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Airline Pilots, Copilots, and Flight Engineers

It's a bright outlook for

This career will grow rapidly in the next few years.

Learn more about what they do.

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.

Related: Air Traffic Controllers Aircraft Service Attendants Airfield Operations Specialists Captains, Mates, & Pilots of Water Vessels Commercial Pilots

Industries: Transportation & Storage

Summary
Details

Instruct other pilots and student pilots in aircraft operations and the principles of flight.
Plan and formulate flight activities and test schedules and prepare flight evaluation reports.
Steer aircraft along planned routes, using autopilot and flight management computers.
Contact control towers for takeoff clearances, arrival instructions, and other information, using radio equipment.
Monitor gauges, warning devices, and control panels to verify aircraft performance and to regulate engine speed.
Use instrumentation to guide flights when visibility is poor.
Work as part of a flight team with other crew members, especially during takeoffs and landings.
Brief crews about flight details, such as destinations, duties, and responsibilities.
Order changes in fuel supplies, loads, routes, or schedules to ensure safety of flights.
Conduct in-flight tests and evaluations at specified altitudes and in all types of weather to determine the receptivity and other characteristics of equipment and systems.
Record in log books information, such as flight times, distances flown, and fuel consumption.
Inspect aircraft for defects and malfunctions, according to pre-flight checklists.
File instrument flight plans with air traffic control to ensure that flights are coordinated with other air traffic.
Direct activities of aircraft crews during flights.
Coordinate flight activities with ground crews and air traffic control and inform crew members of flight and test procedures.
Respond to and report in-flight emergencies and malfunctions.
Monitor engine operation, fuel consumption, and functioning of aircraft systems during flights.
Perform minor maintenance work, or arrange for major maintenance.
Perform minor maintenance work, or arrange for major maintenance.
Confer with flight dispatchers and weather forecasters to keep abreast of flight conditions.
Start engines, operate controls, and pilot airplanes to transport passengers, mail, or freight, adhering to flight plans, regulations, and procedures.
Respond to and report in-flight emergencies and malfunctions.
Make announcements regarding flights, using public address systems.
Plan and formulate flight activities and test schedules and prepare flight evaluation reports.
Evaluate other pilots or pilot-license applicants for proficiency.
Choose routes, altitudes, and speeds that will provide the fastest, safest, and smoothest flights.
Respond to and report in-flight emergencies and malfunctions.
Check passenger and cargo distributions and fuel amounts to ensure that weight and balance specifications are met.

Repairing
- Repairing machines or systems using the right tools.
Management of Material Resources
- Managing equipment and materials.
Quality Control Analysis
- Testing how well a product or service works.
Equipment Maintenance
- Planning and doing the basic maintenance on equipment.
Time Management
- Managing your time and the time of other people.
Installation
- Installing equipment, machines, wiring, or computer programs.
Judgment and Decision Making
- Thinking about the pros and cons of different options and picking the best one.
Reading Comprehension
- Reading work-related information.
Technology Design
- Making equipment and technology useful for customers.
Troubleshooting
- Figuring out what is causing equipment, machines, wiring, or computer programs to not work.
Operations Monitoring
- Watching gauges, dials, or display screens to make sure a machine is working.
Systems Analysis
- Figuring out how a system should work and how changes in the future will affect it.
Active Listening
- Listening to others, not interrupting, and asking good questions.
Learning Strategies
- Using the best training or teaching strategies for learning new things.
Service Orientation
- Looking for ways to help people.
Coordination
- Changing what is done based on other people's actions.
Writing
- Writing things for co-workers or customers.
Monitoring
- Keeping track of how well people and/or groups are doing in order to make improvements.
Equipment Selection
- Deciding what kind of tools and equipment are needed to do a job.
Management of Personnel Resources
- Selecting and managing the best workers for a job.
Active Learning
- Figuring out how to use new ideas or things.
Social Perceptiveness
- Understanding people's reactions.
Complex Problem Solving
- Noticing a problem and figuring out the best way to solve it.
Operations Analysis
- Figuring out what a product or service needs to be able to do.
Science
- Using scientific rules and strategies to solve problems.
Systems Evaluation
- Measuring how well a system is working and how to improve it.
Management of Financial Resources
- Making spending decisions and keeping track of what is spent.
Speaking
- Talking to others.
Mathematics
- Using math to solve problems.
Operation and Control
- Using equipment or systems.
Programming
- Writing computer programs.
Critical Thinking
- Thinking about the pros and cons of different ways to solve a problem.
Negotiation
- Bringing people together to solve differences.
Instructing
- Teaching people how to do something.
Persuasion
- Talking people into changing their minds or their behavior.

Wrist-Finger Speed
- Making fast, simple, repeated movements of your fingers, hands, and wrists.
Static Strength
- Lifting, pushing, pulling, or carrying.
Category Flexibility
- Grouping things in different ways.
Response Orientation
- Quickly deciding if you should move your hand, foot, or other body part.
Far Vision
- Seeing details that are far away.
Speed of Limb Movement
- Quickly moving your arms and legs.
Dynamic Flexibility
- Quickly and repeatedly bending, stretching, twisting, or reaching out with your body, arms, and/or legs.
Peripheral Vision
- Seeing something to your side when your are looking ahead.
Deductive Reasoning
- Using rules to solve problems.
Number Facility
- Adding, subtracting, multiplying, or dividing.
Mathematical Reasoning
- Choosing the right type of math to solve a problem.
Speech Recognition
- Recognizing spoken words.
Stamina
- Exercising for a long time without getting out of breath.
Visualization
- Imagining how something will look after it is moved around or changed.
Explosive Strength
- Jumping, sprinting, or throwing something.
Dynamic Strength
- Exercising for a long time without your muscles getting tired.
Selective Attention
- Paying attention to something without being distracted.
Near Vision
- Seeing details up close.
Finger Dexterity
- Putting together small parts with your fingers.
Oral Comprehension
- Listening and understanding what people say.
Manual Dexterity
- Holding or moving items with your hands.
Night Vision
- Seeing at night or under low light.
Gross Body Coordination
- Moving your arms, legs, and mid-section together while your whole body is moving.
Depth Perception
- Deciding which thing is closer or farther away from you, or deciding how far away it is from you.
Problem Sensitivity
- Noticing when problems happen.
Memorization
- Remembering words, numbers, pictures, or steps.
Written Comprehension
- Reading and understanding what is written.
Flexibility of Closure
- Seeing hidden patterns.
Multilimb Coordination
- Using your arms and/or legs together while sitting, standing, or lying down.
Trunk Strength
- Using your lower back and stomach.
Glare Sensitivity
- Seeing something even if there is a glare or very bright light.
Sound Localization
- Noticing the direction that a sound came from.
Speech Clarity
- Speaking clearly.
Time Sharing
- Doing two or more things at the same time.
Rate Control
- Changing when and how fast you move based on how something else is moving.
Auditory Attention
- Paying attention to one sound while there are other distracting sounds.
Oral Expression
- Communicating by speaking.
Information Ordering
- Ordering or arranging things.
Written Expression
- Communicating by writing.
Perceptual Speed
- Quickly comparing groups of letters, numbers, pictures, or other things.
Originality
- Creating new and original ideas.
Arm-Hand Steadiness
- Keeping your arm or hand steady.
Reaction Time
- Quickly moving your hand, finger, or foot based on a sound, light, picture or other command.
Visual Color Discrimination
- Noticing the difference between colors, including shades and brightness.
Extent Flexibility
- Bending, stretching, twisting, or reaching with your body, arms, and/or legs.
Spatial Orientation
- Knowing where things are around you.
Control Precision
- Quickly changing the controls of a machine, car, truck or boat.
Gross Body Equilibrium
- Keeping your balance or staying upright.
Hearing Sensitivity
- Telling the difference between sounds.
Speed of Closure
- Quickly knowing what you are looking at.
Inductive Reasoning
- Making general rules or coming up with answers from lots of detailed information.
Fluency of Ideas
- Coming up with lots of ideas.

Administrative
- Knowledge of administrative and office procedures and systems such as word processing, managing files and records, stenography and transcription, designing forms, and workplace terminology.
Sociology and Anthropology
- Knowledge of group behavior and dynamics, societal trends and influences, human migrations, ethnicity, cultures, and their history and origins.
Design
- Knowledge of design techniques, tools, and principles involved in production of precision technical plans, blueprints, drawings, and models.
Economics and Accounting
- Knowledge of economic and accounting principles and practices, the financial markets, banking, and the analysis and reporting of financial data.
Philosophy and Theology
- Knowledge of different philosophical systems and religions. This includes their basic principles, values, ethics, ways of thinking, customs, practices, and their impact on human culture.
Production and Processing
- Knowledge of raw materials, production processes, quality control, costs, and other techniques for maximizing the effective manufacture and distribution of goods.
Physics
- Knowledge and prediction of physical principles, laws, their interrelationships, and applications to understanding fluid, material, and atmospheric dynamics, and mechanical, electrical, atomic and sub-atomic structures and processes.
Customer and Personal Service
- Knowledge of principles and processes for providing customer and personal services. This includes customer needs assessment, meeting quality standards for services, and evaluation of customer satisfaction.
Foreign Language
- Knowledge of the structure and content of a foreign (non-English) language including the meaning and spelling of words, rules of composition and grammar, and pronunciation.
Communications and Media
- Knowledge of media production, communication, and dissemination techniques and methods. This includes alternative ways to inform and entertain via written, oral, and visual media.
Education and Training
- Knowledge of principles and methods for curriculum and training design, teaching and instruction for individuals and groups, and the measurement of training effects.
Public Safety and Security
- Knowledge of relevant equipment, policies, procedures, and strategies to promote effective local, state, or national security operations for the protection of people, data, property, and institutions.
Computers and Electronics
- Knowledge of circuit boards, processors, chips, electronic equipment, and computer hardware and software, including applications and programming.
Chemistry
- Knowledge of the chemical composition, structure, and properties of substances and of the chemical processes and transformations that they undergo. This includes uses of chemicals and their interactions, danger signs, production techniques, and disposal methods.
Building and Construction
- Knowledge of materials, methods, and the tools involved in the construction or repair of houses, buildings, or other structures such as highways and roads.
Engineering and Technology
- Knowledge of the practical application of engineering science and technology. This includes applying principles, techniques, procedures, and equipment to the design and production of various goods and services.
Fine Arts
- Knowledge of the theory and techniques required to compose, produce, and perform works of music, dance, visual arts, drama, and sculpture.
Transportation
- Knowledge of principles and methods for moving people or goods by air, rail, sea, or road, including the relative costs and benefits.
Medicine and Dentistry
- Knowledge of the information and techniques needed to diagnose and treat human injuries, diseases, and deformities. This includes symptoms, treatment alternatives, drug properties and interactions, and preventive health-care measures.
Biology
- Knowledge of plant and animal organisms, their tissues, cells, functions, interdependencies, and interactions with each other and the environment.
English Language
- Knowledge of the structure and content of the English language including the meaning and spelling of words, and rules of composition and grammar.
Telecommunications
- Knowledge of transmission, broadcasting, switching, control, and operation of telecommunications systems.
Geography
- Knowledge of principles and methods for describing the features of land, sea, and air masses, including their physical characteristics, locations, interrelationships, and distribution of plant, animal, and human life.
Mathematics
- Knowledge of arithmetic, algebra, geometry, calculus, statistics, and their applications.
Personnel and Human Resources
- Knowledge of principles and procedures for personnel recruitment, selection, training, compensation and benefits, labor relations and negotiation, and personnel information systems.
Psychology
- Knowledge of human behavior and performance; individual differences in ability, personality, and interests; learning and motivation; psychological research methods; and the assessment and treatment of behavioral and affective disorders.
History and Archeology
- Knowledge of historical events and their causes, indicators, and effects on civilizations and cultures.
Food Production
- Knowledge of techniques and equipment for planting, growing, and harvesting food products (both plant and animal) for consumption, including storage/handling techniques.
Mechanical
- Knowledge of machines and tools, including their designs, uses, repair, and maintenance.
Sales and Marketing
- Knowledge of principles and methods for showing, promoting, and selling products or services. This includes marketing strategy and tactics, product demonstration, sales techniques, and sales control systems.
Administration and Management
- Knowledge of business and management principles involved in strategic planning, resource allocation, human resources modeling, leadership technique, production methods, and coordination of people and resources.
Law and Government
- Knowledge of laws, legal codes, court procedures, precedents, government regulations, executive orders, agency rules, and the democratic political process.
Therapy and Counseling
- Knowledge of principles, methods, and procedures for diagnosis, treatment, and rehabilitation of physical and mental dysfunctions, and for career counseling and guidance.

Education

Bachelor's degree

Work Experience

Less than 5 years work experience

Training

1 to 12 months on-the-job training

Education and Training Opportunities

Washington Annual Salary

239,200+/yr

Currently Employed

3,340

Yearly Projected Openings

450

Realistic: People interested in this work like activities that include practical, hands-on problems and solutions. They do well at jobs that need:

Self-Confidence
Leadership Orientation
Perseverance
Stress Tolerance
Self-Control
Achievement Orientation

Aerospace cockpit display panels
Aerospace head up display HUDs
Aircraft anti skid controls
Aircraft braking systems
Aircraft communication systems
Aircraft cooling fans
Aircraft drag chutes
Aircraft environment controllers
Aircraft escape or ejection systems
Aircraft fire control or extinguishing systems
Aircraft fuel management systems
Aircraft guidance systems
Aircraft hydraulic systems
Aircraft navigation beacons
Aircraft onboard defrosting or defogging systems
Aircraft oxygen equipment
Aircraft power supply units
Aircraft steering controls
Aircraft warning systems
Desktop computers
Fire extinguishers
Flight computer systems
Landing gear assemblies
Notebook computers
Personal digital assistant PDAs or organizers
Pneumatic aircraft accumulators
Point plotting recorders

Analytical or scientific software
Calendar and scheduling software
Data base user interface and query software
Electronic mail software
Information retrieval or search software
Object or component oriented development software
Office suite software
Presentation software
Process mapping and design software
Route navigation software
Spreadsheet software
Word processing software

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