TUI · First Officer / Copilote
First Officer B737 - UK bases
TUI Airline is recruiting type-rated First Officers on the B737 for its UK bases. The role is for pilots already qualified on this aircraft, with mentoring from experienced Captains.
- Employer
- TUI
- Position
- First Officer / Copilote
- Base
- Bases au Royaume-Uni
- Aircraft
- Boeing 737
- Contract
- Temps plein en été, temps partiel en hiver
- Pay (public sources)
- Pilot scales not published; at TUI Airways (UK) a cadet earns about £37,751 a year after training-cost deductions (2025)
- Seen
- 8 October 2026
Key points
- Full time in summer, part time in winter, with 13 weeks off across the period
- Ability to bid for some winter time off
- Base confirmed at the point of offer
- Roster varies significantly with no fixed pattern, no commuting contracts offered
- Maximum 90 minutes commuting time to home base when on standby
What the employer asks for
- Unrestricted, valid UK CAA-issued CPL with ATPL theory credits
- Valid B737 type rating with completed base training
- Valid UK CAA Class 1 Medical
- Minimum ICAO English Language Proficiency Level 4
- Valid passport allowing unrestricted worldwide travel
- Legal right to live and work in the UK without restrictions, visa sponsorship not available
- Ability to pass pre-employment and airport security background checks for an airport ID
- Minimum height of 1.58m
- Ability to swim at least 25m
- Ability to reach home base within 90 minutes when on standby
What the employer offers
- Pension scheme with employer contributions of up to 10%
- Life assurance cover
- Loss of licence cover
- Private medical insurance
- Family friendly policies including enhanced maternity, adoption and partner leave
- Discounted rates on late notice flights, accommodation and cruises
Summary written by ForAllPilots from the employer's posting. Only the official posting counts: check every condition before you apply.
Leisure airline
TUI at a glance
A tourism group headquartered in Hanover, TUI operates five leisure airlines in Europe: TUI Airways, TUI fly (Germany), TUI fly Belgium, TUI fly Netherlands and TUI fly Nordic, with a Boeing medium- and long-haul fleet.
- Bases
- Network of bases in Europe (United Kingdom and Ireland, Germany, Belgium, the Netherlands, the Nordic countries)
- Fleet
- Boeing 737-800, 737 MAX 8, 787-8, 787-9; Embraer 195-E2 (TUI fly Belgium)
Pilot recruitment
Each airline in the group recruits separately, depending on its needs and the period. Generally recruits pilots qualified on the Boeing 737 or 787; check the vacancies and any training pathways on each airline's careers site.
Pay and conditions, from public sources
Figures published by the airline, pilot unions or the press, each one dated (last update: August 2026). For information only.
- TUI Airways (UK): cadets are paid as second officers, on a full-time salary of about £68,459 a year before training costs are deducted over four years (TUI FAQ, 2025 programme).
- TUI Airways (UK): after that deduction, cadet pay is about £37,751 a year, versus £32,867 quoted for the 2023 intake (January 2025).
- TUI Airways (UK): the fully funded MPL programme (training, licences, exams, equipment, uniform) lasts about 19 months and leads to a Boeing 737 type rating; the 2023 intake had 30 places (December 2022).
- TUI Airways (UK): no MPL intake in 2026, as the airline says it is not needed to meet its pilot demand for summer 2028 (January 2026).
- TUIfly (Germany): agreement with Vereinigung Cockpit on a new pay agreement, reinstating annual step increases, raising the pay tables linearly, improving trainer and extra-flight-hour pay, and extending the pension and insurance protocol by three years (February 2025).
- TUIfly (Germany): the union describes the rise as significant and offsetting recent purchasing-power losses, without publishing a percentage (March 2025).
- TUI fly Belgium: about 20 aircraft based in Belgium and 2,100 staff; the Liège base has closed, Antwerp is due to close in March 2027 and long-haul has moved to Amsterdam (August 2026).
- TUI fly Belgium: the Setca/BBTK union threatened strike notice after the group CEO spoke of a possible cut in the Belgian fleet (August 2026).
Sources read (7)
The TUI selection, as candidates tell it
What candidates report on forums (Aeronet, Pilot Jobs Network) and what the employer publishes, summarised by ForAllPilots. It is not the official process: it changes from one campaign to the next, always check the posting.
Reliability of the reports : medium
The stages
- Battery of online tests after applying.
- Asynchronous video interview (about five questions, mainly customer relations and motivation), to be submitted within a few days.
- Assessment day: group exercise, case study, technical and maths test in the morning, HR interview in the afternoon for shortlisted candidates.
- Simulator about a week later (not always scheduled for non-type-rated candidates).
The aptitude tests
- Online logical reasoning considered hard to follow by some.
- Applied maths: speed-distance-time, dead reckoning, height for a given gradient, turn radius, reading and interpolating graphs.
The technical part
- ATPL multiple-choice (general navigation, principles of flight) and a few Boeing questions.
- In the simulator, manual flying: QDM, hold, basic flying and ILS.
Candidates' tips
- Revise mental navigation calculations and reading performance graphs.
- Prepare customer-focused answers and knowledge of TUI.
- Assessors are described as supportive: be yourself.
- UK cadet programme: you must have the right to live and work in the United Kingdom without any further formalities, which rules out many European candidates.
Our exercises to prepare
Sources read (4)
- www.pprune.org/interviews-jobs-sponsorship/653017-tui-assessment-pilot-day-east-midlands-4.html
- www.pprune.org/professional-pilot-training-includes-ground-studies/659087-tui-uk-non-type-rated-pilot-selection.html
- www.pprune.org/interviews-jobs-sponsorship/662798-tui-airways-mpl-cadet-programme-2025-a.html
- forum.aeronet-fr.org/viewtopic.php?t=45446
Give yourself every chance
A first officer selection usually combines a technical test (ATPL and aircraft knowledge), aptitude tests, a group exercise, an HR and technical interview, then a simulator check.
Revise the ATPL subjects that come up most in technical interviews: performance, meteorology, systems, procedures. Prepare concrete examples of crew teamwork for the interview.
If the posting mentions aptitude tests, practise the most common families of exercises: mental arithmetic, multitasking, orientation, reasoning.