Occupations · Transportation and Material Moving
Airline Pilots, Copilots, and Flight Engineers
Pilot and navigate the flight of fixed-wing aircraft, usually on scheduled air carrier routes, for the transport of passengers and cargo. Requires Federal Air Transport certificate and rating for specific aircraft type used. Includes regional, national, and international airline pilots and flight instructors of airline pilots.
O*NET 30.3 Database (USDOL/ETA) · occupation code 53-2011.00
What it pays
A single “average salary” hides the spread. This is the whole distribution — the gap between the bottom and top bar is usually the number that matters.
BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2024 · national, cross-industry · annual wage
These are national figures, identical for every reader. The report recuts them for your metro area and ranks it among all of them.
Get yours →Pay over time
Median up 119% between 2007 and 2024, before inflation. The band shows the 10th to 90th percentile.
BLS OEWS, one release per year. Before May 2011 only national estimates were published, so geography detail starts there.
Where the jobs are
| Metro area | Median wage | Employed |
|---|---|---|
| Denver-Aurora-Lakewood, CO | $211,860 | 5,540 |
| Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington, TX | $214,390 | 4,950 |
| Charlotte-Concord-Gastonia, NC-SC | $154,360 | 4,110 |
| Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington, PA-NJ-DE-MD | $172,710 | 3,230 |
| Orlando-Kissimmee-Sanford, FL | $229,930 | 2,080 |
BLS OEWS May 2024, metropolitan estimates · the 5 areas with the most people in this occupation
Your metro area, and where it ranks
LockedAll metropolitan areas BLS publishes for this occupation, with your own city's median and its rank among them.
Open in your report →Typical education to enter: Bachelor's degree · BLS Employment Projections 2024–34
What people in this job actually do
Ordered by how important the work is rated.
- Use instrumentation to guide flights when visibility is poor.
- Start engines, operate controls, and pilot airplanes to transport passengers, mail, or freight, adhering to flight plans, regulations, and procedures.
- Work as part of a flight team with other crew members, especially during takeoffs and landings.
- Respond to and report in-flight emergencies and malfunctions.
- Inspect aircraft for defects and malfunctions, according to pre-flight checklists.
- Contact control towers for takeoff clearances, arrival instructions, and other information, using radio equipment.
- Monitor engine operation, fuel consumption, and functioning of aircraft systems during flights.
- Monitor gauges, warning devices, and control panels to verify aircraft performance and to regulate engine speed.
- Steer aircraft along planned routes, using autopilot and flight management computers.
- Check passenger and cargo distributions and fuel amounts to ensure that weight and balance specifications are met.
- Confer with flight dispatchers and weather forecasters to keep abreast of flight conditions.
- Coordinate flight activities with ground crews and air traffic control and inform crew members of flight and test procedures.
O*NET 30.3 task ratings, importance scale
Skills that matter most
Importance, rated 1 to 5.
O*NET 30.3 skills, importance scale
Software and tools
A dot marks what O*NET flags as in demand.
O*NET 30.3 software skills · hot-technology flag
What your tools are worth
Occupation-based, not posting-based: how much employment, pay and projected growth sit behind each tool. It is not a count of job ads.
| Tool | Value | Spread across occupations |
|---|---|---|
| R | 85 | 46 → 102 occupations since 2015 |
| Microsoft Visio | 79 | 93 → 149 occupations since 2015 |
| Microsoft PowerPoint | 69 | 400 → 629 occupations since 2015 |
What your tools are worth
LockedThe same score for every tool in this occupation, plus the ones you ticked and the ones you did not.
Open in your report →What this work is actually like
Conditions rated against the average across all occupations — only what makes this job different is listed.
O*NET 30.3 Job Zones
Working conditions that stand out
O*NET 30.3 work context, frequency scale · observed 2021-08
How people actually get in
Share of workers by the education they hold.
O*NET 30.2 education, training and experience · observed 2021-08
What kind of person the work suits
Occupational interest profile, rated 1 to 7.
O*NET 30.2 occupational interests (RIASEC)
What you take with you
Skills rated for how well they transfer into other occupations.
O*NET 30.3 transferable skills, importance scale
Knowledge the work draws on
Abilities it leans on
O*NET 30.3 abilities and knowledge, importance scale
How this job is advertised
The same work is posted under many titles — this is what to search for.
O*NET 30.3 job titles reported for this occupation
Get this as a personal report
The same sourced evidence, recut for the closest published view of your city, state or industry, as a dated PDF.
Free page vs. the $29 report
The page above is a public national reference, identical for every reader — and we deliberately give away a lot of it. The report does three things this page cannot: it answers the question you type in your own words, using only figures that appear in the report with their sources; it ranks your city among all 445 metros instead of the twelve shown here; and it places your level on the employer pay ladder. Choose $49 for the wider comparison of industries, places and next moves, $99 to add named employers and the international purchasing-power index.
What changed since 2015
Comparing O*NET release 20.1 (2015-10-01) with 30.3 (2026-05-01). Signs, not colour alone, carry the meaning.
Now listed 6
No longer listed 1
Diff across the O*NET releases held here in full since October 2015, following occupations through merges and retirements. O*NET re-surveys occupations on a rolling cycle, so “no change” can also mean “not re-surveyed”.
Related jobs
O*NET 30.3 related occupations
Also called
O*NET 30.3 alternative titles
The same work in Europe
| ESCO occupation | ISCO | Match |
|---|---|---|
| aircraft pilot | 3153.2 | exact |
| air force pilot | 0310.1 | close |
| helicopter pilot | 3153.2.4 | close |
| airline transport pilot | 3153.2.2.1 | broader |
| co-pilot | 3153.2.1 | broader |
| commercial pilot | 3153.2.2 | broader |
| second officer | 3153.2.6 | broader |
| flight instructor | 3153.2.3 | broader |
| astronaut | 3153.3 | broader |
Official ESCO ↔ O*NET crosswalk (ESCO Secretariat with USDOL/ETA)
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