If you brief a search today, when does the pilot walk into the sim? In 2026 it depends on where the candidate comes from, how urgent the need is, and how many bottlenecks the operator is prepared to remove. These are the benchmarks across the European market.
The stages, and where the days go
Time-to-hire splits into roughly six stages:
- Brief and sourcing
- Initial screening
- Documentation pre-check
- Interview and sim assessment
- Offer and contract
- Onboarding and start
The figures below are an order of magnitude, and your own figures will differ.
Stage 1: brief and sourcing
| Channel | Median days |
|---|---|
| Traditional agency, cold brief | 35-55 |
| Traditional agency, warm shortlist | 18-28 |
| In-house team with active pipeline | 8-15 |
| Network-based platform (Veejo) | 3-7 |
| Direct referrals only | 1-30, depends on luck |
Agencies are slow here because they start sourcing only once you have signed the retainer. A network is fast because its candidates were vetted before you briefed.
Stage 2: initial screening
| Step | Median days |
|---|---|
| CV review | 2-5 |
| Documentation collection request | 5-10 |
| Pre-screen call | 3-7 |
| Stage subtotal | 10-22 |
Most operators lose time here without noticing, because document requests go out by email, sit in inboxes and get chased by hand.
Stage 3: documentation pre-check
| Document | Verification effort |
|---|---|
| Licence and ratings | 2-3 days (CAA dependent) |
| Class 1 medical | 1 day |
| ICAO Language Proficiency | 1 day |
| Logbook reconciliation | 3-7 days, often the bottleneck |
| Previous employer references | 5-15 days, often the bottleneck |
| Stage subtotal | 10-25 |
Logbook reconciliation and reference checks are the two delays operators rarely plan for. An airline HR department can take 10-15 business days to return a reference in 2026, and a logbook from the paper-only era often needs a manual cross-check that can run to 3 weeks.
Stage 4: interview and sim assessment
| Step | Median days |
|---|---|
| Schedule technical interview | 5-10 |
| Technical interview | 1 day |
| Schedule sim assessment | 5-15 (sim availability) |
| Sim assessment | 1 day |
| Debrief and recommendation | 2-5 |
| Stage subtotal | 14-32 |
Simulator availability is the biggest variable. Operators with their own sim finish this stage in 5-7 days; those renting time from a training centre often wait 2-4 weeks.
Stage 5: offer and contract
| Step | Median days |
|---|---|
| Internal sign-off (HR + accountable manager) | 3-7 |
| Offer drafted and sent | 1-3 |
| Candidate negotiation | 3-7 |
| Contract signed | 2-5 |
| Stage subtotal | 9-22 |
Stage 6: onboarding and start
| Step | Median days |
|---|---|
| Notice period at current employer | 30-90 (often outside operator's control) |
| Pre-employment medicals + checks | 5-10 |
| Type rating, if required | 25-45 |
| Line training, before first revenue flight | 20-35 |
The notice period is the hardest limit. A line pilot at an EU low-cost carrier typically serves 30-60 days' notice, a legacy carrier captain 60-90.
End-to-end medians, 2026
| Recruitment model | Brief to signed offer | Brief to first revenue flight |
|---|---|---|
| Traditional agency | 95-145 days | 6-12 months |
| In-house, active pipeline | 55-95 days | 5-10 months |
| Network-based platform | 35-65 days | 4-9 months |
The gap between the models opens in stages 1 to 3: sourcing, screening and documentation. From stage 4 onwards every operator runs the same sim and the same interview, and by stages 5 and 6 the pace is set by the candidate's current employer.
Three bottlenecks recruiters underestimate
- Document verification. Ask what format the candidate's logbook will arrive in. An unstructured PDF or a scan means a week of work; a structured, verified export takes a fraction of that.
- Reference responsiveness. Airline HR teams answer reference requests in 5-15 business days, so run references before you commit to a sim slot.
- Simulator availability. Book a provisional sim slot on the day of the brief rather than after the technical interview. In our experience that one change removes one of the longest waits in the process.
What you control and what you don't
You do not control candidates' notice periods, CAA verification queues or weather cancellations of sim slots. You do control how fast you source, how clear your document request is, whether your sim slot is booked in advance and how quickly internal sign-off moves.
The fastest operators take weeks out of their time-to-hire through process discipline alone, without changing platform.
How Veejo helps
Sourcing from a pre-vetted network takes a few days rather than weeks. Each pilot's licence, medical, English rating and logbook are already verified on their Veejo profile, and you message candidates and book interviews in the platform instead of by email.