WestJet Pilot Requirements 2026: Hours, Licence and Hiring Process

WestJet hires First Officers for two operations: the mainline, which flies Boeing 737s and 787-9s from Calgary, Edmonton, Vancouver, Winnipeg, Toronto and Montreal, and WestJet Encore, which flies the De Havilland Dash 8-400 from Calgary. They set different minimums: 2,000 hours and a Transport Canada ATPL for a mainline First Officer, and 750 hours, 100 of them as pilot in command of fixed-wing aircraft, for an Encore First Officer, with a CPL, a Group 1 instrument rating and the IATRA exam, or the ATPL’s SAMRA and SARON. Neither posting asks for a type rating, and both want a Canadian passport or a permanent resident card. At the last check, on 15 October 2026, WestJet’s job boards showed both: a mainline B737 First Officer posting dated 14 October 2026, and an Encore Q400 First Officer posting at Calgary open until 1 December 2026. In September 2025 WestJet ordered 60 Boeing 737-10s and seven 787-9s, its largest order, and in September 2026 it began retiring its 737-700s.

Is WestJet hiring pilots now?

Recruiting at the last check on 15 October 2026 — First Officer seat: Recruiting; Captain seat: Unconfirmed. Mainline 737 and 787 First Officers from 2,000 h with a Transport Canada ATPL; WestJet Encore Q400 First Officers from 750 h and 100 h in command with a CPL; Canadian citizens and permanent residents; no type rating asked

Requirements, as published

Reading the requirements line by line

• Two airlines, two sets of minimums. WestJet’s pilot careers page gives 2,000 hours for a mainline First Officer, on the 737 or the 787-9, and 750 hours for a WestJet Encore First Officer on the Q400. The mainline B737 posting of 14 October 2026 adds a Transport Canada ATPL and a line that reads “minimum 500 hours fixed-wing multi-engine time and multi-crew experience is preferred”, and prefers 3,000 hours or more, jet or turboprop time in a CAR 705 airline operation, earlier work in the WestJet Group, one of its partner schools and post-secondary aviation education. The Encore posting adds 100 hours as pilot in command of fixed-wing aircraft, and prefers more than 1,000 hours, multi-engine and multi-crew experience, earlier work at WestJet and a partner school. The preferences are not requirements, but the mainline posting warns that applications may exceed the vacancies.
• A CPL is enough for Encore. Encore asks for a Transport Canada CPL with a Group 1 instrument rating and the IATRA written exam, or the ATPL’s SAMRA and SARON exams instead, all valid until the pilot proficiency check; an ATPL is preferred. The mainline asks for the ATPL itself.
• Hours towards the ATPL at Encore. The Encore posting describes a Pilot-in-Command Under Supervision programme for First Officers with a CPL; its full text, as a job board copied it, credits up to 100 hours of PICUS towards the ATPL for 200 hours flown in Encore aircraft, under CAR 421.11. Transport Canada’s ATPL (Standard 421.34) needs 1,500 hours of total flight time, at least 900 of them in aeroplanes, including 250 hours as pilot in command of aeroplanes, of which up to 100 may be PICUS, 100 hours of night and 75 of instrument time; at least 70% in each of the SAMRA, SARON and INRAT exams; a Category 1 medical and a minimum age of 21; and a flight test as pilot in command of a multi-engine aeroplane, in flight or in a level C or D simulator.
• The right to work, already held. Both postings ask for Canadian citizenship or permanent residence: a Canadian passport, or a Canadian permanent resident card with a valid passport, and the visas or travel documents to travel without restriction to WestJet’s destinations, which the mainline posting makes the candidate’s own responsibility.
• The other papers. Both ask for a Group 1 instrument rating, a Transport Canada Category 1 medical (the postings’ “Class 1”), oral and written English, a clear criminal record and background check, a Restricted Area Identity Card obtained before the end of initial ground school, and an offer conditional on a pre-employment alcohol and drug test; during recruitment you show your Transport Canada aviation document booklet, logbooks, licensing record and licensing verification letter.

Entry routes

• Direct entry First Officer — mainline B737 (fleet 737 NG, 737 MAX and 787), from 2,000 h with a Transport Canada ATPL; posting dated 14 October 2026
• Direct entry First Officer Dash 8-400 — WestJet Encore, Calgary, from 750 h with a CPL; posting open until 1 December 2026
• Direct entry Captain Dash 8-400 — WestJet Encore, from 2,000 h on WestJet’s careers page; no dated vacancy found
• Internal flow Encore to mainline — fleet moves and upgrades by seniority, with no second pilot interview (WestJet’s careers page)

Foreign pilots and the 2025 permit application

WestJet does not take pilots who need a work permit. In March 2025 the Canadian government approved a WestJet Encore application for about 60 temporary work permits for pilots from India and South Africa, which WestJet described as one of several ways to deal with a shortage of Encore Captains; ALPA, the pilots’ union, asked the Federal Court to quash the approval, and WestJet said Encore had not hired any pilots through the process (The Canadian Press, 25 March 2025). On 17 April 2025 WestJet dropped the plan, citing economic uncertainty, and, according to ALPA Canada’s president, agreed to withdraw the application (Global News and ALPA, April 2025). A pilot without Canadian citizenship or permanent residence therefore cannot apply to WestJet as its postings stand; our pilot jobs page for the USA and Canada shows the rule each of the other Canadian airlines publishes.

WestJet and the other Canadian airlines

WestJet beside the other Canadian airlines on our jobs board, and Delta for the US alternative, as recorded at each airline’s last check:

Read the licence column as well as the hours: Encore, Porter and Jazz ask for a Transport Canada licence with the IATRA or the ATPL exams passed, Air Canada and WestJet’s mainline for the ATPL itself, and a US airline for FAA certificates and the right to work in the US instead.

Selection process

1. Online application on WestJet’s job board (jobs.dayforcehcm.com/en-CA/WestJet)
2. Review of your Transport Canada aviation document booklet, logbooks, licensing record and licensing verification letter during recruitment (both postings)
3. A pilot interview, which WestJet’s careers page calls your first and final one in the Group
4. A conditional offer: a pre-employment alcohol and drug test and a clear criminal record and background check, then a Restricted Area Identity Card before the end of initial ground school (both postings)

Bases and fleet

Bases: Mainline: Calgary, Edmonton, Vancouver, Winnipeg, Toronto and Montreal (WestJet’s pilot careers page); the B737 First Officer posting gives its location as Canada · WestJet Encore: Calgary (WestJet’s pilot careers page and the Encore posting)

Fleet: Mainline: Boeing 737-700, 737-800, 737-8 MAX and 787-9, as WestJet’s pilot careers page lists them · WestJet Encore: De Havilland Dash 8-400 (Q400) · Ordered in September 2025, WestJet’s largest order: 60 Boeing 737-10s, with options for 25 more, and seven 787-9s, with options for four more, taking its order book to 123 aircraft and 40 options (WestJet newsroom, 3 September 2025) · 737-700 retirement begun: in September 2026 WestJet sold 27 737-700s to FTAI, 17 of them leased back to WestJet for a transitional period and 10 taken out of service for parts, which WestJet called the official start of its 737-700 retirement (Airdata News, 28 September 2026)

How to prepare

WestJet’s mainline flies the Boeing 737 and the 787-9: the B737 bank below covers the 737’s systems, and the B787 bank the Dreamliner’s. There is no Dash 8 bank on v1prep, so Encore applicants should revise the Q400 from its own manuals and work the ATPL theory banks for the general knowledge. Those banks follow the EASA syllabus, not Transport Canada’s SAMRA, SARON or IATRA exams, so take the Canadian exams from Transport Canada’s own study guides; the banks make useful revision for the meteorology, navigation and instrument questions of a technical interview. WestJet does not publish what its interview includes, so prepare for a technical and a competency interview with the CRM interview set, with examples of teamwork, communication and decisions under pressure from your own flying. Do the paperwork first: have your Canadian passport, or your permanent resident card and passport, ready; for Encore, keep the IATRA or the SAMRA and SARON results valid, since the posting wants them valid until the pilot proficiency check; have your Transport Canada aviation document booklet, logbooks, licensing record and licensing verification letter ready for review; and expect a criminal record and background check, an alcohol and drug test and a Restricted Area Identity Card before the end of initial ground school, which both postings ask for.

For the interview itself, read the complete airline pilot interview guide and the Library’s competency-based pilot interviews. The Library’s commercial and airline transport pilot licences sets out what separates a CPL from an ATPL, multi-crew cooperation courses covers the multi-crew time both postings prefer, and B787 family and flight deck is a place to start on the Dreamliner. To compare the other Canadian major, read Air Canada pilot requirements. Check WestJet’s entry on the jobs board for the latest status.

What we could not confirm

• Whether the mainline posting’s 500 h line is a requirement or a preference: it reads “Minimum 500 hours fixed-wing multi-engine time and multi-crew experience is preferred”
• The mainline posting’s closing date and bases: WestJet’s board shows no closing date and gives the location as Canada
• The Encore posting’s date: WestJet’s two job boards date it 1 September and 5 October 2026; both give 1 December 2026 as its closing date
• The PICUS credit figures, which come from a job board’s copy of the Encore posting; WestJet’s own board cut the text short
• What the pilot interview and any assessment include, which WestJet does not publish
• The terms of the Encore-to-mainline flow, beyond WestJet’s statement that fleet moves and upgrades follow seniority
• Whether WestJet hires direct-entry Captains for the mainline, and whether an Encore Direct Entry Captain vacancy is open
• The WestJet Encore Flightpath programme that partner flight schools describe

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 WestJet hiring pilots? Yes, at the last check, on 15 October 2026: WestJet’s job boards showed a mainline B737 First Officer posting dated 14 October 2026 and a WestJet Encore Q400 First Officer posting at Calgary open until 1 December 2026. Postings open and close without notice, so check WestJet’s job board before you apply.

How many hours do you need to fly for WestJet? 2,000 hours for a mainline First Officer, as WestJet’s careers page and its October 2026 posting give it; the posting also has a line on 500 hours of fixed-wing multi-engine time, which runs into a preference for multi-crew experience, and prefers 3,000 hours or more. A WestJet Encore First Officer on the Q400 needs 750 hours, 100 of them as pilot in command of fixed-wing aircraft, and an Encore Direct Entry Captain 2,000 hours.

What licence do you need to fly for WestJet? For the mainline, a Transport Canada ATPL with a Group 1 instrument rating. For Encore, a Transport Canada CPL with a Group 1 instrument rating and the IATRA exam, or the ATPL’s SAMRA and SARON exams, valid until the pilot proficiency check; an ATPL is preferred.

Does WestJet sponsor foreign pilots? No. Both postings ask for Canadian citizenship or permanent residence, with a Canadian passport or a Canadian permanent resident card. On 17 April 2025 WestJet dropped its plan to hire about 60 Encore pilots on temporary work permits and agreed to withdraw the application; it had said in March that Encore had hired no pilots through it.

What is the difference between WestJet and WestJet Encore? WestJet Encore is WestJet’s regional airline. It flies the De Havilland Dash 8-400 from its Calgary base and takes First Officers from 750 hours with a CPL, while the mainline flies the Boeing 737 and 787-9 from six bases and asks 2,000 hours and an ATPL of its First Officers. WestJet’s careers page calls its interview your first and final one in the Group: once you are hired, moves between fleets and upgrades follow seniority.