What are my career choices in aviation as a pilot?

What are my career choices in aviation as a pilot?


Aviation has changed a great deal over the last 20 years along with the scales of pay. So let’s start with the various directions a pilot can take as to a career in aviation. The following is a list a civilian pilot career choices

1. Flight Instructor
2. Corporate Pilot
3. Charter Pilot
4. Contract Pilot
5. Commuter Pilot
6. Airline Pilot
7. Helicopter Pilot




Flight Instructor

The flight instructor depending on the locations in the United States is paid from $15.00 to $45.00 per hour. The areas with the high cost of living like California would pay better. Annual Salary will be approximately $ 15,000 to $45,000 for someone flying nearly 1,000 hours a year which is a very heavy schedule. Most Flight Instructor will fly from 450 to 800 hours annually. Hourly pay will also be based on the rating the instructor may hold. A person can obtain all the required rating for a single engine airplane to be a CFI and CFII with approximately 250 total flying hours. In an accelerated program this can be done in six to eight months.

Flight Instructor:
Certified Flight Instructor (CFI)
Certified Flight Instructor Instrument (CFII)
Certified Flight Instructor Multi-Engine (CFIIME)

Ground Instructor Only
Ground Instructor (GI)
Advanced Ground Instructor (AGI
Instrument Ground Instructor (IGI)


FAA - Gold Seal See FAA order 8710.3C or Advisory Circular AC61-65D.

NAFI – National Association of Flight Instructors - Master Instructor

For more information on the various pilot rating go to or do a search for AC61-65D:
http://www.airweb.faa.gov/Regulatory_and_Guidance_Library/rgAdvisoryCircular.nsf/0/01BD2AD02302CA9F862569B90070939B?OpenDocument (Click on AC61-65D)

Flight instruction is normally very busy on the weekends and either early in the morning or late afternoon during week days. If you work for a college program you can expect to work most of the week days and also on the weekend. Limited benefits can be expected if any at all in most instructional jobs.


Crop Sprayer

This is a seasonal job in most cases unless you move with the seasonal spraying from the north to south of our borders. The days can be very long when the weather is right for spraying you fly dusk to dawn. Starting out as an Ag pilot can be difficult do to the experience you have and insurance requirements. Until you have 500 hours of crop spraying time insurance and jobs are difficult to get. The same can be said for all the aviation fields, as you get more experience you become more desirable do to the costs to employ the pilot become less. Income can range from $40,000 to over $100,000 during a year from just the seasonal spraying to the pilot that can follow the spaying season further south. Spraying, dusting and fertilizing will include forest land, crop land and other possible miscellaneous jobs. Some of the chemicals can be quite toxic to work around and spray. Low level operations over trees and land require some skills. The job will require GPS navigation, evaluation of the area to be spayed, flying under power lines in some cases, and turns at very slow airspeeds and heavy weights. Most Ag pilots spend some time working in the ground crews to learn how to handle chemicals and work in the field evaluating the sprayer and guiding pilots in some cases. Many Ag Pilots will hold another job during the winter months or the off season.


Corporate Pilots

Corporate pilots can be ranked in three categories.
1. Those pilots flying aircraft with gross takeoff weight of 12,500 pounds or less. The corporate pilot transports company executives on from one to three hour flight normally within a region of maybe four or five states. An average corporate pilot will fly around 250 to 500 hours annually and can earn from $25,000 to $90,000. Again pay fluctuates with the size of aircraft, size of company, and the cost of living in the region flown. The flight operation may have from one pilot to several pilots and the pilot that manages the flight department can expect the higher end of the pay scale in the larger multi engine turbo props. The experience level ranges from pilots with 500 total flight hours to pilots with many thousands of hours of experience.
2. In the second category the pilot is flying aircraft with takeoff weights in excess of 12,500 lbs. The aircraft in this category require the pilot to have a type rating in each aircraft flown. The annual pay scale depends again on size of the aircraft, size of the company and the pilots position whether a copilot, captain or chief pilot. They range from light jets and turbo propeller aircraft.
3. Heavy Jet and International operations: This category may require operation or aircraft that require a Captain, Copilot, Engineer and flight attendants. Crews may fly long range trips to various places in the world and due to the distances flown may require the positioning of flight crews to relieve a tired crew in order to continue a flight to its final destination. Co-pilot pay can be expected to start around $45,000 up to around $80,000 and Captain Pay will start around $55,000 up to over $130,000 annually. The Chief pilot can expect depending on the size of the flight operation a salary from $80,000 to over $200,000.

Expect to work on holidays and weekends during period when people would travel on vacations. Some flight department will fly with almost exclusive business usage and will fly most of the time on week days, gone from 8:00 am to 5:00pm for three to five days a week. Other flight department will have a great deal of overnight travel and can range from 5 to 17 days a month. Flight departments with low business usage will fly mostly on weekends and during the holidays. Perks of the jobs can range from the owner allowing a pilot spouse to join on a trip and staying in very nice hotels around the country or world. Disadvantages are long days, international trips are normally flown during the night and being gone from home for long periods. Benefits vary quite greatly from company to company. You can expect some basic health care and some vacation pay. In some cases benefits may include health, dental, vacation, disability and a retirement plan.



Charter Pilot

The charter pilot would also follow the three categories used for Corporate Pilot. Charter Pilots are more regulated and required to train more often. They also tend to be paid a little less than an equal position in the corporate world. Many charter pilots are half corporate pilot and half charter pilot. The pilot works for a specific airplane and owner but the airplane is managed by a charter company and the pilot is paid by the management company. Expect a lot of overnights, and being on call most of the week.


Contract Pilot

The contract pilot is a self employed pilot that may fly in many positions. They could be trained to fly charter and also fly for a corporation. In some cases the pilot may fly as many as four different aircraft. Income and benefits rely on the pilot’s ability to get along and work with various flight departments. It will also depend on the state of the economy. When times are tough contract work is very scarce and in times of economic expansion a contract pilot can make exceptional money. Pay for a contract pilot will vary from $250/ day to $1,500 / day for most aircraft. Income will depend on how hard you would like to work. Contract pilots will typically pay for their own recurrent training and training costs can range from a few thousand to $30,000 per year. Charter companies require the most time devoted to training for company indoctrination, aircraft, extended over water, and RVSM training to name a few.


Commuter Airline

Commuter Airlines generally operate within a 500 hundred mile radius of the hub airport. However, with the rise in regional jets over the last years this range has increased to approximately an 800 mile radius. Pilots average approximately 85 hours a month and work about 18 to 23 days a month. Pay for a copilot will start around $22,000 per year up to $45,000 per year. Captain pay will range from $40,000 to $75,000 per year and in most cases is based on years with the company based on a rising hourly pay scale. Trips are bid on the bases of seniority and you can expect to have 15 to 20 overnights per month.



Major Airline


The major airline can really be classified into two groups passenger and freight. The freight airlines some years back with the exception of Federal Express were not the best paying air carriers to work for. Today that has changed and the freight airlines have some of the better pay in the industry. Passenger Airlines have undergone considerable changes since the 1980’s after deregulation. The pay has scaled back and the hours flown have gone up. Today the major air carrier will require a pilot to fly on average approximately 80 hours per month. Pay is by the hour and based on the position held, size of aircraft and seniority. Benefits will include health, vacation, discounted air travel, retirement, and disability.


Helicopter Pilot

Helicopter pilots can fly as instructors pilots, crop sprayers, traffic patrol, police, corporate, medivac, firefighting, off shore oil rigs and charter. Helicopters due to the higher cost to operate are used for shorter distances to avoid traffic and to get to more remote area. Helicopter pilots earn comparable pay in the lower paying positions as fixed wing pilots but the pay continues to rise over time. In off shore operations pilots may work 7 days on 7 days off or some variation like this or be on call for charter and corporate flight departments. See the Pro Pilot Magazine annual pilot income edition for more information on helicopter pilots.




A good source of pay information for most of the above categories can be obtained from Pro Pilot Magazine. One issue every year classifies the pay rates for various pilot positions.

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