# Airline Pilots, Copilots, and Flight Engineers

US SOC code 53-2011. Markdown version of https://futurehistory.earth/timeline/53-2011

Also called: Airline pilot, Commercial airline pilot, First officer, Captain, Copilot.

## In brief

In May 2025, [BLS](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm25nat.zip) counted **103,560** US airline pilots, copilots, and flight engineers, with median pay of **$232,140** a year. Of the BLS counts since 2003, the May 2025 count is the highest. The earliest figure here is [an estimate](https://www.faa.gov/sites/faa.gov/files/about/history/milestones/first_pilots_license.pdf) of **6,000** from 1926, not measured the same way as today's count. The last full technology era for airline pilots, copilots, and flight engineers: Tablet flight-planning apps, 2009 to 2024.

## What the sources say

### Official outlook

BLS projects employment to grow 8.3% from 2025 to 2035. Source: [BLS Employment Projections 2025-35](https://data.bls.gov/projections/nationalMatrix?queryParams=53-2011&ioType=o).

### AI exposure studies

- **22.7%** of this job's tasks are exposed to large language models. Not a forecast of job losses. [Eloundou and others, 2023](https://github.com/openai/GPTs-are-GPTs/blob/main/data/occ_level.csv)

Data as of BLS OEWS May 2025; BLS Employment Projections 2025-35. BLS publishes these counts as yearly survey snapshots and cautions against reading them as a precise trend. In May 2021 BLS changed how it estimates these counts (a model-based method using three years of survey data) and moved fully to the 2018 occupation codes, so part of a change across 2021 can come from the method rather than the work.

## Airline Pilots, Copilots, and Flight Engineers employment and pay by year

- On record since: 1918
- Latest US employment: 103,560 (May 2025). Source: BLS OEWS May 2025 [4]
- Latest US median pay: $232,140 (May 2025). Source: BLS OEWS May 2025 [6]
- Outlook: +8.3% by 2035. Source: BLS Employment Projections 2025-35 [18]

### All 26 years of cited US data

| Year | US employment | Annual pay (median unless marked) | Source |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1926 | 6,000 (estimate) | n/a | Est., FAA [1] |
| 1958 | 35,000 (estimate) | $20,000 (estimate) | Est., Britannica (employment) [2]; Est., Pan Am Historical Foundation (pay) [5] |
| 2000 | 94,820 | n/a | BLS OEWS 2000 [3] |
| 2003 | 79,770 | n/a | BLS OEWS May 2003 [4] |
| 2004 | 78,490 | n/a | BLS OEWS May 2004 [4] |
| 2005 | 76,240 | n/a | BLS OEWS May 2005 [4] |
| 2006 | 75,810 | n/a | BLS OEWS May 2006 [4] |
| 2007 | 78,250 | $103,590 | BLS OEWS May 2007 [4] |
| 2008 | 77,090 | $111,680 | BLS OEWS May 2008 [4] |
| 2009 | 74,420 | $106,240 | BLS OEWS May 2009 [4] |
| 2010 | 68,580 | $103,210 | BLS OEWS May 2010 [4] |
| 2011 | 68,350 | $105,580 | BLS OEWS May 2011 [4] |
| 2012 | 66,270 | $114,200 | BLS OEWS May 2012 [4] |
| 2013 | 73,030 | $115,190 | BLS OEWS May 2013 [4] |
| 2014 | 75,760 | $118,140 | BLS OEWS May 2014 [4] |
| 2015 | 81,350 | $117,290 | BLS OEWS May 2015 [4] |
| 2016 | 81,520 | $127,820 | BLS OEWS May 2016 [4] |
| 2017 | 84,070 | $137,330 | BLS OEWS May 2017 [4] |
| 2018 | 82,890 | $140,340 | BLS OEWS May 2018 [4] |
| 2019 | 84,520 | $147,220 | BLS OEWS May 2019 [4] |
| 2020 | 83,550 | $160,970 | BLS OEWS May 2020 [4] |
| 2021 | 81,310 | $202,180 | BLS OEWS May 2021 [4] |
| 2022 | 89,580 | $211,790 | BLS OEWS May 2022 [4] |
| 2023 | 93,670 | $219,140 | BLS OEWS May 2023 [4] |
| 2024 | 99,300 | $226,600 | BLS OEWS May 2024 [4] |
| 2025 | 103,560 | $232,140 | BLS OEWS May 2025 [4] |

## Sources (78)

### Employment series

1. [FAA — "The First U.S. Federal Pilot License" (Air Commerce Act of 1926 licensing history)](https://www.faa.gov/sites/faa.gov/files/about/history/milestones/first_pilots_license.pdf), Federal Aviation Administration
2. [Britannica — Boeing 707 (jet age, four-person flight crew of pilot, copilot, navigator, flight engineer)](https://www.britannica.com/technology/Boeing-707), Encyclopaedia Britannica
3. [BLS OES 2000 national estimates (flat file)](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oes00nat.zip), Bureau of Labor Statistics
4. BLS OEWS, national cross-industry estimates (flat file), Bureau of Labor Statistics. Editions: [2003](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm03nat.zip), [2004](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm04nat.zip), [2005](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm05nat.zip), [2006](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm06nat.zip), [2007](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm07nat.zip), [2008](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm08nat.zip), [2009](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm09nat.zip), [2010](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm10nat.zip), [2011](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm11nat.zip), [2012](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm12nat.zip), [2013](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm13nat.zip), [2014](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm14nat.zip), [2015](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm15nat.zip), [2016](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm16nat.zip), [2017](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm17nat.zip), [2018](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm18nat.zip), [2019](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm19nat.zip), [2020](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm20nat.zip), [2021](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm21nat.zip), [2022](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm22nat.zip), [2023](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm23nat.zip), [2024](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm24nat.zip), [2025](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm25nat.zip)

### Wage series

5. [Pan Am Historical Foundation — "JTT & the Jet Age" (707 service launch and the prestige of the jet-era airline captain)](https://www.panam.org/juan-trippe/jtt-the-jet-age-b-707s), Pan Am Historical Foundation
6. BLS OEWS, national cross-industry estimates (flat file), Bureau of Labor Statistics. Editions: [2007](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm07nat.zip), [2008](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm08nat.zip), [2009](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm09nat.zip), [2010](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm10nat.zip), [2011](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm11nat.zip), [2012](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm12nat.zip), [2013](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm13nat.zip), [2014](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm14nat.zip), [2015](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm15nat.zip), [2016](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm16nat.zip), [2017](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm17nat.zip), [2018](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm18nat.zip), [2019](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm19nat.zip), [2020](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm20nat.zip), [2021](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm21nat.zip), [2022](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm22nat.zip), [2023](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm23nat.zip), [2024](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm24nat.zip), [2025](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm25nat.zip)

### Tool eras

7. [Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum — "Air Mail and the Birth of Commercial Aviation"](https://airandspace.si.edu/stories/editorial/air-mail-and-birth-commercial-aviation), Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum
8. [Lindbergh: U.S. Air Mail Service Pioneer (airmail hazards and the one-in-six fatality figure)](http://www.charleslindbergh.com/airmail/), charleslindbergh.com
9. [Flight Safety Foundation — "80 Years of Aviation Safety" (instrument flight and autopilot maturation)](https://flightsafety.org/asw-article/80-years-of-aviation-safety-5/), Flight Safety Foundation
10. [Britannica — Boeing 707 (jet age launch, four-person flight crew)](https://www.britannica.com/technology/Boeing-707), Encyclopaedia Britannica
11. [Flightradar24 — "A short history of the Boeing 707" (jet-age crew and operations)](https://www.flightradar24.com/blog/aviation-explainer-series/history-of-the-707/), Flightradar24
12. [Key.Aero — "How technology led to the demise of the flight engineer" (glass cockpit, 757/767 two-pilot certification)](https://www.key.aero/article/how-technology-led-demise-flight-engineer), Key Publishing
13. [Simple Flying — "How The Advent Of Glass Cockpits Reduced The Need For Flight Engineers"](https://simpleflying.com/glass-cockpits-advent-reduced-flight-engineers-need/), Simple Flying
14. [FAA — Advisory Circular AC 120-71B: Automation and Its Effect on Pilot Proficiency (EFB and automation management)](https://www.faa.gov/documentLibrary/media/Advisory_Circular/AC_120-71B.pdf), Federal Aviation Administration
15. [iPad Pilot News — "The Top 20 Apps for Pilots, 2026 Edition" (ForeFlight, Garmin Pilot adoption)](https://ipadpilotnews.com/2026/02/the-top-20-apps-for-pilots-2026-edition/), iPad Pilot News
16. [Aviation Week — "Corsair Selects Thales Flight Optimisation Solution FlytOptim" (2025)](https://aviationweek.com/aerospace/emerging-technologies/corsair-selects-thales-flight-optimisation-solution-flytoptim), Aviation Week
17. [Honeywell — "How Honeywell Ensemble Uses AI to Predict Engine Health"](https://www.honeywellaerospace.com/us/en/about-us/blogs/how-honeywell-ensemble-uses-ai-to-predict-engine-health), Honeywell Aerospace

### Forecasts and exposure studies

18. [BLS Employment Projections 2025-35, National Employment Matrix: 53-2011 Airline pilots, copilots, and flight engineers (2025: 104.6 thousand; 2035: 113.3 thousand; +8.3%)](https://data.bls.gov/projections/nationalMatrix?queryParams=53-2011&ioType=o), Bureau of Labor Statistics
19. [Eloundou, Manning, Mishkin & Rock (2023), "GPTs are GPTs", occupation-level exposure data occ\_level.csv (O\*NET-SOC 53-2011.00, human-rated β 0.227)](https://github.com/openai/GPTs-are-GPTs/blob/main/data/occ_level.csv), OpenAI

### Historical notes

20. [Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum — "Air Mail and the Birth of Commercial Aviation"](https://airandspace.si.edu/stories/editorial/air-mail-and-birth-commercial-aviation), Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum
21. [FAA — "The First U.S. Federal Pilot License" (Air Commerce Act of 1926)](https://www.faa.gov/sites/faa.gov/files/about/history/milestones/first_pilots_license.pdf), Federal Aviation Administration
22. [Air Line Pilots Association — "Our History" (founded July 27, 1931)](https://www.alpa.org/en/about-alpa/our-history), Air Line Pilots Association
23. [Britannica — Boeing 707 (Pan Am jet service launch, 1958)](https://www.britannica.com/technology/Boeing-707), Encyclopaedia Britannica
24. [BLS Monthly Labor Review — "Aviation Employment" (March 2000, employment growth after deregulation)](https://www.bls.gov/opub/mlr/2000/03/art3full.pdf), Bureau of Labor Statistics
25. [Key.Aero — "How technology led to the demise of the flight engineer" (747-400, glass cockpit)](https://www.key.aero/article/how-technology-led-demise-flight-engineer), Key Publishing
26. [GAO — "Aviation Workforce: Current and Future Availability of Airline Pilots" (retirement age, pipeline dynamics)](https://www.gao.gov/assets/gao-14-232.pdf), U.S. Government Accountability Office
27. [Aviation Week — "Single-Pilot Operations Are Under Increased Scrutiny" (EASA research pause, 2025)](https://aviationweek.com/air-transport/safety-ops-regulation/single-pilot-operations-are-under-increased-scrutiny), Aviation Week

### Predecessors & successors

28. [Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum — "Air Mail and the Birth of Commercial Aviation"](https://airandspace.si.edu/stories/editorial/air-mail-and-birth-commercial-aviation), Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum
29. [GAO — "Aviation Workforce: Current and Future Availability of Airline Pilots" (military-to-airline pipeline)](https://www.gao.gov/assets/gao-14-232.pdf), U.S. Government Accountability Office
30. [Key.Aero — "How technology led to the demise of the flight engineer"](https://www.key.aero/article/how-technology-led-demise-flight-engineer), Key Publishing

### Present-day analysis

- [O\*NET 30.3 — Airline Pilots, Copilots, and Flight Engineers (53-2011.00)](https://www.onetonline.org/link/summary/53-2011.00), accessed 2026-06-05
- [BLS OOH — Airline and Commercial Pilots (2024-2034 projections)](https://www.bls.gov/ooh/transportation-and-material-moving/airline-and-commercial-pilots.htm), accessed 2026-06-05
- [Eloundou et al. 2024 — GPTs are GPTs (Science)](https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.adj0998), accessed 2026-06-05
- [EASA pauses single-pilot operations research — Aviation Week 2025](https://aviationweek.com/air-transport/safety-ops-regulation/single-pilot-operations-are-under-increased-scrutiny), accessed 2026-06-05
- [Skyfarer Academy — Pilot Shortage in 2026: Supply, Demand and the Real US Pilot Jobs Picture](https://blog.skyfareracademy.com/2026/03/06/pilot-shortage-in-2026-is-there-still-strong-demand-for-pilots/), accessed 2026-06-05
- [ForeFlight vs Garmin Pilot 2026 — rotatepilot.com](https://rotatepilot.com/guides/foreflight-vs-garmin-pilot-guide), accessed 2026-06-05
- [Corsair selects Thales FlytOptim — Aviation Week 2025](https://aviationweek.com/aerospace/emerging-technologies/corsair-selects-thales-flight-optimisation-solution-flytoptim), accessed 2026-06-05
- [Honeywell — Multiple Airlines Select Honeywell Forge Flight Data Analytics Platform](https://www.honeywell.com/us/en/press/2021/1/multiple-airlines-select-honeywell-forge-flight-data-analytics-platform-to-save-on-fuel), accessed 2026-06-22

How to read these figures: https://futurehistory.earth/methodology. Every figure links to its own source; gaps stay gaps.