VistaJet · First Officer / Copilote
First Officer Citation XLS/XLS+
VistaJet is hiring UK licensed first officers to fly the Citation XLS and XLS+.
- Employer
- VistaJet
- Position
- First Officer / Copilote
- Aircraft
- Citation XLS / XLS+
- Pay (public sources)
- European scale not published; in the US, Vista America lists a $250,000 base salary for a Global 6000 captain and $130,000 for a first officer (2026)
- Seen
- 8 October 2026
Key points
- First Officer role
- Citation XLS / XLS+ aircraft
- UK licence required
What the employer asks for
- UK issued pilot licence
Summary written by ForAllPilots from the employer's posting. Only the official posting counts: check every condition before you apply.
Business aviation
VistaJet at a glance
Business aviation operator founded by Thomas Flohr and owned by Vista Global Holding, flying a fleet of grey-and-red jets under a Maltese air operator certificate.
- Bases
- No hub: worldwide on-demand operations under a European AOC issued in Malta
- Fleet
- Bombardier Global 7500, Global 6000 and Global 5000; Bombardier Challenger 850, 605 and 300/350; Dassault Falcon 7X; Embraer Legacy 650/650E and Legacy 600; Cessna Citation XLS
Pilot recruitment
A fleet of mid- and long-range business jets (Bombardier Global and Challenger, Falcon 7X, Embraer Legacy). European operations run under a Maltese AOC, so an EASA Part-FCL licence is the baseline for roles with that entity. Recruitment goes through the Vista group careers portal (iCIMS), which also carries XO vacancies. Requirements vary by aircraft type and position (captain, first officer): check licence, hours and type-rating requirements and current openings directly on the VistaJet careers portal.
Pay and conditions, from public sources
Figures published by the airline, pilot unions or the press, each one dated (last update: October 2026). For information only.
- US subsidiary: Vista America postings for a managed Global 6000 based in Houston give a base salary of $250,000 a year for the captain and $130,000 for the first officer, on a 21/9 schedule (postings seen in October 2026).
- Sign-on bonus: a European first officer posting offered €10,000 to candidates already rated on type, subject to conditions (2025).
- First officer requirements (Europe): minimum 2,500 hours for the Global 6000 and 1,000 hours for the Challenger 350, EASA ATPL, Class 1 medical and the right to live and work in the EU or UK (2025).
- Hiring: according to a company posting, more than 120 new pilots joined VistaJet in 2024, bringing crew numbers to a record level (2025).
- Captains: every pilot-in-command has at least 3,000 hours and an EASA type rating; simulator training twice a year and an annual line check (October 2026).
- Induction: more than 40 hours of ground school, 28 hours of simulator and 10 to 20 supervised flights (October 2026).
- Ab initio route: the Pilot Mentored Programme, launched with Irish school AFTA, offers five tracks, from complete beginners to holders of a foreign ICAO licence converting to EASA (November 2023).
The VistaJet 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 : low
The stages
- Written ATPL-type technical test.
- Panel interview.
- Simulator on the CRJ, without flight director or autothrust.
The aptitude tests
- No psychometric test reported.
The technical part
- ATPL multiple-choice and basic manual flying in the simulator.
Candidates' tips
- Practise pure manual flying without aids.
- Follow up with recruitment: successful candidates say they waited a long time for the next step.
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.