SWISS recruiting experienced first officers

In addition to training new ab initio pilots, SWISS will be recruiting trained first officers with or without a current type rating for the next few years. Having been unable to train any new pilots during the COVID-19 pandemic, SWISS is ensuring through these actions that it will continue to maintain adequate numbers of cockpit personnel.

Swiss International Air Lines (SWISS) was unable to train any new pilots during the COVID-19 pandemic. To ensure that it will continue to have enough cockpit personnel in the years ahead, in addition to offering ab initio pilot training, Switzerland’s biggest airline will also be recruiting already-trained first officers to its cockpit crew corps from this autumn onwards.

“We are looking forward to welcoming experienced first officers, too, to our pilot ranks,” says Stefan-Kenan Scheib, SWISS’s Head of Flight Operations. “With our ab initio pilot training taking about two years, we need to recruit such already-trained first officers as well to ensure that we can maintain stable flight operations in the medium term.”

In addition to maturity, loyalty, integrity and impeccable character background, together with social skills and leadership potential, future SWISS pilots must meet a number of further employment conditions.

Preference will be given to experienced applicants with a current Airbus type rating. Candidates who pass the corresponding assessment will be offered a permanent contract of employment as a SWISS First Officer. All further training required will be conducted at Lufthansa Aviation Training in Glattbrugg.