South African Airways Pilot Requirements 2026: Hours, License and Hiring Process
South African Airways, the country’s national carrier, publishes a direct-entry door for experienced pilots who are South African citizens, and a cadet bursary for beginners. Its careers page, read on 23 October 2026, asks a First Officer for a valid South African frozen ATPL with a multi-engine instrument rating, 1,500 flying hours, 200 of them on multi-engine aircraft, a Class 1 medical, and Grade 12 or an N3 equivalent with Mathematics or Statistics 101 and English, and Physical Science or Computer Science. The page is undated, and whether SAA is recruiting now is unconfirmed: at the last check, on 23 October 2026, we found no pilot vacancy dated 2026, and the newest First Officer listings we found were job boards’ copies dated July to November 2025, one of them of SAA’s December 2023 listing. For beginners, the Cadet Pilot Development Programme is a bursary toward a frozen ATPL, with no job at SAA guaranteed. SAA flies from Johannesburg and Cape Town, with 18 aircraft of its own in December 2025: 14 A320-200s, two A330-300s and two A340-300s (ch-aviation).
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.
Is South African Airways hiring pilots now?
Unconfirmed at the last check on 23 October 2026 — First Officer seat: Unconfirmed; Captain seat: Not offered. South African citizens with a frozen ATPL, a multi-engine instrument rating and 1,500 h (200 h multi-engine); no dated 2026 pilot vacancy; a cadet bursary program
What we found at the last check: At the last check, on 23 October 2026, we found no SAA pilot vacancy dated 2026: the newest First Officer listings we found were job boards’ copies dated July to November 2025, one of them carrying the reference of SAA’s December 2023 listing. SAA’s careers page, read that day, sets its pilot minimums: a frozen ATPL with a multi-engine instrument rating and 1,500 h, for South African citizens.
How we checked
Read directly on 23 October 2026, in downloads made through the GitHub runner (tools/careers/src/saa-porter-2026-10-23/). SAA’s “Direct Flight to your Career” page sets the minimum entry requirements for pilots: a Matriculation Certificate, Grade 12, N3 or an equivalent SAQA-accredited qualification, with Mathematics or Statistics 101 and English, and Physical Science or Computer Science (each at a D symbol on the higher grade or a C on the standard grade); a valid South African Air Transport Pilot’s Licence (frozen ATPL) with a multi-engine instrument rating; a valid Class 1 medical; at least 1,500 flying hours, 200 of them on multi-engine aircraft; and South African citizenship; with a CV giving the aviation training and career history and the hours on each type flown, and certified copies of the last logbook page, the South African ID, the pilot license, the matric certificate, other educational certificates and a passport photograph. The page carries no date and no vacancy. SAA’s “Let’s talk about talent” page says its career website is under construction, with a new site launching soon. SAA’s Youth Development page describes the Cadet Pilot Development Programme as a bursary toward a frozen ATPL, after which cadets seek work in aviation to gain flying experience before they may apply to SAA; it guarantees no job at SAA; applicants need a matric certificate, N3 or a relevant tertiary qualification, with Mathematics or Statistics 101, Physical Science and English, South African citizenship and a willingness to relocate, pass five selection phases (pre-screening, psychometric testing, a medical examination, an assessment and panel interviews) and sign a training bond; the page gives no intake dates. Job boards’ copies of SAA First Officer listings, read the same day: MyJobMag, “First Officer - Kempton Park”, posted 15 January 2024, no deadline; MyJobMag, posted 9 July 2025, deadline 17 July 2025; MyJobMag, “Flight Operations”, a First Officer listing posted 27 October 2025, deadline 29 October 2025; MyJobMag, posted 3 November 2025, no deadline; and Gauteng.net’s article of 3 July 2025 (updated 12 March 2026), which gives SAA’s reference SAA231220-1, the December 2023 listing on SAA’s e-recruitment site that the checks of 21 September and 21 October 2026 found: the dates are the boards’ own, and some copies may be of that listing rather than of new ones. The copies describe the role as the P2 seat (second pilot) or the P3 seat (cruise relief pilot); ask for a South African ATPL, or a CPL with all the ATPL ground subjects completed (“previously known as a Frozen ATPL”), with the full ATPL and a multi-engine instrument rating to be obtained within four years of joining (two years in the January 2024 copy), a Class 1 medical, 1,500 flying hours with 200 on multi-engine aircraft, South African citizenship and a valid passport; list the papers (matric results, training records, hours by type, certified copies of the last three logbook pages, the logbook summary, the license and the Class 1 certificate); name simulator, written and psychometric tests and criminal, credit, reference and qualification checks among the pre-employment assessments; and, in all but the July 2025 MyJobMag copy, give preference to female applicants under SAA’s Pilot Employment Equity Plan. No pilot listing dated 2026 was found. Seen only in search-engine results: PilotsGlobal’s copy of an SAA First Officer listing (1,500 h total, 200 h multi-engine, ICAO English Level 4, no type rating required and training provided); the cadet intake announcements of 2013 (the newest, applications in October 2013 for the 2014 intake); and AFM’s report of August 2026 that SAA’s fleet had grown to 19 aircraft in April 2026, 15 of the A320 family, two A330-300s and two A340-300s. ch-aviation, 10 December 2025 (read directly): an in-house fleet of 18 aircraft, 14 leased A320-200s, two leased A330-300s and two owned A340-300s, beside wet-leased aircraft; SAA plans 28 new-generation aircraft for delivery from 2032, up to 16 wide-bodies for long-haul routes and 12 narrow-bodies to replace the A320-200s as their leases expire; its network is built around Johannesburg O.R. Tambo, with Cape Town second. The previous check, on 21 October 2026, was from search-engine results.
Requirements, as published
| Requirement | As published by the airline |
|---|---|
| License | Valid South African frozen ATPL with a multi-engine instrument rating (SAA’s careers page, read on 23 October 2026); job boards’ copies of the 2024 and 2025 First Officer listings accept a South African ATPL, or a CPL with all the ATPL ground subjects completed (“previously known as a Frozen ATPL”) |
| Minimum hours | 1,500 h flying, at least 200 h on multi-engine aircraft (SAA’s careers page, read on 23 October 2026; undated); job boards’ copies of SAA’s 2024 and 2025 First Officer listings give the same figures |
| Type rating | Provided, in PilotsGlobal’s copy of an SAA First Officer listing, seen only in search results: no type rating required, training provided; SAA’s careers page and the other copies say nothing on the type rating |
| Right to work | South African citizen |
| Medical | SACAA Class 1 |
| English | ICAO Level 4, in PilotsGlobal’s copy of an SAA First Officer listing, seen only in search results; not on SAA’s careers page or in the MyJobMag and Gauteng.net copies |
| Also | Grade 12 or an N3 equivalent with SAQA accreditation, with Mathematics or Statistics 101 and English, and Physical Science or Computer Science, each at a D symbol on the higher grade or a C on the standard grade. Apply with a CV giving your training, career history and hours by aircraft type, and certified copies of the last logbook page, ID, pilot license, matric certificate and other educational certificates, with a passport photograph (SAA’s careers page, read on 23 October 2026). Job boards’ copies of the 2024 and 2025 First Officer listings add a valid passport, ask for the last three logbook pages, the logbook summary and the Class 1 certificate, and, all but one, say preference is given to female applicants under SAA’s Pilot Employment Equity Plan. |
Reading the requirements line by line
The requirements below are those of SAA’s careers page as we read it on 23 October 2026, with what job boards’ copies of SAA’s 2024 and 2025 First Officer listings add, labeled as such; the SACAA rules cited are those of the Civil Aviation Regulations, 2011.
- A frozen ATPL, and what “frozen” means. SAA asks for a valid South African frozen ATPL with a multi-engine instrument rating. “Frozen ATPL” is the industry’s term, not one of the licenses Part 61 lists: it means a CPL with the instrument rating and every ATPL theory paper passed, held until you have the experience for the ATPL itself; SAA’s listings, as job boards copied them, put it as a CPL “having completed all the ground subjects for the ATPL (previously known as a Frozen ATPL)”. SACAA’s ATPL asks, among other things, for an age of 21 and 1,500 hours in airplanes, with 200 hours of cross-country time, 75 of instrument time and 100 at night (regulation 61.07.1). The same copies accept a South African ATPL too, and give a period after joining in which to obtain the full ATPL with a multi-engine instrument rating: four years in most of them, two in MyJobMag’s copy of January 2024, so ask SAA.
- 1,500 hours, 200 of them multi-engine. The careers page’s 1,500 flying hours are the total the ATPL itself asks for. The 200 multi-engine hours count separately: time on single-engine airplanes adds to the 1,500 but not to the 200.
- A South African license, held by a South African citizen. The careers page asks for South African citizenship, and the license must be South African. A pilot trained abroad first validates or converts the foreign license with SACAA, which recognizes licenses issued under ICAO Annex 1 on the conditions of regulation 61.01.13, including a skills test; our South Africa guide sets out the steps.
- School subjects. Grade 12 or an N3 equivalent with SAQA accreditation, with Mathematics or Statistics 101 and English, and Physical Science or Computer Science, each at a D symbol on the higher grade or a C on the standard grade. SAA asks for a certified copy of your matric certificate with the CV, so check the subjects on it before you apply.
- Class 1, English and passport. A valid Class 1 medical, which in South Africa only a Senior designated aviation medical examiner approved by SACAA may issue. Job boards’ copies of the listings add a valid passport. ICAO English Level 4 appears only in PilotsGlobal’s copy of a listing, which we saw in search results, not on SAA’s page or in the other copies.
- The papers with the CV. A CV with your aviation training and career history and the hours on each type you have flown, and certified copies of the last page of your logbook, your South African ID, your pilot license, your matric certificate and your other educational certificates, with a passport photograph. The listings, as job boards copied them, also ask for the last three logbook pages, the logbook summary and the Class 1 certificate, and all but one say that SAA gives preference to female applicants under its Pilot Employment Equity Plan.
Entry routes
- Direct entry First Officer — status unconfirmed; SAA’s careers page sets 1,500 h with 200 h multi-engine; the role covers the P2 seat (second pilot) and the P3 seat (cruise relief pilot), as job boards’ copies of the 2024 and 2025 listings describe it
- Cadet Pilot Development Programme — bursary to frozen ATPL, then apply; no guaranteed job at SAA; five selection phases, among them psychometric testing and panel interviews, and a training bond (SAA’s Youth Development page)
- Direct entry Captain — not offered
SAA beside Airlink, and the cadet bursary
SAA beside South Africa’s other airline on our jobs board, as recorded at each airline’s last check:
| Airline | Published minimum | License | Type rating | Right to work | Status at last check |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| South African Airways | 1,500 h (200 h multi-engine) | SA (frozen) ATPL · ME IR | Provided (job-board copy) | SA citizen | Unconfirmed (23 October 2026) |
| Airlink | 200 h cadet · 500 h Connect · 1,000 h FO | CPL ME/IR | Not published | South African citizens | Recruiting (21 October 2026) |
Read the hours column first. At its last check, on 21 October 2026, Airlink published Cadet First Officer and Connect First Officer streams from 200 and 500 hours, with a CPL and a multi-engine instrument rating, and an experienced First Officer stream from 1,000 hours, while SAA asks for 1,500 hours and the ATPL papers. For a South African pilot with a new CPL, Airlink is the published door, and SAA a later one. Both ask for South African citizenship for their First Officer streams, so neither is a door for a pilot from abroad.
For pilots starting from zero, SAA’s Youth Development page describes the Cadet Pilot Development Programme as a bursary that helps successful candidates fund a frozen ATPL. It asks for a matric certificate, N3 or a relevant tertiary qualification, with Mathematics or Statistics 101, Physical Science and English, South African citizenship and a willingness to relocate for the training, with or without flying experience; selection runs in five phases, pre-screening, psychometric testing, a medical examination, an assessment and panel interviews, and cadets sign a training bond. Cadets then look for flying work to build their hours before SAA can consider them for its vacancies, and the program does not guarantee a job at SAA. The page gives no intake dates, and we found no 2026 or 2027 intake in search results on 23 October 2026; the newest intake announcement we found dates from October 2013, for the 2014 intake, so watch the Youth Development page for the next call.
Selection process
- Online application on SAA’s e-recruitment site, with the CV and the certified documents (job boards’ copies of the 2024 and 2025 First Officer listings)
- Pre-employment assessments: simulator, written and psychometric tests (the same copies)
- Pre-employment checks: criminal, credit, reference and qualification checks (the same copies)
Bases and fleet
Bases: Johannesburg · Cape Town
Fleet: 18 aircraft of its own in December 2025: 14 leased A320-200s, two leased A330-300s and two owned A340-300s (ch-aviation, 10 December 2025) · 19 aircraft in April 2026: 15 of the A320 family, two A330-300s and two A340-300s (AFM, August 2026, as search results showed it) · Planned from 2032: 28 new-generation aircraft, up to 16 wide-bodies for long-haul routes and 12 narrow-bodies to replace the leased A320-200s as their leases end (ch-aviation, December 2025)
The fleet a new First Officer may join
ch-aviation reported in December 2025 that SAA flew an in-house fleet of 18 aircraft: 14 leased A320-200s, two leased A330-300s and two A340-300s of its own. AFM reported in August 2026, as search results showed it, that the fleet had grown to 19 aircraft in April 2026, 15 of them of the A320 family. For the longer term, ch-aviation reported that SAA plans 28 new-generation aircraft for delivery from 2032: up to 16 wide-bodies for long-haul routes and 12 narrow-bodies to replace its leased A320-200s as their leases end. The First Officer listings that job boards copied name no aircraft type, so a new First Officer may join either side of the fleet; ask at the interview which one is recruiting.
How to prepare
SAA’s narrow-body fleet is the A320 family, so the A320 bank below is the core of the technical preparation, with the A319 / A320 / A321 quiz for the differences between the family’s sizes and the A320 interview set for systems knowledge and operational scenarios. Its wide-bodies, the A330-300 and the A340-300, have no bank on v1prep, and the listings that job boards copied name no aircraft type for a new First Officer; if you are offered the P3 seat, the cruise relief pilot who takes over from the operating crew in the cruise on long flights, revise long-range navigation, high-altitude flight and fatigue from the Library. SAA’s First Officer listings, as job boards copied them in 2024 and 2025, name simulator, written and psychometric tests among the pre-employment assessments, with criminal, credit, reference and qualification checks; prepare for an interview as well, with the CRM interview set for the crew resource management questions, and use the ATPL theory banks for the performance, meteorology and navigation underneath; they follow the EASA syllabus rather than SACAA’s, so take your SACAA papers from their own syllabus. Do the paperwork first: total your logbook with the multi-engine hours on their own line, since the 200 count separately; check that your ATPL theory credits and your English proficiency endorsement are still valid; and have certified copies ready of what SAA’s careers page asks for with the CV: the last page of your logbook (the last three in the listings), your South African ID, your pilot license, your matric certificate and your other educational certificates, with a passport photograph.
South African Airways has no interview guide on v1prep yet, so for the selection read the complete airline pilot interview guide and the Library’s competency-based pilot interviews and airline simulator assessment. The Library’s commercial and airline transport pilot licenses explains what separates a CPL from an ATPL, and writing a pilot CV and application shows how to set out your hours by aircraft type, as SAA asks. The license route from zero hours is on how to become an airline pilot in South Africa; the continent’s other airlines are on Kenya Airways and Ethiopian Airlines pilot requirements and on our page of airline pilot jobs in Africa. Check SAA’s entry on the jobs board for the latest status.
What we could not confirm
- Read directly on 23 October 2026: SAA’s careers pages (Direct Flight to your Career, Youth Development, Let’s talk about talent) and job boards’ copies of its First Officer listings (MyJobMag, Gauteng.net). From search-engine results only: PilotsGlobal’s copy of a listing, the 2013 cadet intakes and AFM’s 2026 fleet figure. Confirm a vacancy is open before you apply.
- Whether SAA is recruiting pilots: the newest First Officer listings found are job boards’ copies dated July to November 2025, none from 2026, one of them carrying the reference of SAA’s December 2023 listing, and SAA’s careers website says it is under construction
- When the requirements on SAA’s careers page were last updated: the page is undated
- Whether the Cadet Pilot Development Programme is taking a 2026 or 2027 intake
- How long a new First Officer has to obtain the full ATPL: four years in most job boards’ copies of the listings, two in one
- Whether SAA provides the type rating and asks for ICAO English Level 4: both come only from PilotsGlobal’s copy of a First Officer listing, seen in search results
- Which fleet a new First Officer joins first: the listings that job boards copied name no aircraft type
- Bond terms for direct-entry First Officers
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 South African Airways hiring pilots? Unconfirmed at the last check, on 23 October 2026. We found no SAA pilot vacancy dated 2026: the newest First Officer listings we found were job boards’ copies dated July to November 2025, one of them carrying the reference of SAA’s December 2023 listing, and another SAA careers page says its careers website is under construction. SAA’s careers page still sets its pilot minimums, so check it before you apply.
How many hours do you need to fly for South African Airways? 1,500 flying hours, at least 200 of them on multi-engine aircraft, as SAA’s careers page gave them when we read it on 23 October 2026; the page is undated. Job boards’ copies of SAA’s 2024 and 2025 First Officer listings give the same figures.
What license do you need to fly for SAA? A valid South African frozen ATPL with a multi-engine instrument rating, that is, a South African CPL with the instrument rating and every ATPL theory paper passed. Job boards’ copies of the 2024 and 2025 First Officer listings also accept a South African ATPL, and give a period after joining in which to obtain the full ATPL, four years in most copies and two in one, so ask SAA. You also need a valid Class 1 medical.
Can foreign pilots fly for South African Airways? Not on SAA’s published terms. Its careers page asks for South African citizenship and a South African license, and job boards’ copies of its First Officer listings ask for citizenship and a valid passport too. We found no SAA posting for pilots from abroad, and no direct-entry Captain route.
Does South African Airways have a cadet program? Yes: the Cadet Pilot Development Programme, which SAA’s Youth Development page describes as a bursary toward a frozen ATPL for South African citizens, with five selection phases and a training bond. Cadets then look for flying work to build their hours before SAA can consider them, and the program does not guarantee a job at SAA. The page gives no intake dates, and we found no 2026 or 2027 intake.
Prepare for the assessment, not just the application
Getting the interview is the easy half. v1prep has 15,000+ technical questions with every answer cited to its source — A320, B737, EASA ATPL theory and the FAA writtens.
Start practicing free →