What questions does Ryanair ask at interview?

Our research catalog holds 136 candidate-reported items for Ryanair. Examples candidates reported: “Tell us about yourself / Introduce yourself”; “Do you have any family members into aviation?”; “Have you tried ENAC selection? / Have you done any other selections before?”.

What does the Ryanair selection process look like?

Online application, then an Aon/cut-e aptitude battery — Future Flyer cadets add an ADAPT-style video interview. Reports also describe: Panel interview, Technical interview, ATPL / technical written test, Simulator assessment.

Does Ryanair ask technical questions?

Yes — 57 of the 136 reported items are technical or ATPL-level. The rest split between personal/motivation questions and scenario-based CRM probes.

How do I practice for the Ryanair interview?

AirlineBridge runs a free voice-first practice interview tuned on the questions Ryanair candidates report — 10, 25 or 45 minutes, with a scored debrief across eight behavioural dimensions.

Is this Ryanair's official hiring process?

No. Everything on this page is candidate-reported or published prep evidence, collected for interview practice. Always verify current requirements and stages with Ryanair recruiting.

Ryanair interview questions

136 candidate-reported items · stages covered: Panel interview, Technical interview, ATPL / technical written test, Simulator assessment

Ryanair runs a short funnel and asks the money question early. Candidates report an online application, an Aon/cut-e aptitude battery (Future Flyer cadets also see an ADAPT-style video interview), a brief phone screen on licence, medical and hours, then a single assessment day at Dublin AFA starting 08:00 with a sim detail and the interview.

The questions below are what candidates actually report being asked — grouped by the stage where they came up.

Practice a Ryanair interview — free

The Ryanair selection process

Online application, then an Aon/cut-e aptitude battery — Future Flyer cadets add an ADAPT-style video interview.
A short phone screen covering licence, medical and hours.
One assessment day at Dublin AFA (08:00 start) combining the sim and the interview.
The type-rating question is asked outright in HR: “How will you pay for the type rating?” Candidates report the figure at roughly €29.5k, self-funded or bonded.
The signature scenario family is the captain who won't follow SOPs — the canonical variant is a captain who says he'll land anyway at decision altitude because he's tired.

What the panel screens for. Willingness to self-fund or bond the type rating, acceptance of base assignment on operational need, and ICAO English level 4+. Two hard edges candidates report: canvassing is an explicit disqualifier, and a 1.57–1.90m height window is checked.

Reported Ryanair interview questions

Every item below is something a candidate reported being asked — no invented questions. Where the report carried a role or year, it is shown.

Panel interview

Tell us about yourself / Introduce yourself
Do you have any family members into aviation?
Have you tried ENAC selection? / Have you done any other selections before?
If you lost your medical, what is your back-up plan?
Do you have any relatives in Ryanair?
Can you pay for the type rating / how will you fund the type-rating bond?
What are the pros and cons of Ryanair for you?
Tell me about a time you showed leadership
Where do you usually fly from? Where do you live? Do you like your city?
Why are SOPs important?
How do you handle conflict in a team? / Describe a time you managed conflict
What would you do if you don't get your preferred base?
What was the hardest part of your flight training?
What would you do if the captain is not following SOPs?captain
What is the hardest decision you have had to make recently?
Tell me about a time you worked in a team / worked in conflict
Describe a time you made a mistake and what you learned
As a first officer, when is it appropriate to take control from the captain? (secondary source)captain
'Why Ryanair and not easyJet?' (secondary source; prep-vendor compilation claiming candidate sourcing)
What would you do if you see your captain not following SOPs?captain
What is the biggest achievement in your life so far?
Tell me about a time when you made a mistake and what you did about it
Why did you do your training in the UK?
Would you be willing to relocate / work a base you have not chosen?
What is your biggest weakness / strength (asked cold, with candidates reporting interview fatigue at generic 'perfectionist' answers)
What do you know about Ryanair? (study fleet, bases, rosters, destinations, history)
Tell me about yourself
Why Ryanair and not easyJet?
Pick three bases (base flexibility)
What would you do if a captain descended below decision altitude and you could not see the runway? (secondary source)captain
What would you do if your captain says at cruise altitude, if not visual at DA, I'll land anyway because I'm tired? (secondary source)captain
What would you do if you do not get your preferred base — would you still join?
Describe a situation where you showed leadership
What is important in the MCC course?
Do you think the training at your flight school was good?
What if your captain says at cruise that if you are not visual at decision altitude he will land anyway because he is tired?captain
When can you start the Type Rating?
What is your biggest weakness?
If this assessment does not turn out positive, what is your back-up plan?
What do you know about Ryanair? (plus reported curveballs such as 'when was Ryanair founded')
How do you plan to pay for / fund the type rating?
Why would I be a good Captain?captain
Have you applied elsewhere / to which other airlines?
Tell me about a time you dealt with conflict in the cockpit
Where do you see yourself in 5 years? / How do you see yourself in 5 years?
Why did you choose your flight school? / Why [did you choose] university degree
Why should we hire you?
Do you understand our business model? What do you know about how a low-cost carrier makes money?
If you are successful with Ryanair, how will you manage to pay for the type rating? / Can you pay for the TR?
After takeoff you get a single hydraulic system low pressure indication — the aircraft is flyable. Do you return immediately or continue to destination 30 minutes away? (secondary source)
What was your first job? What is your current job? Tell me about a difficult moment in your flight training.
Tell a weakness / What is the negative side about me?
Why Ryanair? / Why do you want to work for Ryanair?
'What would you do if you have a problem with the captain?' (reported verbatim on PPRuNe)captain
What would you do if a pilot wasn't following regulations but safety wasn't affected? (and the follow-up variant where safety WAS affected) — reported by a 2026 Future Flyer candidate who passed aptitude and medical but was unsuccessful
Do you have friends in RYR? Do you have siblings and what do they do?
'If you weren't a pilot, what sport would you play and why?' (secondary source; prep-vendor compilation claiming candidate sourcing)
What would you do if you are flying as PM and the other pilot is struggling / goes quiet? (sim: as PM you must be active — call out deviations)
Tell me about a time you disagreed with someone more senior / a time you handled a difficult person
Can I pay (for the type rating)?
What was your biggest achievement so far?
Why do you want to work for Ryanair?
Where do you see yourself in 5 years?
Tell me about a time you had to make a decision
Describe a situation where you had to make a decision with incomplete information
What do you want to take — the five-year bond or the €29,000?

Technical interview

What do you need for thunderstorms to form? Name three things.
What is the difference between TODA and TORA?
What is the function of a supercharger?
How are the flaps operated, and with what pressure?
What is decompression and how can you recognise one?
High lift devices
Technical assessment is framed on your current/previous aircraft type(s) — meteorology, principles of flight, operational procedures, scenario-based rather than trivia
Maximum crosswind component (asked in the context of the DA42) and hydroplaning — what is the formula?
Where does a swept wing stall first, and what can we do about it?
Which aircraft have a stick pusher?
Are all the windows heated?
Clear Air Turbulence
To what altitude do you descend during an emergency descent — and what if you are flying near mountains?
Walk me through your logbook — which engines did your first aircraft and your last aircraft have?
How many pitot tubes, alpha vanes and static ports are there, and are they heated?
PIC 737: which parts of the aircraft are heated?
What is a stall?
Screen height?
Why a T-tail?
Aircraft electrical systems
What is a critical engine, and why is it a critical engine on the type I flew?
Explain why thunderstorms form and why these cloud types get so big.
Why do we have washout on the wing?
Are the engines heated, and by bleed air or electrically?
Swept wings — why do aircraft have them, what are the advantages and disadvantages?
What is the maximum 737-800 ceiling? Maximum 737-800 cruise speed / max speed?
Electrical system (generators and batteries) of your current MEP aircraft
Questions about your previous multi-engine aircraft: engine manufacturer, BHP, critical engine
Different types of fog
What is the best propeller pitch for take-off, and what is max speed?
How many hydraulic systems does the 737 have and at what pressure? (reported answer: three — A, B and standby, 3,000 PSI)
What navigation systems does the Boeing 737 have?
Why are high lift devices fitted to swept wings?
What is the clearway? What is the stopway?
Why do some aircraft have winglets?
Would you fly through a thunderstorm? Why not?
From which stage of the compressor is the bleed air taken?
Explain the anti-ice / de-icing system on the 737 (reported answer: electric for probes and windscreen, bleed air from compressor stage 5 to 9)
When would you expect carburettor icing to occur?
What are the different types of engine a plane uses — piston and jet, turbofan, turbjet, turboprop? How do they work and what is the difference? (Future Flyer level)
What is Mach trimmer?
Anti-icing systems (technical interview candidates report a run of anti-ice questions)
V2?
How many seats does the 737-800 have? How many cabin crew? How many emergency exits? What types of fire extinguisher?
What are the three things that make a single-engine aircraft yaw to the left?
What is a critical engine? Is there a critical engine on the 737 / on your MEP aircraft?
In which direction do the 737's fans rotate?
What engine does the 737 have?
How does a plane fly — thrust counters drag and the wings create lift? (Future Flyer level)
How are the wings heated / anti-iced?
What is a great circle and what is a rhumb line, what is the difference, when do we use each, and how do they look from a navigational point of view?
IRS and GPS — what navigation systems does the Boeing 737 have, and how does GPS work?
Anti-ice system on the DA42
Jet streams
What is a turbocharger / how does a turbocharger work?

ATPL / technical written test

Phone-screen English test reported: read two sentences (one about portable oxygen) and answer three simple questions
Give me a real example where you disagreed with someone more senior than you
Give me a real example where you disagreed with someone senior (reported follow-up, secondary source)
Phone screen questions reported: medical expiry date, MEP/IR exam date and expiry, CPL exam date and expiry, total flight hours, 'why should we hire you?'
Give me an example of when you managed time pressure effectively
Give an example of when you managed time pressure effectively
Mental maths / simple calculations reported: sin 30 / sin 60 crosswind components, and time to cover 40 nautical miles at 120 knots; also general simple addition, multiplication and division (Future Flyer)
Give an example of working under pressure

Simulator assessment

Simulator non-normal/emergency reported to candidates (assessor injects, candidate works it verbally and calls for the checklist rather than completing it): aft toilet smoke or toilet fire (DODAR/NITS, mayday if needed), a dying passenger with a heart attack, or a destination closed by an ATC strike so you must make a PIOSEE/diversion decision
Simulator profile reported for type-rated/direct-entry FOs: engine failure after V1, upper airwork, a SID flown single-engine, single-engine ILS, go-around, visual circuit and landing
Simulator assessment is paired and CRM-marked: the assessor grades Application of Procedures, Aircraft Flight Path Management – Manual, Communication, Knowledge, Leadership and Teamwork, Problem Solving and Decision Making, Situation Awareness, Workload Management and English (min ICAO 4) — candidates are told to brief, call for checklists, stay active as PM and help their partner rather than going quiet
Simulator failures reported: glideslope failure at DH so you continue on visual reference (PAPI); radar vectors unavailable so you decide between holding and proceeding direct to the NDB for the NDB ILS/DME; go-around required on short final
Talk through your actions: engine failure after V1 (secondary source)
Simulator navigation probes reported: 'show me where you are on the plate' — point your position out on the chart relative to the NDB/DME; fly a QDM/QDR inbound and outbound; intercept a radial; explain which type of hold entry you would make
What is the headwind on today's ILS?

FAQ

What questions does Ryanair ask at interview?: Our research catalog holds 136 candidate-reported items for Ryanair. Examples candidates reported: “Tell us about yourself / Introduce yourself”; “Do you have any family members into aviation?”; “Have you tried ENAC selection? / Have you done any other selections before?”.
What does the Ryanair selection process look like?: Online application, then an Aon/cut-e aptitude battery — Future Flyer cadets add an ADAPT-style video interview. Reports also describe: Panel interview, Technical interview, ATPL / technical written test, Simulator assessment.
Does Ryanair ask technical questions?: Yes — 57 of the 136 reported items are technical or ATPL-level. The rest split between personal/motivation questions and scenario-based CRM probes.
How do I practice for the Ryanair interview?: AirlineBridge runs a free voice-first practice interview tuned on the questions Ryanair candidates report — 10, 25 or 45 minutes, with a scored debrief across eight behavioural dimensions.
Is this Ryanair's official hiring process?: No. Everything on this page is candidate-reported or published prep evidence, collected for interview practice. Always verify current requirements and stages with Ryanair recruiting.

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