List of low-hour pilot jobs that may hire 250 hours of fresh commercial pilots.

Too many low-hour pilot jobs are accessible today if you know exactly where to find them.

By now, I assume you already know that 250 hours as a pilot is unacceptable to land your first airline job.

Ideally, you are here to read this article so I can share what I apprehend about low-hour pilot jobs.

I will not promise this article will land you a job with 250 hours as a pilot in Asia, but I can guide you, at least from my experience.

The best part:

Tons of air charter companies lack pilots today, aside from the airlines.

Local cargo companies or air charters are the proper places to endeavor for a low-hour pilot job.

Let’s begin by listing types of pilot jobs with lower hours. By the low time, I mean flight hours as little as 250 hours:

Air tour Pilots.

As a pilot in aerial tours, you will fly small propeller aircraft. Such flying is to conduct flights with tourists over a scenic location.

These flights are often short, and the pilots repeatedly fly to the exact location.

Air tour flights are usually local flights. Pilots take off with tourists, fly over a tourist destination for about 30-45 minutes, and return to base.

You can fly often if you work as a pilot in aerial tours.

But operating on the same route every day can quickly become tedious. Likely, you will only fly short flights, but frequent flights depend on the tourist attractions.

Air tour pilots typically don’t get paid very well.

The priority for air tour pilots is to fly enough hours and then apply for an airline. Airlines always prefer pilots with higher hours.

For a pilot, more flying hours means more experience and better skills.

If you intend to look for air tour pilot jobs, do your research online.

This kind of low-hour pilot job is available in many Asian countries, such as:

  • The Philippines;
  • Indonesia;
  • Thailand.

Aerial tour jobs for low-hour pilots are also available in the Caribbean islands and the South American continent.

Charter pilot jobs.

The next place to look for low-hour pilot jobs is charter companies.

Air charter services transport passengers and deliver cargo to remote places. They mainly operate to destinations unreachable by other means of transport.

As a charter pilot, you must fly to destinations to pick up stranded passengers and drop off some essential cargo.

  • This kind of job is available in many Central African countries.
  • South American countries rely on air charters depending on where they have to fly.
  • Commonly, air charters in Indonesia and Papua New Guinea hire low-time pilots.

Flying in the Papua region is challenging and thrilling for pilots. Destinations are so remote that no other means of transportation are available except for airplanes.

As an air charter pilot in the Papua region, you will land aircraft in narrow airstrips in valleys. The weather in valleys is often harsh, making flying even more challenging.

This charter pilot job requires skills and can prepare you well for airlines.

Although air charters hire low-hour pilots, the flying conditions do not allow pilots to climb up in rank promptly.

Well, every job has its cons.

Most of your flights will be to various destinations as a charter pilot in Papua New Guinea or Indonesia. Flying to numerous destinations in the valleys, you must prove your proficiency to get a promotion.

Once you get promoted to captain or at least a senior pilot in the company, expect to be paid very well.

Look for such a pilot job by searching online. Contact the air charter companies through email.

Nevertheless, the best way is to visit the companies personally and speak to them.

Certified flight instructor job.

A suitable place for low-hour pilots to start flying is flight schools.

As the name suggests, you will train student pilots to fly the airplane safely as a flight instructor.

You were a student once, and now you will train pilots.

Being a teacher is not a job for many. Becoming a flight instructor requires a passion for teaching and sharing your knowledge with others.

Yet, it is an excellent place to start your journey to the airliner cockpit by gaining flight hours and sharpening your flying skills.

But before that, one has to get a flight instructor’s license to apply for a job in any flight school.

Some schools pay for a flight instructor license rating for fresh commercial pilots, but only if the pilot can prove their intellect.

As a flight instructor, your job is to fly with students, and in well-reputed flight schools, you will fly very often.

As a student pilot, I knew instructors who flew 6 to 7 hours a day, four times a week. Regular flying means the salary for flight instructors is excellent, too.

Many flight schools need flight instructors, and they usually don’t advertise online to recruit flight instructors.

So searching online won’t help much, even though there are thousands of flight schools worldwide. It is not as easy as it sounds, but you have to keep trying.

You can start by applying to your flight school. The chances of hiring their acknowledged student as a flight instructor are higher than hiring someone from another flight school.

If your flight school is not hiring, then search for flight schools that are relatively new in operations.

Flight schools operating for years may not hire a pilot with a new flight instructor’s rating and only 250 hours to their name.

Skydive jump aircraft pilot.

A sky diving pilot job is also reasonably available, like aerial tour flights.

But this job relies on places which have many tourist attractions. Skydiving is common in tourist destinations.

  • Hawaii;
  • The Caribbean islands;
  • Middle east;
  • Hong Kong
  • The Philippines;
  • Malaysia;
  • Thailand.

I can’t say for sure that you will be flying very often. The whole activity depends on tourists and people willing to go skydiving.

Especially after the COVID-19 crisis, people stopped traveling.

Tourists now stay home, and there are not many skydivers without tourists. Thus, these Skydive jump pilot jobs are available in:

Like any other pilot, jobs do a search online, and you will find places where skydiving is common and contact the skydiving companies for a job.

Aircraft ferry pilot.

An aircraft ferry pilot does what the name implies. Pilots fly brand-new aircraft and deliver the plane to the new owner.

It is not always brand new aircraft, but often, ferry pilots fly used aircraft and safely deliver it to the new owner’s airstrip.

The Ferry pilot’s job is not difficult.

It is gratifying to fly airplanes to deliver it to someone expecting their plane.

The real problem is you won’t fly aircraft frequently. You will only operate the airplane if you are type-rated for the plane and there is a delivery to make.

Nevertheless, flying is always fun. Instead of waiting for a low-hour pilot job, grab any opportunity to fly. Meanwhile, it is an excellent option to become a ferry pilot.

You will make money and log the flying time.

I don’t know how much ferry pilots are paid, but I believe they are handsomely compensated for delivering aircraft safely.

Privately owned aircraft pilot jobs.

There are many privately owned aircraft in the USA, China, Hong Kong, and European countries.

Not all aircraft owners have a license to fly the aircraft; neither have the time to get a permit.

Private aircraft owners hire commercial pilots to do the job. Pilots with 250 hours of logged time can apply for this occupation.

If you choose to work for a privately owned airplane, you may not work very often.

You will only fly as long as the aircraft owner demands to fly to a cross-country destination.

But the good thing about working for privately owned aircraft is that the pilots are well paid—at least, that is what I always see.

The pilots for privately owned aircraft do not fly very often, and the work is less stressful than airlines. Yet, pilots receive a salary monthly.

Typically, private aircraft owners are businessmen or wealthy individuals who want a pilot on standby at all times.

To find such a job, one must make connections.

Go to the airport more often and make friends. One pilot friend of yours might refer you to a position for a privately owned aircraft.

Having connections and networking plays a crucial role in opening doors to new opportunities.

Banner towing is a form of aerial advertisement. It is like flying an airplane with a billboard attached to it.

The banner is massive, visible to thousands of people on the ground.

It may sound like a fascinating job for pilots to start building hours, but I believe the pay for this job will not be appropriate.

Banner towing is a low-hour pilot job where a pilot can build a lot of hours quicker.

I don’t know if banner towing is so prevalent in other parts of the world except for the USA and Australia.

Thus, if you are looking for a banner towing job, you must be a resident of America or Australia.

Crop Dusting Pilot.

Crop dusting is a way of spraying pesticides over agricultural land using airplanes.

The airplane takes off from the nearest airstrip and flies past the crops, spraying pesticides. The pilots target a field and fly low over the vegetation to spray pesticides.

Doing the manual tasks would take longer and be more complicated for farmers. Therefore, using crop dusters increases the efficiency of the farmers.

Nevertheless, there have been numerous crashes in the past years, and the pilot didn’t survive the crash.

Flying crop-dusting airplanes low and at high speed has its cons.

Operating crop dusters leaves little room for a pilot’s mistake. Thus, the pay for crop dusting pilots is good, and pilots frequently fly as there are acres of cropland that require pesticides.

However, with the rise of commercial drone usage, we can say the crop-dusting aircraft will soon be obsolete.

Agricultural drones will replace crop-dusting aircraft.

There are numerous reasons why a crop dusting drone will be prevalent, and three practical reasons are:

  • The drone doesn’t endanger a pilot’s life;
  • Agricultural drones work more efficiently than crop-dusters;
  • The maintenance and operational costs of farming drones are minimal.

Where to look for a crop-dusting job?

Crop dusters are widespread in:

  • The United States;
  • Canada;
  • Australia;
  • The Philippines;
  • Thailand;
  • Malaysia.

Search online for the job, contact the agricultural companies, and apply.

If you intend to get some short hours flying agricultural airplanes, do it as early as possible before agricultural drones replace the job entirely.

Where to look for low-hour pilot jobs?

I presume you completed your commercial pilot course with an instrument rating.

Presently:

You have logged 250 hours as a pilot, and you are in a rush to land your first job so you can build hours and apply for airlines.

As many airlines in the United States expect pilots to have an ATPL, there is no alternative to what I will yield in this blog post.

Settling your first pilot job may not be as easy as it sounds, but that is where you have to prove your commitment to becoming an airline pilot.

Asia and Africa are the best places to look for a low-hour pilot job. Some areas in Latin America are not wrong, either.

Wondering I say that?

Due to the massive expansion of airliners in the Asia Pacific region and Africa, pilots are in significant shortage.

AND

You can use this deficiency to your advantage.

This deficit of pilots is growing every day, with the airlines adding more aircraft to their fleet.

Due to this increase in airlines, experienced pilots from air charter companies or air logistics facilities are moving to the airliners.

This shift of pilots creates a batch of vacancies for pilots in the air charters or air taxis in Asia and Africa.

low hour pilot jobs
Picture collected from duanzerwick

It is not only the airliners that are expanding. In Asia and Africa, companies rely more and more on cargo fleets.

Island nations of Asia?

They rely on air carriers to transport goods from one island to another.

Numerous cargo aircraft require pilots. Bigger jets and turbo propeller aircraft used for cargo transfer are rising.

You may immediately guess that pilots in Asia and Africa have to fly to remote places to deliver cargo.

YES, that is true.

To fly to a detached place where the most convenient and fast means of transportation is by small propeller aircraft.

As a result, cargo facilities expand their propeller aircraft fleet and recruit numerous pilots with low hours.

Air cargo and air charters are hiring more pilots today than ever before.

Do you think you will only fly cargo from one point to another?

The most convenient means of transport for passengers there is air charters.

There are places where turbo propeller airplanes cannot reach. Air charter is their only option.

As I currently reside in the Philippines and have spoken to many pilots working in Asia, I can assure you that many pilot jobs are available.

Are you still thinking about where to look for quiet-hour pilot jobs? The most typical low-hour pilot jobs are in:

  • Air charter companies;
  • Cargo companies that fly short routes;
  • Cargo companies that operate to a destination where bigger jets cannot reach;
  • Or Seaplane jobs that fly with tourists in Asia.

All the jobs listed above can be your first pilot job.

It is time:

I will clarify some more. Most of these pilot jobs are available in the Philippines and Indonesia.

I am not going to lie, but the Philippines and Indonesia have a shortage of airline pilots.

The precise truth:

There is no shortage of pilots but qualified pilots.

Airlines only hire the best of the best. They cannot allow a fresh pilot with all the responsibilities.

Airlines may be willing to hire you; however, they fear its consequences.

Airliners here are willing to recruit expert pilots and favor local pilots only, which has resulted in a shortage of qualified pilots.

The Philippines and Indonesia have thousands of islands, many of which are very remote; the only means of communication is by air or boat.

A boat can neither transport passengers nor cargo as fast as an airplane.

That is the reason why low-hour pilots like you must be thankful.

Several cargo companies and air taxis are rising for a quicker means of transport.

And the number is developing every day. Existing companies are adding more aircraft to their fleet and have no notion where they will get all the pilots.

RELATED: Investing in a plane to build hours in 2020.

Therefore, they often stress their pilot and compel them to fly more than they should.

Why do you think such is happening?

Because of bigger jets, they cannot fly to obscure places, and people in remote destinations need their cargo to survive.

The only option is to use air cargo or logistics companies to carry cargo there faster.

Does that mean these types of companies hire unqualified pilots?

Indeed, they don’t.

Being hired by such companies might be easy, but you must do your homework to pass the initial interview.

Flying to remote destinations is not bad, after all.

However, flying to an airstrip in poor weather conditions, in between mountains, will require skills.

If you cannot prove yourself worthy of such a flight as a pilot, then it is best to say goodbye to your first low-hour pilot job.

All air charters and cargoes will train you to acquire all the skills until you prove yourself.

You may have to fly the first hundred hours with a veteran pilot until he realizes you are ready.

Therefore:

If you work in such companies as a pilot, you will build hours actively by flying to enchanting destinations.

How to find low-hour pilot jobs?

I have already given you a concept of where to look for pilot jobs with low hours, perhaps with only 250 hours.

Now, you have to take the next step.

Are you prepared to take the next step?

You must not stay idle and waste time. There are opportunities everywhere. Look for them and take them.

You have to go online and search online, and I believe all other options mentioned online for low-hours pilot jobs have a more complicated process.

YES, the companies will make it sound smooth, but once you sign up with them and understand in detail, you will only realize the arrangement is not so straightforward.

So, choose the path that best suits you.

Contact Us here. Give us an email or drop a comment below if you have any more questions.

We may be able to help you or guide you on where to go and suggest some of the companies that hire pilots with 250 hours in Asia.

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27 Comments

    1. Reading the comments it’s embarrassing to see how many people asking for companies and the author to send them info. If your to lazy to even find job postings your to lazy to be a good pilot. It’s the truth that good people are hard to find this just proves it.

  1. I am Ali retired from Pakistan Air Force having 2100 hours of Military Jet experiance having Frozen ATPL and valid CPL with class 1 medical.

  2. If you could send me information about company that are looking to hire in Asia, especially any in or near Japan. I also hold a commercial multi engine. Thank you

    1. As I don’t live in Indonesia, I can’t give you the list of charter companies there. Sorry about that. However, I can give you names of charter companies in the Philippines, if you are interested. But I wonder what are you going to do with a list of charter companies?

      1. I know what I would do with it – apply to every single place on the list! Please forward it to me, please. Ideally, I could find a long-term position in the Philippines.

  3. Could you pls send me airline who are hiring low hour pilot
    As i have my cpl with IR and my AQC also with 250 hours.

  4. HI.
    it would be great if you give me some info about the jobs I can apply.
    I am south Korean having about 350hrs with C172 commercial single FAA.

    1. There are jobs available in Asian countries as Charter Pilots that help build hours quickly. However, most of these hours are VFR, and often airlines prefer pilots with more IFR flying experience. Regardless, please send us an email using our contact form if you are interested in such jobs.

  5. Is it possible to get more information on this time building opportunities? I would love information about the charter pilot jobs in Asian countries.

  6. Hi, I’m currently holding an Australian CPL and MECIR, but only having around 220 hours. I’d like to know a list of charter/cargo companies in Asia or Australia that will hire low hour pilots, thanks !

  7. Hi Capt.Elite,

    I am a fATPL pilot, with MCC, UPRT, PBN, and B737 TR. The pandemic just hit in my face.
    Do you know any company which is actually hiring low hour / fATPL?

    It doesn’t matter what plane or location. I just want to build hours.

    Thanks a lot

      1. Good day

        Please can I also have the reference email address as I am a Full ATPL holder and also have my B737 rating done IN RSA

  8. Hello.

    Would you be able to send me a list of companies that are hiring low hour pilots in Asia?

  9. I’m a Nigeria CPL holder with 248 total hours and 78 PIC hours ready to work any where in world. Give me a contract and I’ll find the type rating and conversion

  10. Hi… Any list of employers who might hire a low-time pilot from Canada would be appreciated. I have a Cessna 150 which I’m building my hours in, and passed the CPL flight test just last week. The Philippines is at the top of the countries in which I want to work. My wife is Taiwanese and so I could commute back and forth to Taiwan to be with her. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

  11. I am presently flying ATR 72- 600 as First Officer with ATPL under issue in India. I am 63, I would like to continue where age is not a criteria. I have around 5000/- have around 5000 hrs on ATR 42-320 before endorsed on ATr 72-600.

    1. Hi im am holding a CPL Pilot with 2500 hours of flight experience, ELP lvl 4, is there any charter vacancies out there where i can hone my skills as a charter pilot? Thank you..

  12. hi
    i hold ppl/cpl/ir/me/300 hrs flying with lic from philippines and did flying instructor course , level 5 english and current medical
    looking to work for your concern
    i live in manila ready to relocate .
    thanking you
    ehsan
    [email protected]

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