrew, read on 2 November 2026. Check each point with Smartwings before you apply.

• The 70 hours and the UPRT are EASA’s floor. The non-rated B737 listings gave no total-time figure; they asked for at least 70 hours as pilot in command and an advanced UPRT course when the 737 is your first multi-pilot type rating. That is Part-FCL’s own rule. Under FCL.720.A(b), a pilot who is not on an MPL course must, before starting the course for a first type rating on a multi-pilot airplane, have at least 70 hours of flight experience as pilot in command in airplanes; hold or have held a multi-engine instrument rating; have passed the ATPL(A) theory examinations; hold an MCC certificate, unless the type rating course is combined with an MCC course, or meet one of the rule’s alternatives, such as 500 hours as a pilot in multi-pilot operations on single-pilot multi-engine airplanes in commercial air transport; and have completed the advanced UPRT course of FCL.745.A, with narrow exceptions. A pilot who meets those prerequisites meets the listing’s hours line.
• The license. For the non-rated route, a CPL with the ATPL theory passed, or an ATPL. The Captain vacancy of 6 November 2026 names no license but asks for a B737 type rating that has not expired for more than a year; the seasonal Captain contracts that job boards relayed asked for a current EASA ATPL with a command type rating and an instrument rating.
• English, twice. ICAO Level 4 or above on your license, which the Captain vacancy asks for too; the earlier First Officer listings added, in the selection, a written English test at B2 level with a pass mark above 75%, and an interview in English. Under EASA’s FCL.055, a Level 4 endorsement is re-evaluated every four years and a Level 5 every six, and Level 6 is not re-evaluated (the Library’s pilot licensing framework); the B2 written test is Smartwings’ own step.
• The type rating. The non-rated route trains the B737NG rating. Who pays for it, and whether a bond follows, Smartwings does not publish: ask before you accept an offer.
• Captains. The vacancy on the careers page on 6 November 2026 asks for 3,000 hours in total with at least 500 as Captain of the Boeing 737, a 737 rating not expired for more than a year, no break of more than 12 months in flying, an age of 26 to 62, a Class 1, yellow fever vaccination, no criminal record and no incident record, and a valid, unrestricted EU passport. It offers a permanent or a self-employed contract starting between January and March 2027, says its Captains must take part in ACMI contracts worldwide, and ends with the company’s Selection Screening. Earlier Captain listings, as search results and job boards showed them in September and October 2026, asked for more: 4,000 hours with 300 as Captain on the B737, aged 26 to 60, for the permanent posts, and 3,500 hours for the seasonal contracts.
• The right to work for First Officers. Only the Captain listings stated it; we could not confirm what the First Officer ones say, so check before you apply from outside the EU.
• The Airbus seats. In September 2026 search results also showed non-rated and type-rated First Officer listings for the A220 and the A320, and type-rated A220 Captains, with direct entry accepted; Planes.cz reported Smartwings’ A220 and A320 First Officer listings in May 2024, so they may be that old, and neither appeared on the careers page on 29 October or 6 November 2026. They are small fleets: four A220s and two A320s in Smartwings’ release of 17 June 2026.

Entry routes

• Non-Type Rated First Officer B737
• Type Rated First Officer B737
• Type Rated Captain B737 — permanent or self-employed contract starting January–March 2027 (careers page, 6 November 2026); seasonal self-employed contracts to 31 October 2027 relayed by job boards
• Non-Type Rated and Type Rated First Officer A220; Type Rated Captain A220 (direct entry accepted)
• Non-Type Rated and Type Rated First Officer A320

The listings we found, and Smartwings beside its peers

Where each pilot listing was, as we found it. Only the first two rows are Smartwings’ own page, read directly:

We count only what Smartwings’ own page shows, so the jobs board marks the Captain seat open and the First Officer seat unconfirmed until a First Officer vacancy is back on it. Smartwings beside the other airlines we compare it with, as recorded at each airline’s last check:

Read each row with its date. LOT Polish Airlines and Enter Air fly the 737 from Warsaw, where Smartwings has a base too, and Enter Air from Katowice as well; Norwegian’s recorded fleet is 737 NGs and MAXs; Air France, easyJet and KLM give the wider comparison. Where a minimum reads “70 h PIC”, as Air France’s does for pilots without a CS-25 type rating, it is the same Part-FCL prerequisite for a first multi-pilot type rating that Smartwings’ First Officer listings name.

Selection process

1. Online application
2. Written English test at B2 level (pass mark above 75%), as the earlier First Officer listings described it
3. Motivation and assessment interview in English for invited applicants (earlier First Officer listings)
4. Captains: the company Selection Screening, whose contents and conditions are sent to each applicant personally (B737 Captain vacancy, 6 November 2026)

Bases and fleet

Bases: B737 Captain bases in the careers page’s vacancy of 6 November 2026: Bratislava, Budapest and Brno, with Katowice and Warsaw “based on current needs” · The same vacancy gives the operational bases as the Czech Republic, the Slovak Republic, Poland, Hungary, France and the Canary Islands · Prague: the base of the cabin crew vacancy on the same page

Fleet: The Smartwings group’s fleet in its release of 17 June 2026, on the arrival of its fourteenth Boeing 737 MAX 8: 49 aircraft, made up of 23 Boeing 737-800s, 14 737 MAX 8s, two 737-900ERs, four Airbus A220s, two A320s and four business jets (read directly on 6 November 2026) · The same release says the MAX 8s fly mainly Smartwings’ long-haul flights; its first MAX 8 arrived in January 2018 · Owner: Pegasus Airlines, which completed its purchase of the Smartwings group on 1 October 2026 (ch-aviation, 2 October 2026, from Pegasus’ stock-exchange filing of 1 October; AeroTime, CAPA)

The fleet, the bases and the new owner

Of the group’s 45 airliners in its release of 17 June 2026, 39 are 737s, NG and MAX, so a non-rated First Officer joins a 737 fleet of both generations, and the B737 bank covers both; the four A220s and two A320s are small fleets of their own. The Captain vacancy of 6 November 2026 is based in Bratislava, Budapest or Brno, with Katowice and Warsaw as needed, and gives the group’s operational bases as the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Poland, Hungary, France and the Canary Islands; ch-aviation counts the group’s aircraft on four air operator certificates, in Czechia, Poland, Slovakia and Hungary. Which bases take new First Officers is among the points we could not confirm: Smartwings Poland, the group’s Polish company, advertised its January 2026 non-rated listing for Katowice in one job-board copy and Warsaw in another.

On 1 October 2026 Pegasus Airlines completed its purchase of the Smartwings group, through its Dutch subsidiary Pegasus Europe B.V., according to a stock-exchange filing that ch-aviation reported on 2 October 2026, and Smartwings said it would keep operating under the Smartwings and CSA Czech Airlines brands. We found no announcement of what the purchase means for pilot recruitment. Pegasus has its own entry on the jobs board.

How to prepare

Start with the prerequisites for your first type rating on a multi-pilot airplane, because that is what the non-rated First Officer route checks: total your logbook’s time as pilot in command, and have your multi-engine instrument rating, your ATPL theory passes, your MCC certificate and your advanced UPRT certificate ready (the Library’s class and type ratings, MCC courses and upset prevention and recovery explain each). Then the English: Smartwings’ earlier First Officer listings described a selection that begins with a written English test at B2 level, with a pass mark above 75%, and an interview held in English, so practice written technical English as well as speaking it; the Library’s pilot licensing framework explains the Level 4 endorsement on your license. For the fleet, the B737 bank covers the 737 NG and MAX systems, limitations and procedures, with a 737 NG to MAX quiz, and the Library’s 737 NG and MAX differences sets out what changes between the two, since Smartwings flies both; if you apply for one of its Airbus seats, the A220 bank and the A320 bank cover those types. The First Officer interview was a motivation and assessment interview: the Library’s competency-based pilot interviews prepares you for the questions about your experience. Smartwings publishes no simulator stage in the selection we recorded, so ask what the day holds when you are invited. For the Captain vacancy, have your hours as Captain on the 737 on a line of their own, since the listing counts them separately, and the date your 737 rating was last valid, since it must not have expired for more than a year; the listing ends with the company’s Selection Screening, whose contents Smartwings sends to each applicant, and the Library’s command upgrade covers what a selection for command looks at.

Smartwings has no interview guide on v1prep yet, so for the selection read the complete airline pilot interview guide and the Library’s pilot CV and application; its flight time logging and recent experience explains how pilot-in-command time is logged. For the other 737 operators of the region, read LOT Polish Airlines and Norwegian pilot requirements, and for the whole field Boeing 737 pilot jobs, non-type-rated First Officer jobs and, for Captains, direct entry Captain jobs. How to become an airline pilot in Europe sets out the EASA route that leads to these seats. Check Smartwings’ entry on the jobs board for the latest status.

What we could not confirm

• Read directly on 29 October and 6 November 2026: Smartwings’ careers pages (on 6 November in English and Czech), which on 6 November listed a B737 Type Rated Captain vacancy and no First Officer vacancy; its fleet release of 17 June 2026 and ch-aviation’s report of the Pegasus purchase, read directly on 6 November 2026. Researched on 29 September 2026 from search-engine results: the First Officer requirements and selection described here; on 30 October and 6 November 2026: job boards’ copies of B737 First Officer and Captain listings. Confirm a vacancy is open before you apply.
• Whether any First Officer vacancy is open: Smartwings’ careers pages listed none on 29 October or 6 November 2026, while job boards relayed a Smartwings Poland non-type-rated B737 First Officer listing for Katowice dated 17 January 2026
• Type-rating cost, funding and bond for the non-rated routes, and the total-time minimum for the Type Rated First Officer B737 route
• Right-to-work wording for the First Officer vacancies
• Which bases take new First Officers: the January 2026 Smartwings Poland listing was for Katowice in one job-board copy and Warsaw in another
• The seasonal self-employed B737 Captain contracts to 31 October 2027 that job boards relayed: whether they are still offered, and their minimums (3,500 h total, with 1,000 h in command on the type “preferably” in a recruiter’s copy)
• Whether the A220 and A320 First Officer and A220 Captain routes that search results showed on 29 September 2026 still recruit: the careers pages listed none of them on 29 October or 6 November 2026
• Whether Pegasus’ ownership, completed on 1 October 2026, changes how Smartwings recruits pilots: we found no announcement either way

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 Smartwings hiring pilots? Captains, yes, at the last check, on 6 November 2026: its careers page, in English and Czech, listed a B737 Type Rated Captain vacancy, on a permanent or self-employed contract starting between January and March 2027, based in Bratislava, Budapest or Brno, with Katowice and Warsaw as needed. No First Officer vacancy was listed, as on 29 October 2026. Job boards still carried copies of a non-type-rated B737 First Officer listing from Smartwings Poland dated 17 January 2026, which we could not confirm open, so check the careers page before you apply.

How many flight hours do you need to fly for Smartwings? Its B737 Captain vacancy of 6 November 2026 asks for 3,000 hours in total, with at least 500 as Captain on the Boeing 737. Its earlier non-rated B737 First Officer listings gave no total-time figure: they asked for at least 70 hours as pilot in command and an advanced UPRT course when the 737 is your first multi-pilot type rating, which is EASA’s own prerequisite under FCL.720.A(b).

Does Smartwings hire pilots without a type rating? Its earlier listings did: the non-rated Boeing 737 First Officer route trains the B737NG rating, and in September 2026 search results also showed non-rated A220 and A320 First Officer listings, which Planes.cz reported in May 2024. Smartwings does not publish who pays for the rating or whether a bond follows, and its careers page listed no First Officer vacancy on 29 October or 6 November 2026. Its Captain vacancy asks for a B737 type rating that has not expired for more than a year.

What English level does Smartwings ask for? ICAO Level 4 or above on your license, which its B737 Captain vacancy of 6 November 2026 also asks for. Its earlier First Officer listings added a written English test at B2 level with a pass mark above 75%, and a motivation and assessment interview in English for invited applicants.

Do you need an EU passport to fly for Smartwings? Its B737 Captain vacancy of 6 November 2026 asks for a valid, unrestricted EU passport, as its earlier Captain listings did. We could not confirm the right-to-work wording of its First Officer listings, so check it with Smartwings before you apply from outside the EU.