Virgin Australia pilot hiring requirements
AirlineAustraliaAsia-PacificVOZ / VA
Registered as Virgin Australia Airlines Pty Ltd.
Verified 15 August 2026
Virgin Australia is Australia's second largest airline group, flying a Boeing 737 narrowbody fleet on domestic and short international routes with a regional turboprop arm. It hires both cadets with little to no flying experience and direct entry pilots holding an Australian ATPL or CPL.
Applications are made on Virgin Australia's own site. SkyStudy never collects an application, a document or a fee.
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Vacancies we can see at Virgin Australia
Nothing from Virgin Australia is on our board today. That means we are not currently reading an open flight-deck advert from their own careers system, not that they are not hiring: open the official careers page above, which is the only complete list. See what is open at other operators.
What the operator asks for
Minimum requirements on record
Only what Virgin Australia states publicly. "Not stated" means the operator does not publish that figure, not that there is no requirement, and never that the requirement is zero.
- Licence
- Not stated
- Total time
- 500 hsource
- PIC time
- 300 hsource
- Multi-engine
- Not stated
- Turbine
- Not stated
- On type
- Not stated
- Type rating
- Not stated
- Medical
- Class 1source
- ICAO English
- Level 6source
- Age
- Not stated
- Right to work
- AU, NZsource
- Also required
- A current Australian ATPL or Commercial Pilot Licence (CPL) and passes in all Australian ATPL theory subjects
- Also required
- Australian Instrument Rating with MEA, IAP 2D and IAP 3D endorsement
- Also required
- A minimum total flight time of 500 hours with 300 hours in command of a powered fixed wing aircraft (excluding ICUS), that includes 200 hours in command of a multi engine aircraft
- Also required
- A minimum total flight time of 500 hours with 300 hours in command of a turbine powered fixed wing aircraft
- Also required
- A minimum total flight time of 500 hours on aircraft certified for operation by a crew of at least 2 pilots
Any age, nationality, residency, height or vision criterion above is the operator's own stated criterion, quoted from its own page. Some such criteria are lawful where an operator recruits and unlawful elsewhere, including in the EU. SkyStudy reports them factually and does not adopt them as requirements of its own.
Every published profile is checked by hand against the operator's own careers page, and is flagged for a recheck 180 days after that check. Requirements change without notice, so confirm every figure on the operator's own careers page before you apply.
Pay and contract
Contract type: Not stated. Do not assume direct employment; some operators contract through an agency or on a self-employed basis, which changes tax, sick pay and pension entirely.
Pay: Not stated on the operator's own page.
For what pilots earn by region and seat, with its own sources and dates, see the pilot salary guide. Those are market ranges, not an offer from this operator.
Selection process
Not stated. This operator does not publish its selection stages, so nothing is listed here. A recruitment site claiming to know the stages is guessing, and so would we be.
Bases
- Brisbane (BNE)
- Sydney (SYD)
- Melbourne (MEL)
- Adelaide (ADL)
- Perth (PER)
Fleet
- Boeing 737-800
- Boeing 737 MAX 8
Worth knowing
Notes on this operator
- ContextThe figures here are from Virgin Australia's own pilot jobs page for a B737 first officer. It lists three alternative experience paths to the 500-hour total, all of which are shown under 'Also required'.
Provenance
Where each figure came from
Each entry is the sentence the value was read from, on the operator's own site. If a figure here is out of date, the quote is what to check it against.
hours.total
A minimum total flight time of 500 hours with 300 hours in command of a powered fixed wing aircraft (excluding ICUS), that includes 200 hours in command of a multi engine aircraft
virginaustralia.comlicence.family
A current Australian ATPL or Commercial Pilot Licence (CPL) and passes in all Australian ATPL theory subjects
virginaustralia.commedicalClass
A valid Australian Class 1 Medical Certificate
virginaustralia.comenglishLevel
English language proficiency Level 6
virginaustralia.comrightToWork
You'll need to be an Australian or New Zealand citizen or hold Australian permanent residency at the time of submitting your application
virginaustralia.comother
A minimum total flight time of 500 hours with 300 hours in command of a turbine powered fixed wing aircraft
virginaustralia.comhours.pic
A minimum total flight time of 500 hours with 300 hours in command of a powered fixed wing aircraft (excluding ICUS), that includes 200 hours in command of a multi engine aircraft
virginaustralia.com
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Important information
This page is general educational information for student pilots and may be out of date.
Aviation rules, training requirements, costs, medical standards, and exam details change over time and vary by country, authority, and training organisation, so details here may no longer be current or may differ in your case.
Always confirm the current details with your approved training organisation (ATO) and national aviation authority before relying on them.
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Last reviewed July 2026