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.

  • Use instrumentation to pilot aircraft when visibility is poor.
  • 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.
  • Check aircraft prior to flights to ensure that the engines, controls, instruments, and other systems are functioning properly.
  • Consider airport altitudes, outside temperatures, plane weights, and wind speeds and directions to calculate the speed needed to become airborne.
  • Contact control towers for takeoff clearances, arrival instructions, and other information, using radio equipment.
  • Obtain and review data such as load weights, fuel supplies, weather conditions, and flight schedules to determine flight plans and identify needed changes.
  • File instrument flight plans with air traffic control so that flights can be coordinated with other air traffic.
  • Check baggage or cargo to ensure that it has been loaded correctly.
  • Order changes in fuel supplies, loads, routes, or schedules to ensure safety of flights.
  • Plan flights according to government and company regulations, using aeronautical charts and navigation instruments.
  • Choose routes, altitudes, and speeds that will provide the fastest, safest, and smoothest flights.
  • Co-pilot aircraft or perform captain's duties, as required.
  • Coordinate flight activities with ground crews and air traffic control, and inform crew members of flight and test procedures.
  • Request changes in altitudes or routes as circumstances dictate.
  • Write specified information in flight records, such as flight times, altitudes flown, and fuel consumption.
  • Supervise other crew members.
  • Fly with other pilots or pilot-license applicants to evaluate their proficiency.
  • Rescue and evacuate injured persons.
  • Instruct other pilots and student pilots in aircraft operations.
  • Teach company regulations and procedures to other pilots.
  • Perform minor aircraft maintenance and repair work, or arrange for major maintenance.
  • Conduct in-flight tests and evaluations at specified altitudes and in all types of weather to determine the receptivity and other characteristics of equipment and systems.
  • Plan and formulate flight activities and test schedules and prepare flight evaluation reports.
  • Pilot airplanes or helicopters over farmlands at low altitudes to dust or spray fields with fertilizers, fungicides, or pesticides.
  • Check the flight performance of new and experimental planes.
Work Context

Work Context information for this career will be available soon.

Work Activities
  • Operating Vehicles, Mechanized Devices, or Equipment — Running, maneuvering, navigating, or driving vehicles or mechanized equipment, such as forklifts, passenger vehicles, aircraft, or water craft.
  • Getting Information — Observing, receiving, and otherwise obtaining information from all relevant sources.
  • Inspecting Equipment, Structures, or Material — Inspecting equipment, structures, or materials to identify the cause of errors or other problems or defects.
  • Identifying Objects, Actions, and Events — Identifying information by categorizing, estimating, recognizing differences or similarities, and detecting changes in circumstances or events.
  • Making Decisions and Solving Problems — Analyzing information and evaluating results to choose the best solution and solve problems.
  • Controlling Machines and Processes — Using either control mechanisms or direct physical activity to operate machines or processes (not including computers or vehicles).
  • Evaluating Information to Determine Compliance with Standards — Using relevant information and individual judgment to determine whether events or processes comply with laws, regulations, or standards.
  • Monitor Processes, Materials, or Surroundings — Monitoring and reviewing information from materials, events, or the environment, to detect or assess problems.
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Detailed Work Activities
  • Inspect aircraft or aircraft components.
  • Communicate with others to coordinate vehicle movement.
  • Pilot aircraft.
  • Monitor engine operation or functioning.
  • Choose optimal transportation routes or speeds.
  • Resolve issues affecting transportation operations.
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Knowledge

Transportation
  • Knowledge of principles and methods for moving people or goods by air, rail, sea, or road, including the relative costs and benefits.
Customer and Personal Service
  • Knowledge of principles and processes for providing customer and personal services. This includes customer needs assessment, meeting quality standards for services, and evaluation of customer satisfaction.
Geography
  • Knowledge of principles and methods for describing the features of land, sea, and air masses, including their physical characteristics, locations, interrelationships, and distribution of plant, animal, and human life.
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Skills

Operation and Control
  • Controlling operations of equipment or systems.
Operation Monitoring
  • Watching gauges, dials, or other indicators to make sure a machine is working properly.
Critical Thinking
  • Using logic and reasoning to identify the strengths and weaknesses of alternative solutions, conclusions or approaches to problems.
Monitoring
  • Monitoring/Assessing performance of yourself, other individuals, or organizations to make improvements or take corrective action.
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Abilities

Control Precision
  • The ability to quickly and repeatedly adjust the controls of a machine or a vehicle to exact positions.
Near Vision
  • The ability to see details at close range (within a few feet of the observer).
Far Vision
  • The ability to see details at a distance.
Problem Sensitivity
  • The ability to tell when something is wrong or is likely to go wrong. It does not involve solving the problem, only recognizing there is a problem.
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Personality

People interested in this work like activities that include ideas, thinking, and figuring things out.
They do well at jobs that need:
  • Achievement/Effort
  • Persistence
  • Initiative
  • Leadership
  • Cooperation
  • Concern for Others
  • Social Orientation
  • Self Control
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Technology

You might use software like this on the job:

Office suite software
  • Microsoft Office Hot Technology
Information retrieval or search software
  • AeroPlanner
  • Notam Development Group Airport Insight
Data base user interface and query software
  • Skylog Services Skylog Pro
  • RMS Technology Flitesoft
  • Polaris Microsystems CharterLog
  • Polaris Microsystems AeroLog Pro
  • Nimblefeet Technologies Captain's Keeper
  • MJICCS PilotLog
  • Electronic aircraft information databases
  • doXstor Flight Level Logbook
  • AirSmith FlightPrompt
  • Airline Pilots Daily Aviation Logs PPC
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Education

Get started on your career:

Job Outlook

New job opportunities are very likely in the future.
Salary
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