Pilot Resume Examples: Templates & Tips for 2026
See real pilot resume examples and learn what format airlines prefer. Includes templates for commercial, airline, and general aviation pilots.
What Does a Good Pilot Resume Look Like?
A strong pilot resume puts the most important information front and centre: your flight hours, ratings, and recent experience. Unlike corporate resumes that lead with a "summary" or "objective", aviation resumes lead with data.
The best pilot resumes we've seen share these characteristics:
- Hours table at the top - Total time, PIC, multi-engine, turbine, night, IFR clearly displayed
- Clean, scannable layout - Chief pilots spend 30-60 seconds on initial screening
- Reverse chronological employment - Most recent position first, with aircraft type and role
- All ratings listed - Licence level, type ratings, instrument ratings, design features
- Recency data - Last 90 days, last 12 months, and date of last flight
Airline Pilot Resume Template
For airline applications (Part 121), your resume should emphasise:
- Total time and turbine hours - Airlines care about jet/turbine experience
- Multi-crew experience - CRM hours, time in a multi-crew environment
- Type ratings - Especially if you hold the type rating for their fleet
- Line training and checking experience - If applicable
- ATPL or frozen ATPL status
Keep it to one page if you have under 5,000 hours, two pages maximum for senior pilots. Airlines process hundreds of applications - brevity wins.
Commercial Pilot Resume Template
For charter, cargo, medevac, and general aviation roles:
- PIC hours are critical - Many operators need captains, not just total time
- Aircraft-specific hours - If the job is for a King Air, highlight your King Air time
- Remote/outback experience - For Australian roles especially, this matters
- Instrument approach counts - Some operators want to see IFR proficiency data
- Multi-engine PIC - Charter operators hiring captains want multi-engine command time
These roles often have more specific requirements than airlines. Tailor your hours presentation to match the job ad.
First Officer Resume Tips
If you're applying for your first FO role, you likely don't have thousands of hours. That's fine - focus on:
- Quality over quantity - Show diverse experience even if total hours are lower
- Recency - Airlines want to see you're actively flying
- Training background - Include flight instructor experience, if any
- Attitude and adaptability - Your cover letter can supplement what your hours can't show
- Structured format - A professionally formatted resume signals professionalism even at lower hours
Using a platform like RECNCY is especially valuable at this stage - it makes a 500-hour pilot's resume look as professional as a 10,000-hour captain's.
Build Your Pilot Resume Now
Stop spending hours in Word trying to get the formatting right. RECNCY creates airline-standard pilot resumes automatically from your profile data.
- Enter your hours, ratings, and experience
- Get a professional online profile and PDF export
- Apply to pilot jobs directly from the platform
Sign up free at recncy.com and have your resume ready in minutes.
Ready to Build Your Pilot Resume?
Join RECNCY - create your professional pilot profile, browse aviation jobs, and apply with one click.