The Etihad pilot assessment, stage by stage

As candidates and Etihad’s own recruiters describe it, Etihad selects in 2 parts: an online stage cleared from home (an application, then a self paced video interview of 3 questions), and 1 assessment day in Abu Dhabi that decides it, which the recruiters described at Pilot Expo Brussels in March 2026 as a 40 minute simulator session, a theoretical exam, a group activity and a final interview, 4 in a row, with pass or fail told at the end of day 1 and a medical day for those who pass. A COMPASS style aptitude test and a personality questionnaire sit somewhere between the 2 parts; candidates disagree on where. Every figure below is marked as published by Etihad, reported by candidates, or not published at all, with the day it was read. Where sources disagree, both versions are given.

If your date is inside 3 weeks, start here

Video interview invited: it is 3 questions with unlimited re records, so record your answers to why Etihad, why the Middle East, why you are leaving now, a conflict with a crew member, and the windshear recovery, until each runs under 2 minutes without notes. Then sit the 9 section mock daily and the lab’s memory and multitasking exercises, because a COMPASS style test may arrive online before you travel. Abu Dhabi invited: candidates report the written paper and the simulator as the parts that end most days. Sit the worked ATPL paper and the type systems revision at pace, then fly the sim profile in the Etihad pack as a full LOFT with a failure per leg, then rehearse the interview themes and 6 competency stories, then the group exercise brief. Book nothing for day 2: the medical is a fasting day from 07:30 to 18:00. The Etihad pack holds the papers, the Etihad pack the sim and the group exercise, the Etihad pack the interview.

First: is Etihad hiring?

On 20 September 2026 Etihad’s careers site listed 3 flight deck vacancies, all Abu Dhabi, all released on 31 July 2026 with no closing date: First Officer, Captain, and Captain A320 Instructor. The First Officer posting names the role A320 First Officer in its criteria line; the Captain posting names it Captain A320. No A350, A380, 787 or 777 first officer or captain posting exists today, and Etihad publishes nothing about widebody hiring or about when it opens. Candidates report 787 first officer vacancies described as filled for the near future in November 2025, with candidates who had passed for the 787 offered the 777 freighter instead; a hiring stall after the regional conflict of February and March 2026, when candidates who had passed everything in October 2025 and January 2026 were still without a contract in June 2026 and were told the wait was for simulator course scheduling; and by July 2026 a backlog described as hundreds of applicants waiting 2 to 3 months or more after the video interview for an Abu Dhabi date. Etihad itself published on 6 March 2026 that it would resume a limited commercial flight schedule from that date, operating between Abu Dhabi and a number of key destinations. A February 2026 newspaper report quoting the chief executive put 2025 hiring at nearly 400 pilots with about 150 promotions, and the plan at 20 aircraft a year. Etihad’s recruiters said in March 2026 that the A330 is arriving early and that mixed A320 and A330 flying is under discussion; 1 agency advertises its 2026 European event as assessments for A320 and A330 pilots, which no candidate confirms. Read the 3 postings as the truth on the day: Etihad is hiring on the A320 family, at both seats, and there is no widebody posting to apply to. Widebody candidates who passed in 2025 and 2026 report waits of 5 to 8 months after assessment without a contract.

Etihad publishes 5 recruitment events for October 2026: Munich on 13 October, Frankfurt on 15 October, Athens on 20 October, a virtual event on 20 October, and Hong Kong on 28 October, and says: even if you don’t yet fulfil some of our selection criteria, come along and register your interest. The roadshow page describes a drop in between 09:30 and 16:00 with information sessions at 10:00 and 14:00 covering life at Etihad, the fleet, and career progression and recruitment pathways, with family members welcome. No interview or assessment at a roadshow is published. No 2025 or 2026 candidate describes being interviewed at one; the only candidate account, from a 2024 online roadshow, is of being told there was no direct entry captain hiring on Boeing types. Go for the recruiters’ answers to 2 questions, when widebody hiring reopens and how long the pool is, and to be remembered by name. Do not go expecting a sim slot.

Who can apply, in Etihad’s own figures

For the A320 first officer, Etihad asks you to meet either criteria A, a minimum of 2,000 hours total flying time, 1,500 hours on multi crew glass cockpit multi pilot aeroplanes and 500 hours on type, or criteria B, a minimum of 1,500 hours total flying time and 1,000 hours on any A320 family aircraft. Both routes need an A320 family flight within the last 12 months, an A320 type rating valid for at least 2 more months at the time of joining, an unrestricted ATPL or valid frozen ATPL issued by an ICAO member state, an unrestricted current Class 1 medical, ICAO English level 4 or better, and not to have attained the age of 50 on the day of joining. Glass cockpit is defined as an aircraft with a FMS coupled to APFDS. Frozen ATPL holders must present the ATPL theoretical knowledge exam results and an integrated ATPL course completion certificate.

For the A320 captain: a minimum of 5,500 hours total flying time, 2,500 PIC hours on multi crew glass cockpit, 1,500 PIC hours on one of the A320 family, an A320 family flight within the last 12 months, an A320 type rating valid for a minimum of 2 months at joining, current on the A320, an unrestricted current ICAO ATPL and Class 1 medical, English level 4 or higher, not to have attained the age of 59 on the day of joining, and a current TRE or TRI is an advantage. Where hours were flown with inflight relief, 75 percent of them count towards the minimum. The instructor posting adds 3 years as an A320 TRI or TRE, 1,000 hours of FSTD training and 1,000 hours of LIFUS or IOE experience. Etihad’s recruiters, speaking at Pilot Expo Brussels in March 2026, put the first entry criterion at 1,500 hours and said a frozen ATPL is accepted. The A320 first officer criteria advertised for the June and July 2025 European events, as listed by an agency, were higher: 2,500 hours total, 1,500 multi crew glass, 500 on the A320, an Airbus fly by wire flight in the last 12 months. If you are close on one line, the pool exists: recruiters describe near miss candidates as talent pooled and re contacted, and the careers page invites you to register interest anyway.

The package, as published and as reported

The first officer posting states the potential to earn up to AED 513,732 (USD 138,318) per year based on 75 flying hours per month, with performance based annual increments, an education allowance of up to AED 40,000 for primary and AED 55,000 for secondary per child for up to 3 children, 42 days of annual leave, an income protection scheme, end of service benefits, accidental and life insurance, staff travel, and relocation support through a shipping container allowance, settling in support and family travel benefits. The captain posting states up to AED 674,029 (USD 181,589) per year on the same basis. The pilots page says the annual package includes basic salary, flying pay, housing allowance, and layover and meal allowances, and describes the package as tax free. Etihad publishes no basic salary, no housing figure, no bond, no probation and no seniority rule. Candidates report a housing allowance of AED 160,000 a year, paid in full whatever you rent, described in November 2025 as unchanged for more than 10 years, and disputed for couples who both fly for Etihad, 1 allowance against 1 each; a 787 first officer basic of AED 26,000 a month plus the housing and hourly pay (January 2026); no pension of any kind, with the end of service gratuity at 1 month’s pay per year served; a training bond for every joiner including the type rated, quoted in 2024 as 3 years and USD 20,000 type rated or USD 33,000 not, with re bonding on a fleet change; and an annual bonus reported in February 2026 as 4 weeks for cabin crew and, by a second poster, as 10 weeks, with neither confirmed for pilots. The posting maximum is a ceiling at 75 hours; the basic and the housing are what arrive on a light month. Ask for the written offer with every line on it before you resign, and read it against the joining waits below.

Etihad advertises command opportunities in as little as 3 years for first officers, and its recruiters said in March 2026 that the pilots being interviewed for upgrade that day had been in the company 3 years. A March 2025 poster put command at a minimum of 6 to 10 years. First officers report moving from the A320 to the A380 or A350, 1 of them within 2 years of joining.

The online stage, as candidates describe it

The application and screening

Etihad publishes 1 sentence about the process, inside the fraud warning on every posting: interviews are conducted face to face or via video or telephone before any formal offer. The roadshow page’s recruitment pathways is the only other process wording; no stage, test or timeline is published. Candidates report the application answered in 3 ways: rejected the next day or within a week while meeting every minimum (January 2025, February 2025, September 2026); Under Review for 4 months or more; or, weeks to months later, an email asking for a flying hours breakdown form, licence copies and logbook pages. A new application platform from about April 2026 shows only Under Review, and candidates already at onboarding were told to disregard earlier statuses. When a posting closes, pending applications are marked unsuccessful without an email; 1 candidate was told to reapply to the new posting. Your form, your logbook totals and your CV must agree to the hour: the criteria are written as total, multi crew glass, on type and the date of your last A320 flight, so keep those 4 figures ready in the form the hours breakdown will ask for, and bring the logbook the figures come from.

The video interview

Etihad names no platform and publishes nothing about a video interview. Candidates report a self paced video interview introduced around March 2025, which they call HireVue: 3 questions of a few minutes each, unlimited re records, about 15 minutes in all. The 3 are reported 2 ways: an introduction, 1 standard HR question and 1 technical question (August 2025); or 1 HR question, 1 tell me about a time question and 1 technical question (November 2025). The windshear recovery is the technical question in 2 accounts (November 2025, June 2026). A June 2026 candidate counts 3 to 5 questions: the windshear recovery, why Etihad, why the Middle East, why you are leaving your job now, and a conflict with a crew member. One August 2025 poster says there is no technical content and the stage tests communication. A March 2025 recipient guessed it was for non native speakers; a July 2026 poster says everyone does it regardless, and that the feedback email is automated and positive for everyone. The wait after it has grown: about 1 month to the hours forms then 2 to 3 weeks to the Abu Dhabi invitation in September 2025; about 2 months in June 2026; at least a couple of months, many past 3, by July 2026, with candidates still waiting 2 weeks after submitting in July 2025 and May 2026. Record every answer under 2 minutes, in the order the panel will hear it later, because the same themes return in Abu Dhabi. The Etihad pack gives the worked answers.

COMPASS and the personality questionnaire

Etihad names no aptitude test and no vendor. Candidates name COMPASS, describe it as similar to Emirates’ test, and list memory, task management, aircraft orientation and flight director coordination modules, plus a psychological questionnaire. Where it happens is disputed: online before travel in an August 2025 account and on the prep sites; in the hotel on an iPad after day 1 in 2 accounts from September and October 2025. No 2025 or 2026 candidate reports a separate English test, which prep sites still list. The pack’s aptitude mock runs 9 sections on separate clocks, 106 items in 93 minutes, and the lab holds the tracking, multitasking and memory exercises a question bank cannot carry. It is our mix, built to cover every family candidates name, and not a claim about the test’s own structure.

Abu Dhabi, as candidates describe it

Getting there

Etihad books the hotel, about 15 minutes from headquarters, and economy tickets. Groups of 25 to 30 were reported in August 2025, 16 per session in May 2025. The document check happens at any point during day 1. Bring originals and copies of passport, licence, medical, type rating and logbook.

The day: 4 in a row

Until mid 2025 the visit ran 3 days: simulator and written paper on day 1, further tests, the interview and a group discussion on day 2, the medical on day 3. From about September 2025 it is 2 days, and Etihad’s recruiters described it in March 2026 as a 1 day assessment followed by a medical day if you pass: a 40 minute simulator session, a theoretical exam, a group activity and a final interview, 4 in a row. Day 1 opens with a company briefing, then the group is split in 2, 1 half in the simulator while the other sits the written paper, then the group exercise and the interview. The result, pass or stop, is given at the end of day 1. Pass rates reported: 4 of 25 to 30 on one August 2025 assessment day, first hand; 1 of 21, second hand, in January 2025; a December 2025 claim that 80 to 90 percent fail. The order means the written paper and the sim come cold, in the first hours, before you have settled. Both are preparable to a standard, and both are where the day ends for most.

The written paper

Multiple choice, on an iPad, sat on the day and not at home. Content in 3 accounts: ATPL school general knowledge with close 50 50 answer options (October 2025); half generic ATPL and half A320 systems for an A320 candidate (November 2025); type specific for type rated applicants (November 2025). An A350 candidate’s friend sat a generic ATPL paper. Described as not easy (November 2025); one April 2025 poster had heard the paper had become much harder and that the question bank had changed. No 2025 or 2026 candidate gives a count or a duration; a user submitted 2023 entry on a prep site says 50 questions on ICAO Doc 8168, Doc 4444 and Jeppesen definitions; 1 prep site says 100 questions, another about 90 minutes. Prepare the harder version: ATPL general subjects at exam standard plus your type’s systems, limitations and memory items. The Etihad pack holds the worked ATPL paper and the type revision; the pack’s 500 question set includes a layer on the A320 family.

The prep site that says 100 questions is Easy-Pilot, whose author runs ATPL courses and describes the paper as he sat it, undated: against a clock, mainly ATPL level, with aircraft specific questions on top if you are type rated. A written paper list on Scribd since September 2024, reposted with changes by June 2025, runs across meteorology, navigation, performance, air law and instrumentation, with the type systems separate. The 100 and the clock are his alone. What the 2 settle is the shape everybody else described in pieces: a broad ATPL paper with a type layer bolted on, sat cold in the first hours of the day. The Etihad pack is built to that shape.

The simulator

Etihad’s recruiters put the session at 40 minutes (March 2026); candidates report it on the fleet applied for, A320, 787 or A350. Described as a standard LOFT with tricks to overstress you: ATC calls, weather, failures and decisions stacked so that a FORDEC or DODAR is hard to complete (October 2025); multiple scenarios testing pilot flying and pilot monitoring roles with failures and abnormals (August 2025); 1 failure after another but nothing outside a regular sim assessment (April 2025, second hand); a proper EBT based process (January 2025, second hand). The profile changes week to week. Whether the device is full flight or fixed base, who sits in the other seat, and what is scored are not published and not reported by any 2025 or 2026 candidate; prep sites claim an Etihad examiner in the other seat, raw data, an engine failure and a go around. Fly it as a competency assessment: state the decision structure out loud, delegate, and finish it even under interruption. Flying accuracy alone will not carry it. The Etihad pack gives the profile leg by leg and the briefing.

Until now this guide said no candidate had put the profile in writing. 2 documents on Scribd do. A write up that was on Scribd by 15 June 2025 gives 2 profiles. The A320: a brake system fault on taxi, an engine failure with damage on take off, runway heading to a level off, the ECAM completed, a quick DODAR to return to Abu Dhabi, downwind vectors, a pack overheat on the working engine’s side, then both GPS failed followed by an inertial reference failure, a map shift on the first officer’s side, autopilot and flight director off, and a manual raw data single engine approach with no DME on the ILS, no VOR at the field and an unreliable runway distance on the progress page, ending in a loss of braking on the roll out. The 787, used when no A320 simulator is free: a departure with the runway changed for a VIP arrival, the SID clearance cancelled for a straight ahead climb and a radial to intercept within a set distance, a suspected cardiac arrest in the cabin near the equal time point, a raw data ILS, and an engine fire at minimums flown to a landing with a Mayday. It notes the exercise stops before landing if you are not type rated. The 787 profile is the only part written in the first person. Notes on Scribd since September 2024 carry the same A320 chain: a brake system fault on taxi, an engine failure at V1 and a return, GPS lost followed by a map shift and raw data, the autopilot lost, and a loss of braking on landing. So the A320 chain has circulated since at least September 2024, and the 787 profile reads as a single sitting from before the visit went to 2 days.

Do not read either as the profile you will get: the candidate who called it a standard LOFT with tricks also says it changes week to week. What they show is the design. Every one of those failures is a distraction stacked on the one before, the automation and the navigation aids are taken away in sequence, and the last event lands after the point most candidates have stopped expecting anything. Nothing in either profile is hard to fly on its own. Fly the Etihad pack that way: complete the decision structure out loud while something else is going wrong, and expect the aircraft to be taken back to raw data before the end.

The group exercise

1 scenario for the group, about 20 minutes, described as straightforward: participate, do not dominate (October 2025); a group discussion assessing logic, communication and leadership (August 2025). No 2025 or 2026 candidate reports the topic; prep sites describe a resource allocation scenario with each candidate holding different information, and an HR scenario such as a workforce reduction.

The Easy-Pilot author gives the HR topic as his own, undated: the company had to lay people off and the group decided who went, on performance and history data, against a clock. No candidate gives the resource allocation topic from a sitting. Neither is the scenario you will get, and the 2 have nothing in common except their shape: incomplete information held by different people, a decision the group has to converge on, and not enough time. That shape is what to practise. The panel then asks you about it afterwards, which is the part candidates do not see coming.

The interview

1 interview on day 1, in 2 parts: about 15 minutes of introduction and why Etihad, then about 30 minutes of technical questions on your type rating with CRM and scenario based decision questions, described as getting really tough (October 2025); a mix of technical and systems questions and general airline and personal questions (August 2025). No 2025 or 2026 candidate names the panel; prep sites say a pilot or fleet manager with HR. No psychologist interview is reported. The technical half is the part to prepare hardest: 30 minutes on your own type, out loud, with a type experienced interviewer probing. The Etihad pack holds the type revision, the Etihad pack the interview themes and the 6 competency stories, and the interview bank carries 140 questions with the reported ones labelled.

The technical half had no reported question in any source until now. It has 7. The June 2025 write up lists them: memory items; the predictive and reactive windshear systems and when each inhibits; low visibility operations, put as a scenario where he is lined up, 2 RVR values are reported and the third is not, and asked what he does and whether he needs all 3; RVSM; ETOPS; noise abatement departure procedures 1 and 2; and ACN and PCN, asked as who is responsible for each and whether a larger aircraft can have a lower number than a smaller one, and why. A document from another account, on Scribd since September 2024, lists 6 of the 7 topics, most in the same words: the windshear systems and their inhibits, low visibility operations, RVSM, ETOPS, noise abatement procedures 1 and 2, and ACN and PCN. So the 2 count as 1 source. Not in the 2024 list: memory items, the RVR scenario and the way the ACN question was put. Every one of those is answerable for whatever you fly, which is consistent with a panel putting 30 minutes of questions on your own type. The 2 asked as scenarios are the 2 to prepare hardest, because both have a wrong answer that sounds right. The interview bank carries all 7 with worked answers.

The same write up has 2 technical questions only above that list of 7, where the October 2025 account says about 30 minutes of technical questions on your type rating. The RVR scenario and the ACN question are the only 2 items worded as questions, and the only 2 whose wording is not in the 2024 list. The likeliest reading is that those were the 2 asked, with the known topics listed beneath. The gap with 30 minutes may be the format: this sitting came before the move to 2 days, the October 2025 account after it. Prepare all 7 and prepare for 30 minutes.

The write up also lists about 30 questions from the motivation half, and they are narrower than the competency questions candidates usually describe: what the name Etihad means, what the logo represents, who runs the airline, what you expect from a career there, what you would do if the company called you on a day off at the beach, whether you have ever called fatigue and why, definitions of a leader and of a manager and whether a team needs both, what an effective communicator is, and then whether you were one during the group exercise you had just done. Then the integrity questions: the difference between a violation and a mistake, whether you have ever violated a rule, and whether you have ever stolen anything in your life. Most of that list was already on Scribd in September 2024. The company questions, the career and beach questions, stress, preparing for a flight, criticism, the rule question and the 2 Middle East questions are in a September 2024 document in the same order and wording, and the prompts on delegating, struggling and sticking to a plan are there too. The career, beach, stress, preparation, criticism, rule and Middle East questions appear again, in that order, in answers a candidate prepared for his own Abu Dhabi assessment and posted in February 2025. Not in either earlier document: the leader and manager pair, fatigue, the effective communicator and the 2 follow ups on the group exercise, the violation and mistake distinction, and the stolen question. The company questions are trivia and they are checkable in an evening, so failing them is unforced. The definition questions are traps set in pairs: you give a definition, then you are asked to judge your own behaviour in the group exercise against the words you just used. The Etihad pack works through both patterns, and the bank carries the questions.

The medical

Day 2, only for those told pass on day 1: fasting, 07:30 to 18:00, a GCAA Class 1 examination plus an eye specialist, described as very thorough. No BMI limit is published; a user submitted 2023 entry on a prep site cites 29.9, which no 2025 or 2026 candidate confirms.

After Abu Dhabi: the clearance, the pool, and reapplying

After the medical: document submission, then a background and security clearance with the UAE authorities, which candidates were told in September 2026 can take up to a month, with onboarding starting only after it clears. The careers page statuses move through Hired, Onboarding and Pending approval, and in 6 reported cases between May 2025 and August 2026 flipped to Unsuccessful with no email; in 1 May 2025 case the candidate later received joining dates, in the 2026 cases it was treated as final and attributed to the clearance. A 2026 candidate at onboarding describes a monthly reminder not to resign until the contract is in hand, and 2025 candidates describe HR saying the same. Assessment to joining: 3 to 4 months in 2024; more than 1 month and waiting in September 2025; an August 2025 787 pass held in a pool until the anniversary of the assessment and offered the 777 freighter in November; a January 2026 pass at onboarding with all approvals and no joining date 5 months later; 1 first officer assessed in February 2026 reportedly joined in May; an A320 offer received in June 2026 for a November 2025 assessment. Do not resign on an Etihad status. Resign on a contract with a date, and keep your medical, your rating and your A320 recency current through the wait, because the 12 month recency line in the criteria does not pause while you are in the pool.

Etihad publishes no reapplication rule for direct entry pilots. No candidate reports one; recruiters describe near miss candidates as talent pooled and re contacted, and 1 candidate whose posting closed was told to apply to the new one.

The airline, in its own figures

At the end of February 2026 the operating fleet stood at 128 aircraft with a global network of 110 destinations: 48 787s, 20 A320s, 15 A321s, 11 A321LRs, 10 A350s, 9 777s, 7 A380s, 2 A330s and 6 777 freighters, with an average fleet age of 8.3 years. The postings describe the Journey 2030 ambition to double the fleet, and the roadshow page puts it at 200 or more aircraft and 125 or more destinations. The about page, read the same day, says over 90 destinations and teams of 140 nationalities. Use the traffic statistics figure in the interview and say when it was published. Do not quote the 2030 targets as the current fleet.

Where the sources disagree

• Days in Abu Dhabi: 3 (until mid 2025), against 2 with everything on day 1 (September 2025 on, and Etihad’s recruiters in March 2026), against 3 or 4 on the prep sites.
• The video interview: 1 technical question in 3 accounts (August 2025 to June 2026), against none, a communication check (August 2025).
• COMPASS and the questionnaire: online before travel, against on an iPad in the hotel after day 1.
• The written paper for type rated applicants: type specific, against half generic ATPL and half type, against generic ATPL.
• Day 1 order: simulator first for everyone (April 2025, second hand), against 2 groups rotating between the simulator and the paper (October 2025).
• A status that turns to Unsuccessful after Hired: a website glitch later followed by joining dates (May 2025), against a final rejection on clearance (2026).
• Time to A320 command: 3 years in Etihad’s advertising and its recruiters’ account, against a minimum of 6 to 10 years from a March 2025 poster.
• The pass rate: 4 of 25 to 30, against 1 of 21, against 80 to 90 percent failing. None is confirmed by the airline.
• The annual bonus: 4 weeks, reported for cabin crew, against 10 weeks. The A320 roster: a fixed 20 days on and 10 off, against day and night changeovers with 3 nights in a row.
• The housing allowance when both spouses fly for Etihad: 1 allowance for the couple, against 1 each (April 2025).

Where 2 versions exist, prepare for the harder one: the technical question in the video, the type systems in the paper, the COMPASS test before you travel, and the 6 year command.

Checked against Etihad’s published pages on 20 September 2026. Candidate reports are from 2025 and 2026 unless a year is given. Nothing here is affiliated with or endorsed by Etihad Airways.