Skilled Trades & Technical

Pilot

Fly airplanes safely from takeoff to landing, carrying passengers or cargo and making tough calls about weather and safety

Open interactive guide

What does a Pilot do?

Pilots fly for airlines, cargo companies, the military, and charter firms. They plan routes, check the aircraft, and work with air traffic control. Pilots must earn FAA ratings and log many flying hours, so it takes years of training, but people who love flying often find it worth it.

A day in the life

5:30 AMCheck the weather, flight plan, and fuel with your co-pilot
6:30 AMWalk around the airplane and inspect it before boarding
7:30 AMTakeoff, and talk with air traffic control on the radio
9:30 AMWatch the instruments and adjust course around storms
11:30 AMLand, taxi to the gate, and log flight time
12:30 PMCheck the next flight's plan and turn the plane around

What's great

  • Fly airplanes for a living
  • See many cities and airports
  • Time off in blocks between trips
  • Strong pay ladder at big airlines

The hard parts

  • Flight training is very expensive
  • Nights away from home
  • Early pilots often start in low-paying jobs
  • Must pass regular medical exams

What is a Pilot's salary and outlook?

$57k – $143k
Salary Range
Bachelor's degree
Typical Education
Growing

Typical pay in this guide runs from about $57,000 to $142,500 a year, with a midpoint around $95,000. These are planning figures for students, not a job offer or an official wage.

CareerLens rates the outlook as Growing.

For the official national outlook, see BLS Occupational Data.

How do you become a Pilot?

A common path is Bachelor's degree preferred, FAA ratings, and 1,500 flight hours for an airline license. The ladder often runs from First Officer at a Regional Airline to First Officer at a Major Airline, then Captain, and Chief Pilot. Other routes: Military pilot training; Flight school program, then work as an instructor; University aviation degree with reduced flight hours; Fly charter, cargo, or medical flights first.

  • Military pilot training
  • Flight school program, then work as an instructor
  • University aviation degree with reduced flight hours
  • Fly charter, cargo, or medical flights first

Career path

Entry level
First Officer at a Regional Airline
Mid career
First Officer at a Major Airline
Senior
Captain
Executive
Chief Pilot

Will AI replace a Pilot?

How much will AI change this job?

Quite a bit

AI will help with some tasks in this job, while the most important parts stay human.

Pilots will use smarter tools, but still fly the plane.

Airplanes already use computers to help with flying, and this will keep growing. AI can help pilots plan routes, check weather, and watch systems more closely. But pilots will still make the final calls and keep everyone safe.

AI can help with

  • Planning fuel efficient flight routes
  • Predicting weather and turbulence risks
  • Monitoring aircraft systems for early warnings

What stays human

  • Making split second safety decisions
  • Talking calmly with passengers and crew
  • Handling emergencies that machines cannot predict

Skills to build now

  • Practice math and physics for flight concepts
  • Join a robotics or aviation club
  • Build calm decision making through sports or games

Based on public research from Anthropic and OpenAI, drafted with AI, checked automatically, and read by a person. How we know

This describes how the work may change. It is not a prediction that the job will disappear.