Yes, there are pilot jobs from about 200 hours. The minimums that open the most doors are 250, 500 and 1,000 hours. At each level, much of the work is right seats on turboprop, medevac and charter aircraft, plus flight instructing and, at the lower levels, some cadet schemes. Most of these jobs come with conditions beyond hours. This guide covers pilot listings live on AeroScout on 19 October 2026 that state a minimum total time.
Pilot jobs with 200 to 250 hours
This is the smallest of the three groups. The minimum is almost always 250 or 200 hours, and 250 is the more common. About three in five of the jobs are first officer or second officer seats and about one in five are cadet or trainee schemes. A few are second in command or instructor posts. Where the ad names an aircraft, more than half are turboprops and utility aircraft such as the PC-12, King Air 350 and Jetstream 32. Airliner seats are about a quarter, mostly cadet, second officer or non type rated airline schemes.
At this level the catch is usually something other than the hours. Air Astana's low hours post is for Kazakhstani citizens only, Saudia's cadet program is for Saudi nationals, and Jazz Aviation's pilot student route is for students at listed partner schools. SkyCare's entry level pilot job starts on the ground, as an operations coordinator or aircraft groomer, for several months before the Navajo right seat. Tropic Ocean Airways wants a seaplane rating, and 2Excel bonds its type rating training for two years.
| Employer, role and base | Minimum total time | Aircraft and what else they ask |
|---|---|---|
| Air Astana, first officer (non type rated, low hours), Almaty, Kazakhstan | 200 hours | Aircraft not stated. Kazakhstani citizens only, aged 19 to 34. Needs multi engine and instrument ratings and an MCC certificate. |
| JetSMART, first officer, A320 (primer oficial), Buenos Aires, Argentina | 200 hours | A320, no type rating required. Argentine licence only. MCC course is mandatory for commercial licence holders. |
| Saudia, cadet program, Saudi Arabia | 240 hours | Aircraft not stated. Saudi nationals only. 25 hours of multi engine time is mandatory. |
| Rise Air, PC-12 Pilatus medevac first officer, La Ronge, Saskatchewan, Canada | 250 hours | PC-12, no type rating needed. 100 hours PIC and a current multi engine instrument rating. Canadian citizens and permanent residents get priority. Apply by 30 October 2026. Pay: "$51,500 to $62,315 per year". |
| SkyCare Air Ambulance, entry level pilot, Sioux Lookout, Ontario, Canada | 250 hours | Navajo right seat, then Metro captain. Starts in a ground job, as operations coordinator or aircraft groomer, that typically lasts several months. Needs a Group 1 multi engine instrument rating. |
| Jazz Aviation, Jazz Direct, Jazz Awards and Seneca Cadets (pilot student), Canada, base to be determined | 250 hours | Aircraft not stated. Students at one of 13 listed partner schools only. Canadian citizen or permanent resident. |
| Tropic Ocean Airways, second in command, Fort Lauderdale, Florida, US | 250 hours | Aircraft not named; Cessna 208 experience preferred. Needs a commercial seaplane rating and an instrument rating. US passport or Green Card. |
| 2Excel Aviation, multi engine turbine (MET) B350 first officer, Prestwick and Humberside, UK | 250 hours | King Air 350. 100 hours PIC, UK right to work and eligibility for UK security clearance. Type rating training is bonded for 2 years. Closes 13 November 2026. |
| Air Charter Scotland, first officer, Jetstream 32, Glasgow, Aberdeen, Wick and Inverness, UK | 250 hours | Jetstream 32. UK CAA and EASA dual licence. Right to live and work in the UK. Type rating preferred, not essential. |
Pilot jobs with 500 hours
Between 251 and 500 hours, flight instructor posts become common alongside turboprop first officer seats. Four in five listings in this band ask for exactly 500 hours, and 300 hours is the next most common minimum, as in Scoot's second officer post. About three in five are first officer seats and more than one in five are flight instructor posts, with some single pilot captain and second in command jobs. Turboprops are about half of the ads that name an aircraft, and business jets and airliners are about a quarter each. US rules use the same figure: a Part 135 pilot in command needs at least 500 hours for flights under visual flight rules and at least 1,200 for flights under instrument flight rules (14 CFR 135.243).
Instructing is one way to build the hours for the next level, and the flight instructor jobs page lists the open posts. Every example below needs the right to work in its country. Pacific Coastal applies a bond, and Scoot attaches a co payment and a bond to its type rating training. Rex and Air New Zealand take expressions of interest, and Rex prefers 850 hours or more. Air New Zealand says it has a strong pool of applicants and the process can take time.
| Employer, role and base | Minimum total time | Aircraft and what else they ask |
|---|---|---|
| Scoot, direct entry second officer, Singapore | 300 hours | Aircraft not stated. ATPL with multi engine instrument rating; foreign licence holders also need 100 hours PIC. Type rating training comes with a co payment and a training bond. |
| Pacific Coastal Airlines, Saab first officer, Richmond, British Columbia, Canada | 500 hours | Saab 340. Open to Canadian citizens, permanent residents and work permit holders. A bond applies. Pay: "$55.00 per credit hour ($52,800 per year minimum base salary)". |
| Perimeter Aviation, medevac first officer, Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada | 500 hours | Aircraft not stated. Current Group 1 instrument rating. Canadian citizenship or unrestricted ability to work in Canada. Applications are reviewed on a rolling basis. |
| Rex (Regional Express), Saab 340 first officer, regional network, Australia | 500 hours | Saab 340. 850 or more hours preferred. Multi engine instrument rating with a current IPC. Expression of interest for ongoing recruitment. |
| Air New Zealand, expression of interest, first officer, turboprop fleet, Auckland, with bases around New Zealand | 500 hours | ATR or Dash 8 Q300. 25 night hours and 40 hours of instrument time. New Zealand citizens and residents, or Australian citizens, only. |
Pilot jobs with 1,000 hours
This is the largest of the three groups. About seven in ten of the listings ask for exactly 1,000 hours, followed by 750, 800 and 700. About half are first officer seats, about one in seven are captain or pilot in command posts and about one in eight are second in command. Turboprops are about two in five of the ads that name an aircraft, business jets about three in ten and airliners about a quarter.
The examples include airliner right seats on the Q400, ATR 72 and Boeing 737 at 750 to 1,000 hours, where the ad does not require a type rating. Business jet seats vary: Chartright asks for 750 hours on the Citation Ultra, while Solairus wants 1,000 hours, 500 hours PIC and a type rating on the Citation XLS+ or a comparable aircraft already.
The United States is the largest single country at this level, with a little under a quarter of the listings, followed by Canada. For US airline seats, the ATP certificate needs 1,500 hours (14 CFR 61.159(a)). The restricted ATP lowers that to 750 hours for military pilots, 1,000 hours with an aviation bachelor's degree and 1,250 hours with an aviation associate's degree (14 CFR 61.160). So for US airline first officer seats, 1,000 hours is enough only through a restricted ATP route, such as an aviation bachelor's degree or military flying. NetJets' first officer job page, checked on 19 October 2026, asks for 1,500 hours; its 1,000 hour figure applies only to pilots with a military pilot qualification or a qualifying university restricted ATP.
| Employer, role and base | Minimum total time | Aircraft and what else they ask |
|---|---|---|
| WestJet Encore, first officer, Q400, Calgary, Alberta, Canada | 750 hours | Q400. 100 hours fixed wing PIC and a Group 1 instrument rating. Prefers more than 1,000 hours. |
| Chartright Air Group, first officer, Citation Ultra, Mississauga, Ontario, Canada | 750 hours | Citation Ultra and Encore fleet. 250 hours PIC in multi engine aircraft and a Group 1 multi engine instrument rating. Time on type preferred. |
| Gama Aviation, fixed wing pilot, captain or first officer, Aberdeen, Scotland | 750 hours (first officer) | King Air KA200 and KA350, multi crew air ambulance. Type rating ideal but not essential. The captain role on the same ad asks for 2,000 hours. |
| PLYSA (Air Nostrum group), coordination pilot, aerial firefighting, Valencia, Spain | More than 800 hours, with some flexibility | Cessna Caravan 208B. More than 500 hours PIC and an EASA licence. Firefighting or fire coordination experience valued. |
| Morningstar Air Express, first officer, ATR 72, Calgary, Alberta, Canada | 1,000 hours | ATR 72. Commercial licence, instrument rating and an IATRA written exam passed within the previous 2 years. Feeder carrier for FedEx Canada. Pay: "Base salary starting at $69,764 per annum". |
| Flair Airlines, first officer, Toronto, Edmonton, Calgary and Vancouver, Canada | 1,000 hours total fixed wing | Boeing 737 (MAX and NG); 737 experience is a significant asset, not required. Canadian ATPL, or a commercial licence with IATRA or SAMRA and SARON. Pay: "Base salary range $93,627.00 to $152,172.00 per Collective Agreement". |
| Braathens Regional Airlines, first officer, ATR 72-600, Stockholm Arlanda and Copenhagen | 1,000 hours | ATR 72-600. EU or EEA right to work and security clearance class 3 under Swedish CAA rules. Applications close 31 October 2026. |
| Solairus Aviation, Citation XLS second in command, Austin, Texas, US | 1,000 hours | Citation XLS and XLS+. Already type rated on the XLS+ or a comparable aircraft. 500 hours PIC and 100 hours of turbo jet time. On call, within a 2 hour drive of Austin or willing to relocate. |
| Journey Beyond (Horizontal Falls Seaplane Adventures), seaplane pilot traineeship 2027, Broome, Western Australia | 1,000 hours | Cessna 208 Caravan floatplane. Needs C208, retractable undercarriage and gas turbine endorsements, but no floatplane time. Two year contract. Apply by 30 October 2026. Pay: "AUD 80,000 to 90,000 per year". |
Low minimums that come with extra requirements
A low minimum can come with requirements the hours field does not show. A 500 hour first officer ad at a US regional also requires an ATP or restricted ATP certificate, and the certificate itself takes more hours than that, so 500 hours alone does not qualify. Some business jet and turboprop first officer seats at 200 to 500 hours want the type rating already, such as the Citation CJ, Legacy 650, Beech 1900 or King Air 350. Some instructor jobs at 500 hours want 200 hours of instruction already. One airline A220 first officer post asks for 500 hours on large transport aircraft plus a type rating, not plain total time.
How to find jobs that fit your hours
- Find the highest level you already meet, then read that section and the next one up. Most minimums sit on round numbers, so being a few hours short of 500 or 1,000 rules you out of most of that level.
- Search by role and aircraft as well as hours. The live pilot jobs list and the first officer jobs, flight instructor jobs, cadet pilot jobs and King Air pilot jobs pages cover the seats in the tables above. Posts titled direct entry are usually for experienced pilots, mostly captains, and sit under direct entry pilot jobs; the Scoot post above is an exception.
- Read the listings that state no minimum. About one in three live pilot listings gives none, which says nothing about what the employer accepts. Read the ad and the employer's own page before you skip it.
- Check the conditions before you apply: work rights, bonds, partner schools, a ground job first and ratings you must already hold. Pilots who need the right to work abroad can start from visa sponsorship pilot jobs, pilots looking in Canada can use pilot jobs in Canada, and pilots who need to move their licence to a new country can read how to convert a pilot licence to another country.
- Ask who pays for the type rating. Some seats want one already and others bond the training. The report on which airlines and operators pay for type ratings in 2026 shows who covers the cost.
- Plan the next level. The full route to a first airline seat is in how to land a first airline job as a low hour pilot, and the pilot salary report covers advertised pay.
How we calculated these figures
The figures cover pilot listings live on AeroScout on 19 October 2026 that state a minimum total time, and each example job was checked on the employer's own job list that day. About a third of live pilot listings state none and are not counted. Of the rest, nearly one in five ask for 1,000 hours or less and about one in twelve ask for 500 hours or less. Shares are rounded, and listings change daily, so another day's sample would differ.
Frequently asked questions
Can I get a pilot job with 250 hours?
Yes. A small group of jobs asks for 250 hours or less, mostly first officer seats on turboprops and utility aircraft such as the PC-12, King Air 350 and Jetstream 32, plus cadet schemes and some second in command posts. Expect conditions beyond hours, such as work rights, a multi engine instrument rating or a type rating bond.
What jobs can I get with 500 hours?
Mostly first officer seats on turboprops, and flight instructor posts. The examples above include Saab 340, ATR and Dash 8 right seats and a medevac post. Read each ad for a required ATP certificate, type rating or instruction hours, because some ads at 500 hours ask for them.
Is 1,000 hours enough for an airline job?
Sometimes. Morningstar and Braathens list ATR 72 first officer seats at 1,000 hours, and Flair lists a Boeing 737 seat at the same minimum. A US airline is different: the ATP certificate needs 1,500 hours, and 1,000 hours is enough only through a restricted ATP route, such as a qualifying aviation degree or military flying.
Do airlines hire pilots with no experience?
Some airlines take pilots who have never flown for an airline, mostly through cadet and non type rated schemes. Jazz Aviation takes students straight from an integrated ATPL program with no hour figure stated, and the lowest stated minimum in the examples is 200 hours at Air Astana. Each scheme limits entry by citizenship or school.
Do listings with no minimum take low time pilots?
A listing with no minimum tells you nothing about the hours the employer accepts, and it does not mean the job is open to any pilot. Read the rest of the ad for licence, rating and experience conditions, then check the employer's own page before you rule the job in or out.
Published by AeroScout Research. The figures describe pilot listings live on AeroScout on 19 October 2026.