Transportation and Material Moving · Holland code CRE

Commercial Pilots

Pilot and navigate the flight of fixed-wing aircraft on nonscheduled air carrier routes, or helicopters. Requires Commercial Pilot certificate. Includes charter pilots with similar certification, and air ambulance and air tour pilots. Excludes regional, national, and international airline pilots.

Also called: Captain, Commercial Pilot, Helicopter Pilot, Pilot, Charter Pilot, Check Airman, Commercial Helicopter Pilot, EMS Helicopter Pilot (Emergency Medical Service Helicopter Pilot).

O*NET 53-2012.00

At a glance

US median annual pay: $123,220; Middle half earn $84,540 to $190,440. BLS OEWS, May 2025.
Most common education: Post-Secondary Certificate; 36% of workers surveyed by O*NET report this level.
Preparation needed: Job Zone 3 of 5; Medium 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.

Check aircraft prior to flights to ensure that the engines, controls, instruments, and other systems are functioning properly.
Co-pilot aircraft or perform captain's duties, as required.
Consider airport altitudes, outside temperatures, plane weights, and wind speeds and directions to calculate the speed needed to become airborne.
Use instrumentation to pilot aircraft when visibility is poor.
Monitor engine operation, fuel consumption, and functioning of aircraft systems during flights.
Order changes in fuel supplies, loads, routes, or schedules to ensure safety of flights.
Contact control towers for takeoff clearances, arrival instructions, and other information, using radio equipment.
Plan flights according to government and company regulations, using aeronautical charts and navigation instruments.

Skills and knowledge it leans on

Skills

Monitoring4.1 / 5
Critical Thinking4.0 / 5
Active Listening3.9 / 5
Reading Comprehension3.8 / 5
Speaking3.8 / 5
Active Learning3.6 / 5

Knowledge areas

Customer and Personal Service4.2 / 5
English Language4.0 / 5
Transportation4.0 / 5
Geography3.6 / 5
Public Safety and Security3.6 / 5
Mechanical3.4 / 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.

Realistic63
Investigative26
Artistic2
Social26
Enterprising49
Conventional64

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
helicopter pilot · DE Hubschrauberpilot/Hubschrauberpilotin · FR pilote d’hélicoptère

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.

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 -0.18. 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 (53-2012).

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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