Pay & conditions · Asia-Pacific
ZIPAIR Tokyo: pilot jobs, pay and conditions
Japan · Low-cost · ZG / TZP
Hiring now
Part of the Japan Airlines Group group
Recruits B787 captains and first officers all year with information sessions on request (Aviation Wire, Sep 2025). Then 160 pilots (120 captains, 40 FOs) plus 30 in training; fleet of 8 B787-8, two more due FY2026 and about 10 ex-JAL B787-9s from FY2027. Since Jan 2026 it runs its own captain checks as a designated carrier.
Pay
Unofficial figures. Not from an agreement or the airline: collected from pilot forums, salary sites and other public sources. Treat them as indicative.
Figures are unofficial estimates, not from ZIPAIR: the salary site PILOT VALUE (ZIPAIR page, March 2026) gives B787 captains JPY 22-31 million a year (average about 25 million) and first officers JPY 12-19 million (average about 15 million), gross before tax, built partly from Air Japan data and pilot reports; the site itself warns ZIPAIR's real numbers may differ. A pilot's blog (Haneda Man, ameblo, c. 2025) gives a similar band for Japanese LCCs as a group including ZIPAIR: FO JPY 12-19 million, captain JPY 25-33 million. ZIPAIR's own pilot job descriptions (2020 and 2023 PDFs) give no yen figure: pay follows company rules and is explained at interview. No Japanese press figure for ZIPAIR pilots was found. Contract: fixed-term contract during training, converted to permanent employment on appointment as captain or FO; 3-month probation; retirement at 60 with one contract to 65. For context only: Japan's 2025 wage structure survey put the national average for airline pilots at JPY 16.32 million a year (Segye/Newsis, Jul 2026) - not ZIPAIR-specific.
Agreement news
- 募集要項 運航乗務員（機長要員、副操縦士要員） ↗
ZIPAIR Tokyo · summary
Open vacancies (0)
No open pilot vacancies listed right now.
Conditions
- Allowances
- Commuting allowance (job description).
- Roster
- Shift work on a variable working-hours system; weekends, holidays, overtime and night duty possible (job description).
- Bases
- NRT
- Fleet
- B787-8
- Benefits
- Social insurance, group long-term disability insurance (also during training), defined-contribution pension, paid and special leave (job description).
- Careers site
- zipair.net ↗
Requirements
- First officer
- 1,500 hours minimum
- Captain
- 1,000 hours minimum
- Type rating
- Not required (B787 training provided)
- Licence
- Japanese licence as a rule. Captain: ATPL. FO: ATPL, or CPL with type, multi-engine and instrument ratings (CPL holders need Japanese airline experience).
- Other
- Captain 1,000 h PIC and FO 1,500 h, both airline time on turbofan jets (ICAO-state airlines count for ATPL holders). Aviation English Level 4+, Class 1 medical, radio licence. Captains may be hired as FOs depending on experience. Former JAL Group staff may apply.
Sources
Not from an official source: figures collected from pilot forums, salary sites and other public sources. Indicative only · figures from 2026-03 · checked 1 Nov 2026
- ZIPAIR pilot job description (2023 PDF)
- ZIPAIR pilot job description (2020 PDF)
- ZIPAIR pilot numbers and year-round hiring (Aviation Wire, 26 Sep 2025)
- Japan pilots top salary ranking (Segye Ilbo, 30 Jul 2026)
- ZIPAIR Tokyo pilot salary (PILOT VALUE, Mar 2026)
- LCC パイロット 年収 比較 (PILOT VALUE, 2026)
- パイロットの年収 (Haneda Man blog, ameblo)
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