Home › Careers › Airline pilots, copilots, and flight engineers
Airline pilots, copilots, and flight engineers: pay, training and the programs that lead there
Transportation · SOC 53-2011
$232,140US median pay, 2025
+8.3%Projected growth, 2025–35
11,200Openings per year
Degree + experienceUsual way in
How you get in
Not an entry-level job: it usually takes a degree plus years of related work.
Bachelor's degree
Less than 5 years of experience in a related job
Moderate-term on-the-job training
Work in: airline pilots, copilots, and flight engineers
Programs that lead to this job
These are the federal program codes (CIP) that the Department of Education maps to this
occupation, and how many US colleges, community colleges or trade schools report awarding
credentials in each.
Program
Code
Schools
Airline/Commercial/Professional Pilot and Flight Crew
Typically about four years for the degree, then a few months to a year of training on the job, then less than 5 years of related work first. That is the usual route rather than a rule — people arrive by other paths all the time.
How much do airline pilots, copilots, and flight engineers make?
The US median is $232,140 a year, meaning half earn more and half less. Pay varies widely by state, employer and experience.
Do you need a degree for this work?
Yes, and employers also expect years of related experience first.
Where can you train for this work?
104 US colleges, community colleges and trade schools award credentials in a matching program. See which ones →
Pay and growth are national figures. What you earn depends on where you work,
your employer and your experience, and these are projections rather than promises. Education
requirements describe how most people enter the job, not a rule — plenty of people take another route.
Pay, growth, openings and entry requirements: US Bureau of Labor Statistics, Employment
Projections 2025–35. Program-to-occupation mapping: NCES CIP–SOC crosswalk (2020/2018).
School counts: IPEDS completions, 2022–23.