Commercial Pilots
What Commercial Pilots Do
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.
See full salary breakdown & percentiles →
Career Outlook
National employment outlook, 2024–2034.
- Related work experience
- None
- On-the-job training
- Moderate-term on-the-job training
- Self-employed
- 3.7%
Source: BLS Employment Projections — 2024-2034.
How Much Preparation Does This Take?
Job Zone 3 of 5Job Zone Three: Medium Preparation Needed
- Experience
- Previous work-related skill, knowledge, or experience is required for these occupations.
- Education
- Most occupations in this zone require training in vocational schools, related on-the-job experience, or an associate's degree.
- Job training
- Employees in these occupations usually need one or two years of training involving both on-the-job experience and informal training with experienced workers. A recognized apprenticeship program may be associated with these occupations.
Source: O*NET Job Zones.
Key Knowledge Areas
Subject-matter areas this occupation draws on most, per O*NET.
- Customer and Personal Serviceimportance 4.2/5
- English Languageimportance 4.0/5
- Transportationimportance 4.0/5
- Geographyimportance 3.6/5
- Public Safety and Securityimportance 3.6/5
- Mechanicalimportance 3.4/5
- Law and Governmentimportance 3.3/5
- Computers and Electronicsimportance 3.2/5
Work Environment
What the day-to-day work setting is like, per O*NET.
- E-Mail4.9/5
- Freedom to Make Decisions4.8/5
- Determine Tasks, Priorities and Goals4.8/5
- Work With or Contribute to a Work Group or Team4.7/5
- Health and Safety of Other Workers4.7/5
- Impact of Decisions on Co-workers or Company Results4.7/5
Careers With Similar Skills
Occupations whose Transferable Skills profile most closely matches this one — a mathematical comparison, not observed data about people actually moving between these careers.
- Locomotive Engineers96% skill match
- Airline Pilots, Copilots, and Flight Engineers96% skill match
- Railroad Brake, Signal, and Switch Operators and Locomotive Firers96% skill match
- Food Cooking Machine Operators and Tenders95% skill match
- Cleaning, Washing, and Metal Pickling Equipment Operators and Tenders92% skill match
- Furnace, Kiln, Oven, Drier, and Kettle Operators and Tenders92% skill match
- Nuclear Power Reactor Operators92% skill match
- Power Distributors and Dispatchers92% skill match
Transferable Skills
Cross-functional skills this occupation draws on most, per O*NET — the kind that carry over to other careers.
- Operation and Controlimportance 4.8/5
- Operations Monitoringimportance 4.4/5
- Judgment and Decision Makingimportance 3.9/5
- Complex Problem Solvingimportance 3.6/5
- Coordinationimportance 3.3/5
- Troubleshootingimportance 3.1/5
- Systems Analysisimportance 3.1/5
- Social Perceptivenessimportance 3.0/5
Software & Technologies
Tools and software used in this occupation, per O*NET.
Hot Technologies
Other Software Used
- AeroPlanner
- Aeronautical charts
- AirSmith FlightPrompt
- Airdata
- Airline Pilots Daily Aviation Log PPC
- ArduPilot Mission Planner
- Calibration software
- CloudCompare
Work Style
Personal work characteristics that matter most for this occupation, per O*NET.
- Cautiousness
- Self-Control
- Dependability
- Attention to Detail
- Stress Tolerance
- Self-Confidence
- Leadership Orientation
Career Interests
This occupation’s RIASEC interest profile, per O*NET — how strongly it fits each of the six Holland interest types.
- ConventionalMedium
- RealisticMedium
- EnterprisingMedium
- SocialLow
- InvestigativeLow
- ArtisticLow
This page includes information from the O*NET 30.3 Database by the U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration (USDOL/ETA). Used under the CC BY 4.0 license. O*NET® is a trademark of USDOL/ETA.
Where This Career Is Most Concentrated
Metro areas where commercial pilots make up the largest share of local employment, relative to the national average (BLS location quotient).
- 1Anchorage, AK10.94× national avg
- 2Ann Arbor, MI7.83× national avg
- 3Houma-Bayou Cane-Thibodaux, LA6.19× national avg
- 4Flagstaff, AZ5.76× national avg
- 5Fairbanks-College, AK4.98× national avg
Possible Career Moves
A computed starting point, not observed job-change data — see the full list for why each one might fit.
- Airline Pilots, Copilots, and Flight EngineersAdvancement
- Locomotive EngineersLateral Move
- Power Distributors and DispatchersCareer Change
- Magnetic Resonance Imaging TechnologistsCareer Change
Related Education Programs
Schools that offer related fields of study, based on the NCES CIP-SOC crosswalk — not a guarantee that graduates enter this specific career.
Air Traffic Controller
- Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University-Worldwide (Daytona Beach, FL)grads earn ~$90,495
- Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University-Daytona Beach (Daytona Beach, FL)grads earn ~$90,495
- Liberty University (Lynchburg, VA)grads earn ~$102,096
- University of North Dakota (Grand Forks, ND)grads earn ~$104,472
- Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University-Worldwide (Daytona Beach, FL)grads earn ~$113,161