SAS interview questions
36 candidate-reported items · stages covered: Group exercise, Panel interview, Technical interview, ATPL / technical written test, Simulator assessment
SAS weights attitude over technique. Its published pipeline is: online application, screening (a prerecorded video plus personality and cognitive tests), a live online interview, then an assessment day — welcome, group exercise, a sim flown PF and PM for about 30 minutes each way, and a personal interview — then offer.
Candidates report a 24-month reapply cooldown after an assessment-day failure. The questions below are what they report being asked.
Practice a SAS interview — free
The SAS selection process
- Published staged pipeline: application → screening (prerecorded video, personality, cognitive tests) → live online interview → assessment day → offer.
- Assessment day includes a group exercise and a sim flown both PF and PM, ~30 minutes each way.
- Signature questions: “What's a good captain? What's a bad one?”, “What is the difference between a captain and a first officer?”, “Why Scandinavia?”.
- Interview technicals are reportedly light — one candidate recalled only an emergency-descent question.
- Signature scenarios: a tyre burst on takeoff, and examiners giving negative altitude-maintenance feedback mid-sim to watch your response — a visible positive learning trend beats flying perfectly.
What the panel screens for. The “SAS Pilot Profile” framework — reported at roughly 70% attitude / 30% technical — and the “Scandinavian way” of working: structured, collaborative, trust-based. A Scandinavian EASA licence is required by day one; conversion is at the candidate's cost.
Reported SAS 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.
Group exercise
- Group exercise: a consensus-based, time-managed team task where assessors watch leadership behaviour, active listening, conflict resolution and whether the candidate integrates others' perspectives rather than dominating the group
- Group exercise: a team/consensus task run alongside other candidates, with assessors watching leadership behaviour, active listening, conflict resolution and whether you contribute without dominating (SAS confirms a group exercise is part of the day; the task format is described only by a commercial prep site)
Panel interview
- What's a good captain? What's a bad one?
- Why SAS? Why are you applying for this job?
- What are your strengths and weaknesses?
- Where do you see yourself in 10 years?
- What is the difference between a captain and a first officer?
- Tell me about yourself.
- Scenario question about a tyre burst on takeoff - what would you do? (candidate's wording: 'I was asked more a szenario based question with a tyre burst on takeoff in the interview')
- Why Scandinavia, and how do you see your career developing here?
- What are your strengths? / What are your weaknesses? (reported as a pair: 'Stuff like your strength, weaknesses, whats a good captain, whats a bad one, difference between CPT and FO')
- Tell me about a conflict with a crew member and how you resolved it.
- Tell me about your experience, motivation and expectations for the role (the live online interview with the SAS recruitment team is officially described as covering these three areas)
Technical interview
- Go-around technique
- Meteorology
- Localiser intercept and establishment after a vectored intercept onto the localiser
- Performance calculations
- How would you handle a diversion decision?
- Flight planning
- What are the initial actions for an emergency descent? (one of only two technical items a candidate recalls being asked in the interview; he notes this was 'just a very short part')
- EASA regulations / operational regulatory knowledge
- Navigation
- What factors affect approach minima?
- A320-family aircraft systems knowledge relevant to the short-haul fleet
ATPL / technical written test
- Tell me about a time you challenged a captain's decision (reported as testing assertiveness while remaining respectful)
Simulator assessment
- Simulator profile: raw-data departure straight ahead to 5000 ft with ATC-type instructions (turn left heading xxx, descent 4000 ft, further turn, reduce speed 230 kts, climb 1000 ft/min to 5000 ft)
- Simulator profile: raw-data procedural VOR-DME approach, followed by a go-around, followed by a raw-data ILS to land
- During the simulator assessment the examiner gives you feedback after your first approach that your altitude maintenance was poor - how do you respond?
- Simulator profile: steep turn at 45 degrees bank, left and right
- Steep turns at 45 degrees
- Simulator profile: swap seats and repeat the profile as PM for the other candidate
- How do you manage fuel when holding?
- PF/PM swap during the simulator session (roughly 30 minutes each way), where the candidate must brief, verbalise decision-making and manage workload out loud under assessment
- Responding to in-simulator assessor feedback and demonstrating a visible 'positive learning trend' — a candidate who flies imperfectly but improves on instruction is reported to score better than one who stays mediocre
- In-simulator scenario requiring the crew to be briefed on possible outcomes (diversion, extended flight time, reduced cabin service) and to manage passenger expectations accordingly
- VOR-DME approach followed by an ILS approach flown on raw data (no flight director)
FAQ
- What questions does SAS ask at interview?
- Our research catalog holds 36 candidate-reported items for SAS. Examples candidates reported: “What's a good captain? What's a bad one?”; “Why SAS? Why are you applying for this job?”; “What are your strengths and weaknesses?”.
- What does the SAS selection process look like?
- Published staged pipeline: application → screening (prerecorded video, personality, cognitive tests) → live online interview → assessment day → offer. Reports also describe: Group exercise, Panel interview, Technical interview, ATPL / technical written test, Simulator assessment.
- Does SAS ask technical questions?
- Yes — 14 of the 36 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 SAS interview?
- AirlineBridge runs a free voice-first practice interview tuned on the questions SAS candidates report — 10, 25 or 45 minutes, with a scored debrief across eight behavioural dimensions.
- Is this SAS'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 SAS recruiting.
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