easyJet operates one of Europe's largest Airbus A320-family fleets and recruits pilots through several doors: two branded cadet programmes, graduates of partner schools, and continuous direct-entry hiring. Which door you choose decides which tests you face, and whether it is open to you at all, so start by picking your route.
The routes in
Generation easyJet Pilot Training Programme: the MPL route delivered by CAE, easyJet's MPL partner since 2010, with the partnership renewed for five years in 2026. easyJet plans 1,000 new pilots over those five years, half of them through this MPL, which makes about 100 MPL cadets a year; for 2026 the split was 80 UK and 20 EASA places. The price for EASA contracts from July 2026 is €115,000, covering ATPL theory, all ground and flight training, the exams and the A320 type rating.
easyJet FlightCrew Futures Programme: a newer integrated ATPL route with Skyborne Airline Academy for the other half of those pilots, with the A320 type rating included — around 18 months, £129,000 paid in instalments, ground school in Gloucestershire or Bournemouth and the flying phase in Vero Beach, Florida.
Partner schools: easyJet also names Acron Aviation Academy (the former L3Harris Airline Academy), FTEJerez, Leading Edge Aviation and Urbe Aero as training partners, and the arrangement differs by school. Leading Edge, for example, hosts assessments run by easyJet, with tagged students receiving a conditional job offer after ground school. FTEJerez students carry no tag: easyJet interviews students who have finished their multi-crew cooperation course when it comes to the school to recruit, and those it hires pay for their own A320 type rating. In 2025–26 FTEJerez was the largest source of easyJet's EASA first officers outside the MPL, but that intake follows easyJet's needs year by year.
Direct entry: type-rated captains need at least 4,000 hours with 1,000 in command on the A320 family; type-rated co-pilots at least 500 hours on type; non-rated co-pilots at least 1,000 hours including 500 on aircraft over 10 tonnes.
Where the MPL stands in September 2026
UK route (CAA licence): open to new applicants.
EU route (EASA licence): closed to new applicants since January 2025. easyJet set 20 EASA places for 2026 and filled them from candidates already part-way through selection, inviting those with the best stage-2 results to the remaining assessment days. CAE does not expect the next EASA intake before autumn 2027, and when the route reopens, candidates already on its waiting list are invited to interview first.
The UK and EU routes are separate competitions that open and close on their own timetables. The UK route asks for the unrestricted right to live and work in the UK and leads to a UK base.
Because stage-2 scores decided which EASA candidates were invited in 2026, aim well above the minimums rather than for a bare pass. Intakes and openings change from season to season, so verify the current status on CAE's and easyJet's own pages before you apply.
The selection funnel
The Generation easyJet MPL selects in three stages, all free of charge. Stage 1 is the application file, checked by CAE. Stage 2 is the ADAPT aptitude battery from Symbiotics, sat online under remote invigilation. Stage 3 is easyJet's own assessment day, held online, with a group exercise and a one-to-one competency interview. Passing leads to a place on a course and a conditional letter of employment with easyJet. The next four lessons take the three stages in order, then what follows them.