easyJet opens recruitment for 450 pilot positions

easyJet, Europe’s leading airline, has today announced that it will recruit more than 450 new pilots.

Positions available range from Cadet pilots starting their career, experienced co-pilots from other airlines to Direct Entry Captains and as well as introducing new talent to easyJet, opportunities will also be available for more than 140 of the airline’s current First Officers to be promoted to Captains.

Of the 450 positions, 400 will be Cadet pilots and experienced co-pilots and 50 Direct Entry Captains.

easyJet now flies more than 245 aircraft on over 800 routes in 31 countries and new recruits will join the airline at an exciting time of continued growth. They will be offered positions across all of easyJet’s 28 European bases and provided access to high quality training and a range of career development opportunities.

For new cadets undertaking their training with CTC Aviation, CAE or FTE Jerez, many will have the opportunity to apply for all or part of their training loan (between £30,000 to £100,000) underwritten by the airline and some experienced pilots joining from other airlines can also apply for the opportunity to have their type rating loan underwritten.

Earlier this year easyJet also announced the launch of the Amy Johnson Flying Initiative to help encourage more women to train for a career as a commercial airline pilot. Currently women make up six per cent of easyJet’s new pilot intake, in line with the industry as a whole. The airline plans to double this to 12 per cent over the next two years and will offer to underwrite the full training loan of six female new entrant pilots.

Captain Brian Tyrrell, easyJet’s Head of Flight Operations, said today: “We’re really pleased to have opened recruitment for more than 450 new easyJet pilot positions.

“At easyJet, we pride ourselves on having a team of the highest talent and we offer our pilots a clear career path with the opportunity to develop from First Officer to Captain quicker than at other airlines.

“This is an exciting time to join easyJet as we continue to grow and develop to maintain our position as Europe’s leading airline and I look forward to welcoming the successful applicants in the near future.”

Candidates can apply now at https://careers.easyjet.com/pilots/

In the initial stages of a new pilot’s career, the first step towards joining easyJet will usually be through the airline’s training partners CTC Aviation, CAE and FTE Jerez. The pilots will gain experience of the airline’s operations and build up their flying hours with more work in the summer than the winter. This also provides easyJet with a level of flexibility due to the seasonal nature of the airline industry.

With easyJet’s continued planned growth the time taken from First Officer to Captain is likely to be quicker than at other airlines. Once they have completed at least 12 months, pilots then join easyJet as permanent employees at Second Officer rank.  After flying for a further two years with easyJet, pilots will then become a Senior First Officer. From that stage the aim is to achieve their Command and become Captains. Beyond this there are further opportunities for pilots to develop their career whether that is into a training or management role.