UPS Airlines Pilot Requirements 2026: Hours, Licence and Hiring Process

UPS Airlines hires First Officers only, through postings on its careers site and through FlightPath, its two routes by way of the cargo airline Ameriflight. Its First Officer postings ask for a current unrestricted FAA ATP, 1,500 hours of total fixed-wing time and 1,000 hours as pilot in command of jets or multi-engine turboprops, which one copy of the posting lists as preferred instead, with a First Class medical, a valid passport and the right to work in the US without sponsorship; a bachelor’s degree is preferred, not required. At the last check, on 14 October 2026, the address of the UPS First Officer posting that search results showed, listed at Louisville, opened only the job search page of UPS’s careers site, so whether UPS is taking applications is unconfirmed. The postings name four domiciles: Louisville, Anchorage, Ontario in California and Miami. UPS flies Boeing 757, 767 and 747 freighters and the A300-600F; it grounded and retired its MD-11s in the fourth quarter of 2025, after the accident at Louisville that November.

Is UPS Airlines hiring pilots now?

Unconfirmed at the last check on 14 October 2026 — First Officer seat: Unconfirmed; Captain seat: Not offered. ATP (unrestricted), 1,500 h total fixed-wing and 1,000 h as pilot in command of jets or multi-engine turboprops; a bachelor’s degree preferred, not required; First Officers only

Requirements, as published

Reading the requirements line by line

• 1,500 hours, fixed-wing. The minimum is total fixed-wing pilot time, so hours in helicopters do not count towards it.
• 1,000 hours in command, by the regulation’s definition. UPS counts pilot in command as 14 CFR 1.1 defines it: the pilot who has final authority and responsibility for the operation and safety of the flight, was designated pilot in command before or during it and holds the ratings it needs. The hours must be in fixed-wing jets or multi-engine turboprops, so command time in piston aircraft or single-engine turboprops does not count towards them, and neither does time as a First Officer. Most copies of UPS’s posting make the 1,000 hours a minimum; one lists them among the preferred qualifications.
• Military sorties. UPS lets military candidates add 0.3 hours per sortie to their flight time. The postings do not say whether the credit counts towards the total, the command time or both, so ask UPS how it applies to your logbook.
• An unrestricted ATP, held. The postings ask for a current unrestricted ATP with an airplane multi-engine class rating, so being ATP-eligible is not enough, and a restricted ATP does not meet them as written.
• A degree helps; it is not required. UPS’s First Officer postings list a bachelor’s degree or higher from an accredited college or university among the preferred qualifications. FlightPath II, the Ameriflight route, asks for a bachelor’s degree started or completed.
• Recent transport-category flying. The postings give preference to flight experience in transport-category aircraft within the 12 months before you apply.
• Passport and right to work. A valid passport, and the right to work in the US as a citizen or national, a lawful permanent resident or otherwise; UPS does not sponsor, and an FCC Restricted Radiotelephone Operator Permit is required as well.

Entry routes

• Direct entry First Officer — through postings on UPS’s careers site, none confirmed open on 14 October 2026; no type rating required
• UPS FlightPath I — a 12-month UPS internship for recent graduates or university juniors and seniors with a Commercial certificate with multi-engine and instrument ratings, then at least 30 months as an Ameriflight pilot before a UPS First Officer interview
• UPS FlightPath II — for Ameriflight pilots selected by Ameriflight (UPS asks for at least 1,000 hours and a turboprop captain’s seat): a programme UPS calls 36 months, with a UPS mentoring stage, leading to a UPS First Officer interview
• Military pilots — through the same First Officer posting, with 0.3 h added to flight time per sortie
• Direct entry Captain — not offered

FlightPath, the Ameriflight route

UPS’s careers site describes two FlightPath programmes, both with Ameriflight, a Part 135 cargo airline, and both leading to a UPS First Officer interview. As read at the last check, on 14 October 2026:

• FlightPath I is for pilots who graduated in the last 24 months, or are university juniors or seniors, with a GPA of 3.0 or more and a Commercial certificate with multi-engine and instrument ratings. It starts with a 12-month internship at UPS Airlines, with systems, procedures and full-motion simulator sessions on one fleet; interns who reach 500 hours of total time and are recommended by UPS management go on to fly for Ameriflight for at least 30 months, paired with a UPS pilot as a mentor. In that stage the pilot must earn an Ameriflight type rating and 1,500 hours of turbine time as pilot in command (preferably 500 of them on the EMB 120 or a similar aircraft), the recommendation of Ameriflight’s chief pilot and director of training, a pass in a Hogan assessment and the ATP before the UPS interview.
• FlightPath II is for Ameriflight pilots selected internally by Ameriflight: UPS lists a minimum of 1,000 hours and a turboprop captain’s seat, a bachelor’s degree started or completed, and good standing. UPS calls it a 36-month programme. In the Ameriflight stage the pilot holds the ATP, flies Ameriflight’s type-rated aircraft and takes a check airman, instructor or management role; in the UPS development and mentoring stage, paired with a UPS pilot and riding the jumpseat on UPS flights, the pilot must reach at least 1,000 hours of fixed-wing time as pilot in command, gain a recommendation from Ameriflight’s chief pilot and director of training, pass a Hogan assessment and complete online courses including jet transition, then meet UPS’s First Officer qualifications and apply. Ameriflight pilots with earlier service and qualifications, such as 20 months with an ATP, a type rating and a check airman letter, may finish sooner.

UPS’s page gives FlightPath II’s stages as 24 months and at least 30 months, more than the 36 months it names for the whole programme, and Ameriflight’s page gives other lengths; older versions of UPS’s pages also listed a simulator evaluation in the hiring process that the current ones leave out. Read the current terms on the FlightPath pages before you commit to the route.

UPS, the other cargo airlines and the US majors

The US cargo airlines and passenger majors on our jobs board, as recorded at each airline’s last check:

Read the minimum column with the definitions in mind: UPS and FedEx set their figures in hours of command of jets or turboprops as well as total time, while the passenger majors set theirs mainly in total and turbine hours.

Selection process

1. Application on UPS’s careers site
2. Records review
3. Interview

Bases and fleet

Bases: Louisville (SDF), Anchorage (ANC), Ontario, California (ONT) and Miami (MIA): the domiciles named in UPS’s First Officer postings

Fleet: Boeing 767-300: 89 at 31 December 2025, with 18 more on order, and ten converted 767-300s, six BCFs and four BDSFs (UPS Form 10-K for 2025) · Boeing 757-200: 75 at 31 December 2025 (UPS Form 10-K for 2025) · Boeing 747-8F: 30, and Boeing 747-400F: 13, two of them converted, at 31 December 2025 (UPS Form 10-K for 2025) · Airbus A300-600: 52 at 31 December 2025 (UPS Form 10-K for 2025) · MD-11F: permanently grounded and retired in the fourth quarter of 2025, after the accident of a UPS MD-11 at Louisville on 4 November 2025 (UPS Form 10-K for 2025)

How to prepare

There is no 757, 767, 747 or A300 bank on v1prep, so for UPS the ATPL theory banks are the technical preparation, with the ATP bank for the Part 121, transport performance and turbine-systems questions a US airline interview draws on. UPS’s FlightPath pages describe its hiring process as an application, a records review and an interview: prepare for the interview with the US airline interview set and the CRM interview set, with specific examples of teamwork, communication on the flight deck and decisions under stress, which UPS’s postings name among the skills it looks for. Do the paperwork first. Total your command time the way UPS counts it, as pilot in command under 14 CFR 1.1 in fixed-wing jets or multi-engine turboprops, and, if you are a military pilot, have your sortie count ready, since UPS’s postings add 0.3 hours for each. The freight side of the job, dangerous goods and load limits, is worth revising as well.

For the interview itself, read the complete airline pilot interview guide and the Library’s competency-based pilot interviews. For the freight side of the job, the Library covers dangerous goods and cargo loading and floor limits, and, for long-range flying, ETOPS and oceanic and North Atlantic operations. If your command time is still short of 1,000 hours, the Library’s pilot career pathways explains time building, turbine time and regional flows. To compare the other US cargo major, read FedEx Express pilot requirements. Check UPS’s entry on the jobs board for the latest status.

What we could not confirm

• Researched on 14 October 2026 from search-engine results of UPS’s First Officer postings and industry job boards; UPS’s FlightPath pages and annual report were read directly, the posting itself could not be. Confirm a vacancy is open before you apply.
• Whether UPS has a First Officer posting open: on 14 October 2026 the address of the posting that search results showed (job ID R25006614, copied by a job site on 15 September 2026) opened only the job search page of UPS’s careers site
• Whether the 1,000 h as pilot in command is a minimum or a preference: most copies of UPS’s First Officer postings list it as a minimum, one among the preferred qualifications
• Whether UPS’s hiring process still includes a simulator evaluation: older versions of its FlightPath pages listed one, the current versions only the application, records review and interview
• How long FlightPath II and its stages last: UPS’s page calls it a 36-month programme but gives its stages as 24 months and at least 30 months, and Ameriflight’s page gives a 12-month UPS mentoring stage
• How UPS applies the 0.3 h per sortie: its postings do not say whether it counts towards total time, command time or both
• The experience of recent hires: preparation providers report about 4,000 h total with 1,000 h or more of turbine PIC, figures UPS does not publish

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 UPS hiring pilots? Unconfirmed at the last check, on 14 October 2026. Search results showed a First Officer posting on UPS’s careers site, listed at Louisville, and a job site’s copy of it dated 15 September 2026, but the posting’s address opened only the job search page of UPS’s careers site, so we could not confirm an open vacancy. UPS’s FlightPath pages were live. Check the careers site before you apply.

How many hours do you need to fly for UPS? 1,500 hours of total fixed-wing time and, in most copies of UPS’s First Officer posting, 1,000 hours as pilot in command of fixed-wing jets or multi-engine turboprops, counted as 14 CFR 1.1 defines pilot in command; one copy lists the 1,000 hours as preferred. Military candidates may add 0.3 hours per sortie.

Do you need a degree to fly for UPS? No. UPS’s First Officer postings list a bachelor’s degree or higher from an accredited college or university among the preferred qualifications. FlightPath II, the route for Ameriflight pilots, asks for a bachelor’s degree started or completed.

What is UPS FlightPath? UPS’s two routes by way of Ameriflight. FlightPath I is a 12-month internship for recent graduates or university juniors and seniors, followed by at least 30 months as an Ameriflight pilot; FlightPath II is a programme UPS calls 36 months, for Ameriflight turboprop captains with at least 1,000 hours selected by Ameriflight, with a UPS mentoring stage. Both lead to a UPS First Officer interview.

Does UPS still fly the MD-11? No. UPS said in January 2026 that it had completed the retirement of its MD-11 fleet in the fourth quarter of 2025, and its annual report for 2025 says it permanently grounded and then retired the fleet in that quarter, after the accident of a UPS MD-11 at Louisville on 4 November 2025. At the end of 2025 it operated 75 Boeing 757s, 99 Boeing 767s, 43 Boeing 747s and 52 Airbus A300-600s, with 18 more 767s on order (UPS annual report).