Verified 22 August 2026
The lowest-hour ways into an airline flight deck
Almost every hour figure you will read online is folklore — a round number, recycled, and usually too high. Every figure below was read off the airline's own careers site on 22 August 2026, and each one links to that airline's page here where the source is named.
Two things this page does differently. Hour gates are attached to a role, never to an airline — quoting one number per airline is exactly how the folklore starts, and the First Officer and Captain gates at the same carrier can differ by thousands of hours. And every route carries its catch, because a 240-hour route that only accepts one nationality is not a 240-hour route for most people reading this.
Published hour gates, lowest first
Cadet Program
Middle East
240 flying hours, of which 25 multi-engine are mandatory, with a GACA multi-engine Commercial licence and a GACA AIP test scored 80% or above.
The catch: Saudi nationals only, height 165–193 cm, and a degree with a minimum GPA of 2.75/4. This is the ONLY pilot vacancy Saudia lists — there is no direct-entry route open.
Co-pilot, type rated
Europe
500 hours on the A320.
The catch: You need the A320 rating already. Without it the gate is 1,000 hours, including 500 on aircraft above 10 tonnes MTOW — still one of the lowest in Europe.
First Officer, type rated
Europe
500 hours on the A320 with current A320 and IR ratings, plus completed ATPL theory if you hold a CPL(A).
The catch: Non-type-rated is also 500 hours, but adds a completed JOC or APS-MCC course. Note Wizz FACTORISES hours for command minima — that mechanic does not apply to First Officer entry, but it will when you go for the left seat.
First Officer, WestJet Encore
North America
750 hours for a First Officer on the Dash 8-400 at Encore, based in Calgary, including a Pilot-in-Command Under Supervision programme.
The catch: Encore, not mainline. WestJet mainline asks 2,000 hours for a First Officer, and a direct entry captain at Encore needs 2,000.
First Officer, R-ATP military
North America
750 hours under the military R-ATP route of 14 CFR §61.160, evidenced by a DD-214.
The catch: Military service is the qualifier. Civilian routes at SkyWest run 1,000 hours with a qualifying bachelor's, 1,250 with an associate, or 1,500 otherwise.
First Officer, non type rated
Europe
800 hours total for military pilots — against 1,500 for everyone else — plus 500 hours multi-crew multi-engine.
The catch: ELP Level 5 or higher; Level 4 is not enough. Minimum height 157 cm. A non-Scandinavian EASA licence must be converted to Danish, Swedish or Norwegian within 12 months of signing.
First Officer, R-ATP bachelor
North America
1,000 hours with a qualifying bachelor's degree under §61.160. Envoy pays for the ATP-CTP.
The catch: An FCC restricted radiotelephone permit and the ability to relocate are both required. Envoy is a wholly owned American Airlines regional with a flow to mainline.
Propel / First Officer
North America
1,000 hours with a qualifying bachelor's under §61.160. Through Propel you can apply once you are within 12 months of meeting R-ATP requirements — before you have the hours.
The catch: Propel priority goes to CFIs at AABI-accredited universities or Propel affiliate schools. Endeavor is the only regional with a direct contractual path to Delta.
First Officer
North America
1,500 hours total and 500 fixed-wing turbine — but Alaska does NOT require the ATP certificate. A Commercial with Instrument plus the §61.159 aeronautical experience and a current ATP written is the gate.
The catch: Minimum age 23, and you must accept a domicile in Seattle, Los Angeles, Anchorage, Portland or San Francisco. The ATP certificate sits under Preferred, alongside 500 turbine PIC.
First Officer, type rated
Middle East
1,500 MPA hours with 500 on the B737-300 to 900, endorsed within the last 24 months.
The catch: Non-type-rated needs 2,500 hours total. Both carry a three-year training bond — USD 24,000 type rated, USD 36,000 non type rated.
Airline selection starts with an aptitude battery
It screens you before a human reads your application. Sit a timed practice paper free — scored on pace, which is what actually culls candidates.
Routes with no flight-time gate at all
These take you before you have the hours. They are not easier — they trade a flight-time requirement for a bond, an age window, a language, or money up front. That trade is stated on every card.
Second Officer
Middle East
GCAA or ICAO CPL with a GCAA frozen ATPL, MCC and an advanced UPRT certificate. No total-time minimum.
The catch: Age 20–35 for external candidates. The type rating phase is unpaid for about three months, then AED 14,300 a month, rising to AED 23,015 until 1,500 hours. Carries a USD 36,000 bond over 24 months, repaid by salary deduction.
MPL cadet
Europe
Finnair's own 22-month MPL programme trains you directly as a co-pilot on one aircraft family. No separate type rating afterwards.
The catch: Good Finnish AND English is a hard gate, not a preference. Minimum height 163 cm, and flawless colour vision is mandatory.
Pilot Academy cadet
Europe
Four-stage selection: aptitude test and psychological assessment online, then a group exercise and interview in Budapest.
The catch: You pay your own travel and accommodation for the Budapest stages, plus a EUR 130 recruitment fee for the TestAir 360 aptitude test. A financial and background check covers you AND your guarantor.
Future Flyer Academy
Europe
Ryanair's from-zero route, with a defined path from day one of flight training. Graduates get fast-track and priority recruitment.
The catch: Direct entry at Ryanair is currently open for Captains, not First Officers — the cadet pipeline is the realistic way in.
Aviate / Aviate Academy
North America
Aviate takes pilots holding a Commercial certificate with Instrument rating who are building time at a participating school, Part 135 operator or United Express carrier. The Academy in Phoenix starts from zero.
The catch: United mainline itself needs an UNRESTRICTED ATP — an R-ATP does not meet the gate. Aviate is the structured way to get there, not a shortcut past it.
The gates that have nothing to do with hours
These end more applications than hour minimums do, and almost nobody writes them down.
You must be a national of an EEA state or of Switzerland. Holding the right to work in France is not sufficient. A non-native French speaker also needs FCL 055 at level SIX in French, and the CV and cover letter must be written in French.
For command minima Wizz does not count your logbook directly — it multiplies your hours by a factor per aircraft category and tests the factorised sum against 3,500. You can hold 3,500 logged hours and not qualify. Simulator time is excluded and PICUS does not count as PIC.
Level 4 is not sufficient, which rules out a large share of otherwise qualified applicants. SAS asks for no Scandinavian language at all — the language barrier people expect is not the one that exists.
Good Finnish is mandatory, minimum height is 163 cm, and flawless colour vision is required — glasses are fine. A chronic illness needing regular medication is generally disqualifying.
PIC means captain or aircraft commander of record, or the pilot signing for the aircraft — not sole manipulator of the controls. Only fixed-wing time counts: simulator, helicopter, WSO, RIO, FE, NAV, EWO and UAV time are all excluded.
Lufthansa Group's careers site returns 404 for its pilot pages and refers candidates to be-lufthansa.com, which as of 22 August 2026 does not resolve — no DNS record on either the Cloudflare or Google public resolver. That is not evidence hiring is closed; contact Lufthansa directly.
And the ones that really are out of reach for now
A list of low gates is only honest next to the high ones.
- United AirlinesMainline First Officer requires an unrestricted ATP. An R-ATP does not qualify.
- easyJetCaptain: 4,000 hours with 1,000 PIC on the A320, or on jets above 30 tonnes MTOW.
- Wizz AirDirect Entry Captain: 3,500 factorised hours plus 1,000 PIC on Airbus FBW.
- Qatar AirwaysNo mainline flight-deck vacancy was open on 22 August 2026 — only Qatar Executive and an assessor role.
If you flew in the military
Your gate is a different one, not a discount on this one — and how your time is counted matters more than how much of it you have. See military pilot to airline.
How this page is maintained
Every row is generated from the same data that powers the individual airline pages, so the two cannot drift apart. Requirements change without notice and airlines publish most of their criteria inside a live vacancy — so treat any figure here as a starting point and confirm it against the posting before you apply. Where an airline publishes no standing minimum, we say so rather than inventing one.
Not affiliated with any airline listed. Official requirements are marked as such.