Bashir Maktoum Captain and Line Check Airman, A320 Series Fort Worth, 76107, United States [email protected] · (817) 555-1052
11 September 2026
Ms. Anneke Vorster Pilot Recruitment Cascade Pacific Airways Seattle, United States
Application for A320 Captain, Cascade Pacific Airways
Dear Ms. Vorster,
I am applying for the A320 Captain vacancy at Cascade Pacific Airways. I hold an airline transport pilot certificate, airplane multiengine land, with type ratings on the A320 series and the EMB-170/190, and I have 13,400 hours total with 9,100 of them turbine pilot in command. I have flown the A320 series in command since 2019 from a Dallas Fort Worth base, including transatlantic sectors.
What I would most want to bring to Cascade Pacific is the training and safety work rather than the hours. I have held a line check airman qualification since 2021 and have conducted initial operating experience for 38 new first officers and 9 upgrading captains. I sit on my carrier's flight operations quality assurance review group, and after we looked at departure delay data on the narrow-body fleet I rewrote the turnaround briefing, which was adopted fleet-wide in 2023. Twelve years in command with no reportable incident, and recurrent and line checks completed on schedule throughout.
I have followed your Seattle to Osaka and Seattle to Auckland additions this year and the growth of the A321 order. Extended overwater operations are the part of the job I find most interesting, and I would want to keep instructing alongside a line, whether through initial operating experience or line oriented flight training.
My type ratings are current, my FAA first-class medical certificate was issued in March 2026, and I hold a valid passport with no travel restrictions. I could commute or relocate to a Seattle base. Thank you for your time.
Sincerely, Bashir Maktoum
Summary
An airline pilot cover letter closes two gates in four paragraphs: the certificate that makes you eligible, and the composition of your time that makes you competitive against this month's applicant pool. This guide gives you a full adaptable letter, what changes when you are under a published bar, and the openings that get a strong file read to the end.
Airline Pilot cover letter examples by experience level
In short, an airline pilot cover letter is a one-page letter that says what you are qualified to hold, what shape your flight time is in, and why this particular airline should spend an interview slot on you.
Pilot hiring is unusually numerical, so the letter goes wrong in two opposite directions: some repeat the logbook in prose, which the resume already covers, and others avoid numbers entirely. In practice, the useful letter names the certificate once, gives the one or two figures the airline is screening on, and spends the rest on what a spreadsheet cannot hold.
Guide to an airline pilot cover letter
Specifically, this guide and the corresponding airline pilot cover letter example will cover:
- First, how to structure the letter, paragraph by paragraph
- Then, which two figures belong in it, and which belong only on the resume
- Also, what to write when you are under a carrier's published minimums
- In addition, how the letter changes between a regional and a mainline application
- Finally, the openings that keep a reader on a strong file to the end
How to write an airline pilot cover letter
| Paragraph | Its job | Length |
|---|---|---|
| Opening | The seat, the certificate, and the one figure that matters for it | 2 to 3 sentences |
| Evidence | The work around the flying: a role, a program, a result | 4 to 5 sentences |
| Fit | Something specific about this carrier, and what you would take on | 3 to 4 sentences |
| Close | Type ratings, medical, availability, thank you | 2 sentences |
Name the certificate once, then give the figure the airline screens on
Eligibility and competitiveness are different questions and they are answered by different facts.
The certificate answers eligibility completely. "I hold an airline transport pilot certificate, airplane multiengine land" tells the reader you have already satisfied and had verified the aeronautical experience requirements of 14 CFR 61.159, and nothing further about those categories needs saying in a letter.
Competitiveness is answered by the composition of your time, not its total. For a command seat that usually means turbine pilot in command; for a first officer seat it usually means recent time and the type. Give one figure, the right one, and let the resume carry the rest.
An airline pilot cover letter example you can adapt
Dear Ms. Vorster,
I am applying for the A320 Captain vacancy at Cascade Pacific Airways. I hold an airline transport pilot certificate, airplane multiengine land, with type ratings on the A320 series and the EMB-170/190, and I have 13,400 hours total with 9,100 of them turbine pilot in command. I have flown the A320 series in command since 2019 from a Dallas Fort Worth base, including transatlantic sectors.
What I would most want to bring to Cascade Pacific is the training and safety work rather than the hours. I have held a line check airman qualification since 2021 and have conducted initial operating experience for 38 new first officers and 9 upgrading captains. I sit on my carrier's flight operations quality assurance review group, and after we looked at departure delay data on the narrow-body fleet I rewrote the turnaround briefing, which was adopted fleet-wide in 2023. Twelve years in command with no reportable incident, and recurrent and line checks completed on schedule throughout.
I have followed your Seattle to Osaka and Seattle to Auckland additions this year and the growth of the A321 order. Extended overwater operations are the part of the job I find most interesting, and I would want to keep instructing alongside a line, whether through initial operating experience or line oriented flight training.
My type ratings are current, my FAA first-class medical certificate was issued in March 2026, and I hold a valid passport with no travel restrictions. I could commute or relocate to a Seattle base. Thank you for your time.
Sincerely, Bashir Maktoum
Openings that work
| Instead of | Use |
|---|---|
| I am writing to express my interest in a pilot position with your airline | I am applying for the A320 Captain vacancy and hold an A320 series type rating |
| I have thousands of hours of flight experience | 13,400 hours total, 9,100 of them turbine pilot in command |
| I am a safety-focused professional aviator | Twelve years in command with no reportable incident |
| I work well as part of a flight crew | I have conducted initial operating experience for 38 first officers and 9 upgrading captains |
What belongs in the letter and what belongs on the resume
In other words, the letter is not a second logbook. Instead, move each fact to whichever document reads it better.
| Fact | Where it belongs |
|---|---|
| Certificate held | Both, once each |
| Total time and turbine pilot in command | Letter, one figure; resume, in full |
| Type ratings | Both, by designation |
| Medical class and issue date | Letter close and resume qualifications block |
| Check airman, instructor or safety program roles | Letter, as the main evidence paragraph |
| Something you changed at an operator | Letter, with the year it was adopted |
| Base, commuting and relocation | Letter close |
Under a published bar, and between a regional and a mainline
If you are below a carrier's published minimums, state what you hold, the rate you are accruing at and the month you expect to cross the bar, so the reader can see when you become eligible. For a regional application, lead with recency, the type if you hold one, and your instructing record. For a mainline application, lead with turbine pilot in command and any check airman or training qualification. Name one real thing the carrier has done this year, taken from their own announcements. Say plainly whether you would commute or relocate.
Do not reprint the aeronautical experience categories of 14 CFR 61.159 as though they were achievements; holding the certificate has already closed that gate. Do not describe flying in terms every applicant could use. Do not claim currency without a date behind it. Do not round hours upward, because the logbook is checked against the letter. Do not send a letter with no carrier name in it.
The two halves of one occupation
Airline pilots, copilots and flight engineers had a median annual wage of $232,140 as of May 2025, against $123,220 for commercial pilots, with the occupation overall at $210,020 (BLS Occupational Outlook Handbook, Airline and Commercial Pilots, published 27 August 2026).
The occupation held 154,900 jobs in 2025 and is projected to grow 7 percent through 2035, much faster than the average for all occupations, with about 16,400 openings a year (BLS, published 27 August 2026).
A gap of more than $100,000 inside a single occupation is the career ladder made visible, and it is why the letter should say where on it you currently stand. A recruiter reading for a command seat is looking for one figure. Give it to them in the first paragraph.
Length, format and sending it
One page, four paragraphs, 250 to 400 words. PDF unless the recruitment portal says otherwise, named for yourself and the seat: bashir-maktoum-a320-captain-cover-letter.pdf.
Address a person. Carriers usually name chief pilots, fleet managers and pilot recruitment leads publicly; as a result, "Dear Hiring Committee" on an otherwise specific letter reads as a letter sent to six carriers.
Use the same figures as your resume; a letter that disagrees with a logbook is worse than no letter. Our airline pilot resume example uses the numbers here, and the free ATS checker will tell you whether the portal can read either file.
Key takeaways
- First, name the certificate once and let it close the eligibility question.
- Then give one figure that answers the airline's own bar, usually turbine pilot in command.
- After that, spend the evidence paragraph on the work around the flying, not on flying itself.
- Date your currency and your medical certificate rather than claiming both are fine.
- Also, name one real thing the carrier has done this year.
- Say whether you would commute or relocate, because it is a genuine question.
- Finally, keep it to one page and make every number match the resume exactly.
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Airline pilot cover letter questions, answered
How long should an airline pilot cover letter be?
One page, four paragraphs, 250 to 400 words. Pilot recruitment teams read in volume against a scoring sheet, and a long letter does not change the score.
Do airlines actually read cover letters?
Some read every one, some read none, and you cannot tell which from outside. What is consistent is that the letter is the only place you can explain a gap, a career change, a commute or a qualification that does not fit the form fields. Attach one wherever there is a field for it.
Should I put my flight times in the letter?
One or two figures, chosen for the seat. Total time and turbine pilot in command for a command seat; recent time and the type for a first officer seat. The full breakdown belongs on the resume, where a reader can scan it without reading prose.
What do I write if I am just out of instructing?
Write the instruction as flying that produced judgement: the hours of dual given, the ratings your students completed, the airspace you worked in and the check ride pass record. The Handbook records moderate-term on-the-job training as typical for airline and commercial pilots (BLS Occupational Outlook Handbook, published 27 August 2026), so a carrier expects to train you on the type.
How do I write about a gap in flying?
Plainly, in one sentence, with what you did and when it ended. Furloughs, medical absences and periods out of the cockpit are ordinary in this profession, and a gap explained in the letter never becomes the question the interview opens with. If you flew anything at all during it, say so, because recency is what the reader is worried about.