Transportation and Material Moving · Holland code RCE

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.

Also called: Airline Captain, Captain, First Officer (FO), Pilot, Airbus Captain, Airline Pilot, Check Airman, Co-Pilot.

O*NET 53-2011.00

At a glance

US median annual pay: $232,140; Middle half earn $182,280 to $384,440. BLS OEWS, May 2025.
Most common education: Bachelor's Degree; 61% of workers surveyed by O*NET report this level.
Preparation needed: Job Zone 4 of 5; Considerable preparation. Zone 1 is little or none; zone 5 is graduate-level.

What the work involves

The tasks workers in this occupation rate as most important, from the O*NET survey.

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.

Skills and knowledge it leans on

Skills

Active Listening4.1 / 5
Critical Thinking4.1 / 5
Monitoring4.1 / 5
Reading Comprehension3.9 / 5
Speaking3.8 / 5
Active Learning3.8 / 5

Knowledge areas

Transportation4.8 / 5
English Language3.9 / 5
Public Safety and Security3.7 / 5
Mechanical3.7 / 5
Geography3.7 / 5
Mathematics3.4 / 5

Importance ratings on O*NET’s 1 to 5 scale. Higher means the occupation depends on it more.

Who tends to enjoy it

How strongly this occupation draws on each of the six Holland interest types, which is the same profile the career interests test compares you against.

Realistic62
Investigative36
Artistic7
Social25
Enterprising47
Conventional62

The same work abroad

Other countries classify jobs differently, so these are the closest matches through the international ISCO-08 standard, not exact equivalents.

European occupation titles (ESCO)

air force pilot · DE Kampfpilot/Kampfpilotin · FR pilote de l'armée de l'air
aircraft pilot · DE Flugzeugführer/Flugzeugführerin · FR pilote d’avion
co-pilot · DE Kopilot/Kopilotin · FR copilote
commercial pilot · DE Verkehrsflugzeugführer/Verkehrsflugzeugführerin · FR pilote de l’aviation commerciale
airline transport pilot · DE Linienflugzeugführer/Linienflugzeugführerin · FR pilote de ligne aérienne
flight instructor · DE Fluglehrer/Fluglehrerin · FR pilote instructeur aéronautique/pilote instructrice aéronautique

Closest UK occupation groups (SOC 2020)

Aircraft pilots and air traffic controllers (3511)33,200 employed
Non-commissioned officers and other ranks (3311)46,600 employed
Police officers (sergeant and below) (3312)198,400 employed

Employment is the UK Annual Population Survey for April 2025 to March 2026, all workers in the group, which can be broader than this one occupation.

Japan

Japan classifies jobs in its own way. The closest category that names the same work is “航空機操縦士”, which may be narrower or broader than this occupation.

Median monthly pay: ¥1,170,900; Middle half earn ¥638,900 to ¥1,883,400 a month.
Workers in the category: 8,350; Regular employees in firms of ten or more.

Scheduled monthly pay before tax, excluding overtime and bonuses, so it is not comparable to the annual figures above. Source: Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare, Basic Survey on Wage Structure 2025, via e-Stat, under the Japanese Government Standard Terms of Use. The category match was made by hand.

Pay across Europe, for the whole group

Median annual earnings of all employees in “Technicians and associate professionals”. This is the broad ISCO group this occupation falls in, not the occupation itself, so treat it as context for the wage level, not as a salary for this job.

Median annual earnings, Technicians and associate professionals, by country
Country	Median pay
Belgium	€50,992
Austria	€46,986
Germany	€44,473
Netherlands	€42,448
Ireland	€41,613
Sweden	€41,155
Italy	€34,882
France	€34,816
Spain	€29,757
Portugal	€18,080
Poland	€12,108

Eurostat Structure of Earnings Survey, businesses with ten or more employees outside public administration, in euro and not adjusted for the cost of living. Reference years differ between sources: the US, Japan and Europe figures on this page come from different survey years, so compare them as rough levels, not to the euro or yen.

Exposure to AI

This occupation sits in the middle third of the 774 occupations scored, with an exposure score of -0.21. The scores are standardized across those occupations, so 0 is the average and a score of 1 is about one standard deviation above it.

Our note on reading it: the dataset links AI applications to the abilities that occupations require, so the score reflects overlap between the two. It is a comparison between occupations, not a forecast about jobs. It does not say whether exposure means tasks are replaced or workers get more done with the tools, and it says little about one employer or one role.

Source: Felten, E., Raj, M., & Seamans, R. (2021). Occupational, industry, and geographic exposure to artificial intelligence: A novel dataset and its potential uses. Strategic Management Journal, 42(12), 2195-2217. Matched to this page by 6-digit SOC code (53-2011).

Is it a fit for you?

Interest is one input, alongside ability, pay and what is hiring near you. The career interests test takes about thirteen minutes and ranks occupations by how closely their profile matches yours.

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