Types of Airline Pilot Jobs

As an airline pilot, you would have many different career options:

  1. Mainline Carrier. Transport passengers to destinations around the world. American, Delta, and United are a few examples of mainline carriers. Read A Day in the Life of a Mainline Pilot.
  2. Low-cost carrier. Transport passengers to domestic and some international destinations for an airline that uses a no-frills business model of lower fares and fewer comforts. A few examples are JetBlue, Spirit, and Southwest.
  3. Regional airline. Transport passengers domestically with some limited international destinations on a smaller airline that operates “regionally” under one or more mainline brands. For example, Compass Airlines operates flights as American Eagle and Delta Connection; ExpressJet Airlines operates as American Eagle, Delta Connection, and United Express; and Mesa Airlines operates as American Eagle and United Express flights. Read A Day in the Life of a Regional Pilot.
  4. Cargo carrier. Transport cargo around the world for brands such as FedEx, UPS, and USPS. Read A Day in the Life of a Cargo Pilot.
  5. Military. Find out more about this career path. 
  6. Flight instructor. Teach aspiring aviators and build flight time.
  7. Corporate aviation. Transport passengers and/or cargo for a corporation or business.
  8. Charter operation. Also known as for-hire operation, there is no set schedule, and you could potentially fly to many different types of destinations.
  9. Freight airline. Operate flights on subcontracts to a cargo carrier like FedEx or UPS. May have less restrictive requirements for pilot certifications than some other pilot career options.
  10. Ferry operation. Fly an aircraft for the purpose of delivering the aircraft itself to a person or business.
  11. Government service. Fly for state agencies, such as the governor’s office.
  12. Law enforcement. Fly border patrol missions, catch speeders for state troopers, or even find growth facilities in the forest.
  13. Fire-fighting. Find the safe path for a fire bomber or pilot the fire-bomber itself!
  14. Emergency medical service. Fly patients and life-critical aid and organs all over the globe.
  15. Crop duster operation. Spray chemicals over farm land.
  16. Banner towing. For great summer months flying up and down the coasts.
  17. Media. Fly for traffic reporting companies or news organizations.
  18. Tour guide. Fly over landmarks and areas of interest to provide passengers a sky-high view of our nation’s treasures.
  19. Airshow stunt. Show off the beauty and thrill of coordinated flight.
  20. Contract work. Can fall under charter, corporate, or any work that may come up on a need-for-need basis.
  21. Test pilots. These pilots usually have a military or engineering background and use that knowledge to test that new aircraft are safe to fly.
  22. Equipment testing. Pipeline patrols and powerline patrol pilots spend many hours flying over our nation’s infrastructure looking for faults.