Table of Content
- Projected Number of New Jobs
- Often asked: How Often Do Aviation Pilots Get Off?
- Work Experience in a Related Occupation
- How long are pilots away from family?
- Do pilots have a high divorce rate?
- How far can a pilot live from airport?
- What are the disadvantages of being a pilot?
- How many times do Air Force pilots deploy?
For US domestic pilots, it's highly variable and depends on one's own preference, their seniority when bidding for a schedule, and what their company's scheduling policy is like. That said, many (most?) pilots go to work for between 3-5 days at a time and get between 3-4 days at home between work periods. CareerOneStop includes hundreds of occupational profiles with data available by state and metro area.
They require close coordination among the pilot; copilot; flight engineer, if present; air traffic controllers; and ground personnel. Once in the air, the captain may have the first officer, if present, fly the aircraft, but the captain remains responsible for the aircraft. After landing, pilots fill out records that document their flight and the status of the aircraft. The main pilots will then typically land the plane and then have a couple of days in the city they flew to. It’s completely possible to be an airline pilot and still have a normal family life.
Projected Number of New Jobs
Federal regulations set the maximum work hours and minimum requirements for rest between flights for most pilots. Airline pilots fly an average of 75 hours per month and work an additional 150 hours per month performing other duties, such as checking weather conditions and preparing flight plans. Pilots have variable work schedules that may include some days of work followed by some days off. Seniority enables pilots who have worked at a company for a long time to get preferred routes and schedules.
Most of my Active Duty fighter squadrons generally had 1.5-2 years between 6-month deployments. It was not always that short of a duration between trips, but I'd say that's a decent average. As far as the Federal Aviation Administration is concerned, flight hours do not expire. Once the hours you've flown are logged, these remain as part of your experience, no matter how long it has been since then.
Often asked: How Often Do Aviation Pilots Get Off?
Pilot certificates do not expire, although they may be suspended or revoked by the FAA. However, a pilot must maintain currency — recent flight experience that is relevant to the flight being undertaken. Every 2 years you have to do what is called a flight review to keep your license current.
When pilots are away from home, the airlines typically provide hotel accommodations, transportation to the airport, and an allowance for meals and other expenses. Weather conditions may result in turbulence, requiring pilots to change the flying altitude. Flights can be long and flight decks are often sealed, so pilots work in small teams for long periods in close proximity to one another.
Work Experience in a Related Occupation
If you’ve ever bought airline tickets or been to the airport, you can see just how many flights there are per day all over the world. In fact, it is estimated that there are about 100,000 flights that take off and land every day across the globe. Perhaps even crazier to think, it is estimated that there are about 500,000 people in the air at any given time around the world. Pilots working for these carriers may spend less time downroute each time they go to work, but they typically pack an extra 1-2 trips a month into a month’s work.
Compare the job duties, education, job growth, and pay of airline and commercial pilots with similar occupations. Explore resources for employment and wages by state and area for airline and commercial pilots. Overall employment of airline and commercial pilots is projected to grow 6 percent from 2021 to 2031, about as fast as the average for all occupations. Airline pilots typically need a bachelor’s degree and experience as a commercial or military pilot. Once pilots have enough rank and experience, they’ll typically operate out of a major airport that’s close to where they live.
How long are pilots away from family?
This is logical in that nurses are inherently caregivers and pilots do need a lot of care. The percent change of employment for each occupation from 2021 to 2031. Work experience that is commonly considered necessary by employers, or is a commonly accepted substitute for more formal types of training or education. The What They Do tab describes the typical duties and responsibilities of workers in the occupation, including what tools and equipment they use and how closely they are supervised. Pilots regularly watch over screens, gauges, and dials to make sure that all systems are in working order. They also need to maintain situational awareness by looking for other aircraft or obstacles.
For charter airline or largely cargo-based pilots, it’s not unusual for upwards of 4 nights away from home a week. It is up to the pilots to decide the order and timing of bunk rest depending on energy levels, although all have to be back in the cockpit, at the latest, one hour before landing. Pilots who have only a few flights per day can fly for longer because fewer flights are less taxing than more flights, even if the latter flights are shorter.
All that said, you can probably guess the answer to the question of if pilots work normal hours. Pilots actually have one of the most abnormal work schedules of any career out there. Flights happen just about every minute of the day, with some being delayed, moved around, or even canceled without having anything to do with the pilot. The life of a pilot might seem glamorous on the surface, but one thing some people don’t think about is the strange work schedule. During the first few years of your career, you won’t have the freedom to choose your days off, flights, and your general schedule.
As a general rule, private pilots may neither act as PIC of an aircraft for compensation or hire nor act as PIC of an aircraft carrying persons or property for compensation or hire. Being an airline pilot, it is likely you will have access to discounted plane tickets for family and friends, which means good deals on great vacations. Most airlines will also offer excellent staff travel packages, with flag carriers typically offering 90% off their ticket prices for you and your family. This means you might be able to travel from London to New York in First or Business Class for as little as £150.
Agencies such as the FAA mandate how many hours a pilot must have off in between flights and per week, which depends on the length and number of flights on the pilot’s roster. Bunk rest is usually mandated for very long flights, but there is another form of rest called controlled rest. If the plane is just cruising, one pilot can take an in-flight power nap lasting up to 45 minutes. The pilot stays in the cockpit but moves the seat away from the controls while the other pilot handles the plane. Generally, airlines do not any visible tattoos but may allow tattoos hidden by clothing.
The median annual wage for airline pilots, copilots, and flight engineers was $202,180 in May 2021. The median wage is the wage at which half the workers in an occupation earned more than that amount and half earned less. The lowest 10 percent earned less than $100,110, and the highest 10 percent earned more than $208,000. Pilots who earn an instrument rating can fly during periods of low visibility, also known as instrument meteorological conditions, or IMC. Airline pilots may spend several nights a week away from home because flight assignments often involve overnight layovers.
What are the disadvantages of being a pilot?
The number of days that you would work, and that you can expect to get off, during any given month again depends largely on if you’re a short haul pilot or a long haul pilot. This will of course also depend on your employer and what type of schedule they have their pilots fly. Typically, pilots spend around 3 nights away from home a week, but in extreme cases, many cargo pilots or private charter pilots can spend several weeks away from home at once. As a low cost short haul pilot, you will operate to a range of destinations, often to smaller airfields that are less well equipped.
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