Hiring / Upgrades

We plan to hire between 250 and 300 pilots this year, with just as many planned for next year. With this rapid workforce expansion, we expect to accelerate upgrade times to 18-24 months. I know many of you are thinking, “How is this possible, I’m a 5 year FO”. We have ran many different models that show the number of years to upgrade dramatically decreasing. This is due to the amount of pilots we are looking to hire and the large gap between 1-2 year FOs and 4-5 year FOs.

We know the big question is, when are we going to start upgrading again? It all hinges on meeting our hiring goals. As soon as we rebuild the FO staffing, we will start to run upgrade classes immediately. You can help accelerate this by referring pilots to Air Wisconsin. If they are selected you will receive a bonus of $4,000 in referral money in accordance with our referral policy. If you know of a pilot who would like to join the Air Wisconsin team, please refer them by completing the form found HERE.

The good news is, the number of candidates interested in Air Wisconsin continues to steadily rise. Our recruiters are very busy as we are running 2 to 3 interview sessions each week. The size of these interviews vary, but are usually between 5 and 12 candidates per session.

When discussing the sign on / retention bonus, a new FO will earn $15,000 once they complete IOE and another $10,000 after their first year of service for a total of $25,000. After that, new hires will continue to get $2,000 a quarter beginning in month 24 and through month 36 of employment or until they upgrade which makes the bonus up to $33,000. With the bonus and increased First officer pay a new hire can expect to earn between $201,000 - $242,000 in total compensation and benefits during the first three years of service. For this breakdown please reference and share the following document by clicking HERE.