Career

Flying as a career can be as financially rewarding as it is fun and can vary significantly in terms of who, when, where, and what you fly.

First, it is important to make the distinction between a ‘commercial’ pilot and an ‘airline’ pilot. An airline pilot is a pilot  that flies for an air carrier – any company that has scheduled flights. An airline pilot can fly:

  • Large jet airplanes or smaller single-engine propeller airplanes
  • Regional, national and international routes
  • Cargo and passengers

  • A commercial pilot is one that flies for any other type of operation for compensation. This can include everything from crop dusting to flying private jets for the rich and famous. Below are a list of all of the ‘other’ types of piloting jobs:

    • Student instruction
    • Air tours
    • Ferrying (moving planes from one location to another) or training
    • Aerial work operations (crop dusting/seeding/spraying/bird chasing, banner towing, aerial photography or survey, firefighting, powerline or pipeline patrol, skydiving)
    • Unscheduled flights (fly for an airplane charter or fly directly for owners of a private plane)

  • For many aspiring career pilots, the goal is to work for an airline, as they tend to have – on average – the highest pay and most favorable schedule. To become an airline pilot, you must meet certain aeronautical experience – a minimum of 1500 hours is required to take the Airline Transport Pilot (ATP) checkride. Since airplane charters and owners of a private plane want more experienced pilots, and since air tour, ferrying, skydiving and aerial work operations jobs are few and far between (plus they want more experienced pilots), the way most aspiring airline pilots acquire their required hours is through instruction.

  • Typically, after a pilot has earned their Commercial Pilot Certificate, are Instrument Rated and have a Multi-Engine Rating, they will then get their Certified Flight Instructor and Certified Flight Instructor Instrument Certificates and immediately start instructing. Instructing not only aids in getting the required number of hours, but it also makes you a better pilot by constantly practicing the same procedures that career pilots use and refines your situational awareness and aeronautical decision-making. After instruction, many pilots “cut their teeth” working for a charter or a small airline before applying for a larger airline.

Where you fly, what you fly, when you fly and how much you make is all based on seniority – that is, how long you have been in your position (captain or first officer) at your company. The more senior your are, the more you make and the better your schedule is.

Some airplane charter pilots’ schedules are 14 days on-call/14 days off, while others are 8 days on-call/8 days off. Those who fly directly for the owner of a plane fly at the whim of the owners and have unpredictable schedules.

Airline pilots can fly as little as one day per week and as much as much as six days per week. Those who fly cargo typically fly at night in order to meet ‘overnight’ shipping demand and since air traffic is lighter during this time.

Because of the vast amount of knowledge and skill as well as the massive responsibility, career pilots earn a large salary. According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, the median annual wage for airline pilots and first officers was $202,180 and $99,640 for commercial pilots as of May 2021.