Volaris Pilot Requirements 2026: Hours, License and Hiring Process

Volaris, the Mexican ultra-low-cost airline, flies an all-Airbus fleet of A320s and A321s, most of them neo models, with flights, as its own site puts it, in Mexico, the United States, Costa Rica, Guatemala and El Salvador: 154 aircraft at the end of September 2026, by its third-quarter results as search results showed them. Its careers portal publishes the requirements for both seats. A First Officer (copiloto) needs a current commercial license and aviation medical fitness, the Piloto Aviador title and its cédula, 220 flight hours certified in the logbook, completed high school, English at Level 4 or above with an aviation certificate, readiness to change residence, and a valid US tourist visa with a Mexican, Costa Rican or Salvadoran passport. A Captain needs an ATP license and 4,000 hours, 500 of them in command, with A320 capability desirable. No type rating is listed for First Officers. At the last check, on 13 November 2026, the portal listed no pilot vacancy: its searches for copiloto, capitán, piloto and primer oficial found none among its 31 postings, so both seats are not recruiting.

Is Volaris hiring pilots now?

Not recruiting at the last check on 13 November 2026 — First Officer seat: Not recruiting; Captain seat: Not recruiting. No pilot vacancy on its careers portal at the last check; its own requirements ask First Officers for 220 h certified in the logbook, a Mexican, Costa Rican or Salvadoran passport and a valid US visa, and Captains for an ATP license and 4,000 h with 500 h in command

Requirements, as published

Reading the requirements line by line

We read Volaris’ requirements pages for First Officers and Captains on 13 November 2026, with Mexico’s rules for pilot licenses (the Reglamento para la Expedición de Permisos, Licencias y Certificados de Capacidad del Personal Técnico Aeronáutico, last amended on 2 August 2023) and ICAO’s Annex 1. Read each line with what it counts in mind:

• The commercial license is enough for the right seat. Volaris asks First Officers for a current commercial license and Captains for an ATP license. Under the Mexican rules, a commercial pilot may fly as co-pilot of any airplane in public air transport, while the pilot in command of one above 5,700 kilograms must hold the TPI license (Transporte Público Ilimitado), Mexico’s airline transport license (article 55). The TPI needs, among other things, an age of 21, a commercial license with instrument and multi-engine ratings, the professional pilot title and 1,500 hours of flight on airplanes in the logbook (article 56), the same 1,500 hours as ICAO’s ATPL (Annex 1, 2.6.3.1.1).
• 220 hours, certified in the logbook. Volaris counts flight hours certified in your logbook (bitácora). The Mexican commercial license itself asks for at least 180 hours of instruction registered in the logbook and certified by the AFAC, Mexico’s civil aviation agency (article 54), so Volaris’ minimum sits a little above the license.
• A title and a cédula. Volaris asks for the professional title of Piloto Aviador and its cédula. The Mexican rules ask for the professional pilot title, with its cédula profesional or proof that it is in process, for the commercial and TPI licenses alike (articles 54 and 56).
• The passport and the US visa. Volaris asks, for both seats, for a valid Mexican, Costa Rican or Salvadoran passport and a valid US tourist visa, as documents the applicant already holds.
• English. Level 4 or above, with an aviation certificate. Level 4 is ICAO’s operational level, the lowest accepted for radio communication (the Library’s pilot licensing framework sets out the scale).
• Availability and relocation. Volaris asks for full availability of your time and readiness to change your residence, with completed high school and its certificate.
• Captains. An ATP license, 4,000 certified hours with 500 in command, and A320 capability desirable, not required.
• What job boards said. A job board relayed a rated A320-family First Officer posting at 1,500 hours in September 2026, and a pilot careers guide of March 2026 said Volaris typically asks for the A320 rating; neither is on Volaris’ own requirements pages, which read much as they did in a job board’s copy of July 2020, and which we take as the reference.

Entry routes

• First Officer (copiloto): 220 h certified in the logbook, no type rating listed; no vacancy on 13 November 2026
• Captain: ATP license, 4,000 h with 500 h in command, A320 capability desirable; no vacancy on 13 November 2026
• Pilot scholarship program (Programa de Becas para ser Piloto): 18 months of theory and flight hours at the iFly academy in Mérida; its third generation, in February 2024, gave 10 scholarships, 9 to children of Volaris staff and 1 to one of its flight attendants; no later call found

Volaris beside Viva Aerobus and the region

Volaris beside the other Mexican airline on our jobs board and the region’s larger airlines, as recorded at each airline’s last check:

Read each row with its date. Viva Aerobus, the other Mexican A320-family airline, had one open pilot posting at its last check (30 October 2026) and publishes First Officer streams from 200 hours without jet experience, 500 with it or 500 on the A320 family, all with a Mexican license and passport and a valid US visa: close to Volaris’ terms, with a lower entry point. Arajet, the Dominican 737 MAX airline, asks 1,000 hours of Dominican First Officers and 1,500 of foreign pilots, and Copa 350 of Panamanian First Officers and 1,000 of foreign pilots; Avianca publishes no hours figure on our board.

Selection process

1. Registration on the careers portal, with the profile completed and a CV uploaded
2. Video interviews: Volaris’ talent process is digital

Bases and fleet

Bases: Mexico City, Guadalajara, Tijuana, Cancún and Monterrey: Volaris bases in search results of 21 September 2026; its requirements pages name no base and ask for readiness to change residence

Fleet: A320 / A320neo · A321 / A321neo

Volaris in 2026: engines, a smaller fleet and a merger

Three things shape Volaris at the moment. The first is engine inspections: Pratt & Whitney GTF inspections kept an average of 21 aircraft on the ground in the third quarter of 2026, down from 36 in the first quarter and 41 at the start of the year (Volaris’ third-quarter release, 26 October 2026, as search results showed it). Mexico’s Federal Civil Aviation Agency let Volaris fly ten aircraft with foreign pilots, crews from Malta and Lithuania under a wet lease, from 1 December 2025 to 12 January 2026; the pilots’ union ASPA and the Colegio de Pilotos Aviadores de México opposed it (Mexico Business News, 25 November 2025). The second is a smaller fleet: Volaris expected to end 2026 with 149 aircraft and to reduce its contractual fleet to about 137 by the end of 2027 (its third-quarter results call, October 2026, as search results showed it). The third is a merger with Viva Aerobus: the two announced on 18 December 2025 a merger of equals into one holding company, Grupo Más Vuelos; shareholders of both approved it on 25 March 2026, and the US clearance was recorded on 31 August 2026, while Mexico’s National Antitrust Commission was expected to decide before the end of 2026 (El Imparcial, 4 September 2026).

None of this is a statement about pilot hiring, which Volaris does not publish, but a smaller fleet and a pending merger are reasons to watch the portal rather than plan around a date.

How to prepare

Volaris flies only the A320 family, so the A320 bank below is your type preparation, with the A320 interview set for a technical interview and the CRM interview set for the crew questions. Most of its fleet is A320neos and A321neos, and Volaris says it was the first airline in North America to fly the A320neo: read the Library’s A320neo and A320ceo differences, the A320 family, A318 to A321 and A320 engines and FADEC. Volaris lists no type rating among its First Officer requirements, and does not publish who provides or pays for the A320 rating, so ask before you count on it. Its portal says its talent process is digital, with video interviews you take from home: prepare true examples in the STAR structure from competency-based pilot interviews, and practice answering on camera. A job board’s copy of these requirements, from July 2020, named the competences Volaris looked for as decision-making, teamwork and emotional intelligence. For the English requirement, Level 4 or above with an aviation certificate, revise the Library’s radiotelephony phraseology. Have the documents ready before a vacancy opens, because the portal asks you to register, complete your profile and upload your CV: your license and medical, your Piloto Aviador title and cédula, a certified logbook, your high school certificate, your English certificate, your passport and your US visa.

Volaris 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, since the portal starts with your CV, and technical questions in airline interviews. Viva Aerobus, the other Mexican airline on our board, and the rest of the region are on pilot jobs in Latin America; the A320 airlines worldwide on A320 pilot jobs; the airlines taking First Officers under 500 hours on low-hour pilot jobs; and the closest page in shape is Copa Airlines pilot requirements. Check Volaris’ entry on the jobs board for the latest status.

What we could not confirm

• Read directly on 13 November 2026: Volaris’ requirements pages for First Officers and Captains, its careers portal’s vacancy searches and its pages on video interviews and internal growth. From search-engine results of the same day: the fleet and results of its third-quarter release of 26 October 2026, which could not be downloaded. Confirm a vacancy is open before you apply.
• Who provides and pays for the A320 type rating of a First Officer without one, and any bond: a job board relayed a rated A320-family posting at 1,500 h (21 September 2026) and a pilot-careers guide of March 2026 said Volaris typically requires the rating, while Volaris’ own requirements list none for First Officers
• The selection stages after the video interview
• Which base a new First Officer is assigned to: Volaris asks for readiness to change residence, and the bases listed here come from earlier search results, not from its requirements pages
• Whether Volaris Costa Rica and Volaris El Salvador recruit pilots through the same portal: its requirements accept Costa Rican and Salvadoran passports, but the portal’s postings are those of the Mexican company, Concesionaria Vuela Compañía de Aviación

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 Volaris hiring pilots? Not at the last check, on 13 November 2026: Volaris’ careers portal held 31 postings, and its searches for copiloto (First Officer), capitán, piloto and primer oficial found no pilot vacancy among them. Its requirements for both seats stay published, and the portal invites you to register and upload your CV so that Volaris can contact you.

How many flight hours do you need to fly for Volaris? Volaris’ requirements pages, read on 13 November 2026, ask First Officers for 220 flight hours certified in the logbook, and Captains for 4,000 certified hours with 500 in command. A job board relayed a rated A320 First Officer posting at 1,500 hours in September 2026, a figure that does not appear on Volaris’ pages.

Do you need an A320 type rating to fly for Volaris? Volaris’ requirements pages list no type rating for First Officers, and list A320 capability for Captains as desirable, not required. Volaris does not publish who provides or pays for the A320 rating of a pilot without one, and a pilot careers guide of March 2026 said it typically asks for the rating, so ask before you count on training.

Can foreign pilots fly for Volaris? Only with a Mexican, Costa Rican or Salvadoran passport: Volaris lists one of them, with a valid US tourist visa, among its requirements for both seats. Mexico’s civil aviation agency let Volaris fly ten aircraft with foreign crews under a wet lease from December 2025 to January 2026, over the objections of Mexican pilots’ organizations, but that was a lease of aircraft and crews, not a route into Volaris’ own hiring.

What documents does Volaris ask First Officers for? A current commercial license, aviation medical fitness, the Piloto Aviador title and its cédula, a logbook certifying at least 220 flight hours, a high school certificate, an English certificate at Level 4 or above with an aviation certificate, a valid US tourist visa and a valid Mexican, Costa Rican or Salvadoran passport. Volaris also asks for full availability and readiness to change residence.