Airline Pilots, Copilots, and Flight Engineers
SOC 53-2011 · 2024-2034
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.
How the U.S. Department of Labor describes this work. Published in English only.
What California expects of this job
- Typical pay in California
- $361,647per year
- Projected openings
- 13,570
- Projected change
- +11.3%
- Usually needs
- Bachelor's degree
Skills this work uses most
O*NET, the U.S. Department of Labor's occupation database, rates how important each of these is to this work, and they are listed in that order, most important first. The ratings themselves are not shown, because the data carries the number without the scale it was measured on. The names are as published, in English.
- Operation and Control
- Operations Monitoring
- Active Listening
- Monitoring
- Critical Thinking
- Judgment and Decision Making
Pay by region
| Region | Typical pay in California | Projected openings |
|---|---|---|
| San Diego-Chula Vista-Carlsbad MSA (San Diego County) | $210,649 | 240 |
| Los Angeles-Long Beach-Glendale MD (Los Angeles County) | Not reported | 8,850 |
| Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario MSA (Riverside and San Bernardino Counties) | Not reported | 360 |
| San Francisco-San Mateo-Redwood City MD (San Francisco and San Mateo Counties) | Not reported | 2,040 |
What the pay actually ranges across
- The lowest-paid tenth earn under
- $183,194
- A quarter earn under
- $212,625
- Half earn under
- $361,647
- Three quarters earn under
- $398,803
- The highest-paid tenth earn over
- $437,021
A median is one point. These are the federal Bureau of Labor Statistics' 2026 figures for California, and they say how far apart the people doing this job actually are. Read them as the spread across everyone already in the work — not as a starting wage and not as a promise about where anyone lands.
Similar work
O*NET, the U.S. Department of Labor's occupation database, names these as occupations involving work similar to this one — its own reading of the job, not a grouping by code. They keep O*NET's order, and only those California publishes a projection for are shown.
| Occupation | Typical pay in California | Projected openings | Projected change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Commercial Pilots | $169,215 | 7,200 | +19.6% |
| Airfield Operations Specialists | $63,970 | 1,740 | +12.5% |
| Air Traffic Controllers | $163,584 | 2,640 | +12% |
| Aircraft Service Attendants | $47,824 | 3,870 | +13% |
| Captains, Mates, and Pilots of Water Vessels | $112,500 | 2,940 | 0% |
| Transportation Inspectors | $84,817 | 2,030 | +5% |
Programs that train for this job — 1
Bachelor of Science, Aeronautics
California Aeronautical University · Bakersfield · $196,290