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Commercial Pilots

  • Bright Outlook
  • Rapid Growth

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.

What you’d do

  • Check aircraft prior to flights to ensure that the engines, controls, instruments, and other systems are functioning properly.
  • Co-pilot aircraft or perform captain's duties, as required.
  • Consider airport altitudes, outside temperatures, plane weights, and wind speeds and directions to calculate the speed needed to become airborne.
  • Use instrumentation to pilot aircraft when visibility is poor.
  • Monitor engine operation, fuel consumption, and functioning of aircraft systems during flights.
  • Order changes in fuel supplies, loads, routes, or schedules to ensure safety of flights.
  • Contact control towers for takeoff clearances, arrival instructions, and other information, using radio equipment.
  • Plan flights according to government and company regulations, using aeronautical charts and navigation instruments.

Skills that matter

  • Operation and Control
  • Operations Monitoring
  • Monitoring
  • Critical Thinking
  • Active Listening
  • Judgment and Decision Making

How to get there

Medium preparation: usually vocational school, related on-the-job experience, or an associate's degree

Also called

  • Captain
  • Commercial Pilot
  • Helicopter Pilot
  • Pilot
  • Charter Pilot
  • Check Airman

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