Commercial Pilots
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.
Most important skills
- Operation and Control
- Operations Monitoring
- Monitoring
- Critical Thinking
- Active Listening
- Judgment and Decision Making
- Reading Comprehension
- Speaking
Key knowledge
- Customer and Personal Service
- English Language
- Transportation
- Geography
- Public Safety and Security
- Mechanical
- Law and Government
- Computers and Electronics
What the work involves
- Check aircraft prior to flights to ensure that the engines, controls, instruments, and other systems are functioning properly.
- Contact control towers for takeoff clearances, arrival instructions, and other information, using radio equipment.
- Start engines, operate controls, and pilot airplanes to transport passengers, mail, or freight according to flight plans, regulations, and procedures.
- Monitor engine operation, fuel consumption, and functioning of aircraft systems during flights.
- Consider airport altitudes, outside temperatures, plane weights, and wind speeds and directions to calculate the speed needed to become airborne.
- Order changes in fuel supplies, loads, routes, or schedules to ensure safety of flights.
- Obtain and review data such as load weights, fuel supplies, weather conditions, and flight schedules to determine flight plans and identify needed changes.
- Plan flights according to government and company regulations, using aeronautical charts and navigation instruments.
Strongest interest areas (O*NET): Conventional, Realistic, Enterprising.
Qualifications and licensing
- Most common education
- Post-Secondary Certificate (36.4% of respondents)
- Related experience
- Over 2 years, up to and including 4 years (60.7%)
- On-the-job training
- Anything beyond short demonstration, up to and including 1 month (31.4%)
- Preparation level
- O*NET job zone 3: Job Zone Three: Medium Preparation Needed
- Licensing
- Not yet verified. Check your state licensing board.
Check before planning
- Licensing for Commercial Pilots is not yet verified for any state: check the state licensing board before planning.
Limits
- Distributions show what current workers or occupational experts report, not legal minimums.
- Requirements vary by employer and state; time to qualify is not estimated.
Source: O*NET 31.0 Database (USDOL/ETA, CC BY 4.0); BLS Employment Projections · dataset 2026.10.8 · method e3-qualification-1.0.0
Work environment
How the typical conditions of this occupation compare with 911 occupations in O*NET (very low = the lowest fifth).
Levels are relative. Most occupations involve a lot of contact with people, for example, so “very low” can still mean regular contact; the last column shows what workers actually reported.
| Condition | Level | Compared with other occupations | Most common answer (O*NET survey) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Contact with others | Moderate | Higher on contact with others than 50% of occupations compared | 60% of surveyed respondents chose “Contact with others most of the time” |
| Dealing with the public | Low | Lower on dealing with the public than 70% of occupations compared | 31% of surveyed respondents chose “Not important at all” |
| Teamwork | Very high | Higher on teamwork than 87% of occupations compared | 70% of surveyed respondents chose “Extremely important” |
| Freedom to make decisions | Very high | Higher on freedom to make decisions than 95% of occupations compared | 81% of surveyed respondents chose “A lot of freedom” |
| Time pressure | Moderate | Lower on time pressure than 57% of occupations compared | 37% of surveyed respondents chose “Every day” |
| Conflict situations | Moderate | Higher on conflict situations than 57% of occupations compared | — |
| Dealing with unpleasant or angry people | Moderate | Higher on dealing with unpleasant or angry people than 51% of occupations compared | 62% of surveyed respondents chose “Once a year or more but not every month” |
| Consequence of error | Very high | Higher on consequence of error than 83% of occupations compared | 66% of surveyed respondents chose “Extremely serious” |
Work-pressure profile
- Time pressure: moderate
- Conflict situations: moderate
- Dealing with unpleasant or angry people: moderate
- Consequence of error: very high
Each part is shown on its own. There is no combined stress score, and conditions vary by employer and role.
Full answer distributions
Contact with others
- No contact with others: 0%
- Occasional contact with others: 0%
- Contact with others about half the time: 0.6%
- Contact with others most of the time: 59.96%
- Constant contact with others: 39.44%
n = 19, Incumbent 08/2024
Dealing with the public
- Not important at all: 30.74%
- Fairly important: suppressed by O*NET (low precision)
- Important: 15.83%
- Very important: 17.76%
- Extremely important: 22.78%
n = 19, Incumbent 08/2024
Teamwork
- Not important at all: 0%
- Fairly important: 0.6%
- Important: 1.3%
- Very important: 28.02%
- Extremely important: 70.08%
n = 19, Incumbent 08/2024
Freedom to make decisions
- No freedom: 0%
- Very little freedom: 0%
- Limited freedom: 0%
- Some freedom: 19.37%
- A lot of freedom: 80.63%
n = 19, Incumbent 08/2024
Time pressure
- Never: 0.6%
- Once a year or more but not every month: suppressed by O*NET (low precision)
- Once a month or more but not every week: 32.39%
- Once a week or more but not every day: 17.65%
- Every day: 36.6%
n = 19, Incumbent 08/2024
Conflict situations
- Never: suppressed by O*NET (low precision)
- Once a year or more but not every month: suppressed by O*NET (low precision)
- Once a month or more but not every week: 20.43%
- Once a week or more but not every day: 17.89%
- Every day: 16.67%
n = 19, Incumbent 08/2024
Dealing with unpleasant or angry people
- Never: 2.81%
- Once a year or more but not every month: 61.61%
- Once a month or more but not every week: 4.2%
- Once a week or more but not every day: 16%
- Every day: 15.37%
n = 19, Incumbent 08/2024
Consequence of error
- Not serious at all: 16.67%
- Fairly serious: 17.14%
- Serious: 0%
- Very serious: 0.6%
- Extremely serious: 65.6%
n = 19, Incumbent 08/2024
Is this career right for me? Find jobs with conditions you prefer
Where people with this background could move
- Analyze
Captains, Mates, and Pilots of Water Vessels
Closeness 89/100
- Analyze
Forest and Conservation Technicians
Closeness 89/100
- Analyze
Power Distributors and Dispatchers
Closeness 89/100
- Analyze
Nuclear Monitoring Technicians
Closeness 88/100
- Analyze
Firefighters
Closeness 88/100 · job zone -1
- Analyze
Customs and Border Protection Officers
Closeness 88/100
Find more alternativesCompare skills with another job
O*NET-SOC 53-2012.00 · SOC 53-2012 (exact, high confidence) · dataset 2026.10.8