Commercial Pilots
Captain,
Commercial Pilot,
Helicopter Pilot,
Pilot
What they do: 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.
- DemandHigh
- state Avg. Salary $$$$$$98,970Download Career Flyer
What do they typically do on the job?
- 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.
Personality
Interests
Career interests describe the perspectives and interests of people who enjoy the type of work involved in this career.
Discover what your interests are by taking the Interest Profiler Quiz
Abilities
Whether you have received formal training or not, these types of abilities are helpful in this career.
Controlled Movement
Quickly change the controls of a machine, car, truck or boat
Quickly decide if you should move your hand, foot, or other body part
Attention
Pay attention to something without being distracted
Do two or more things at the same time
Verbal
Communicate by speaking
Listen and understand what people say
Ideas and Logic
Notice when problems happen
Skills
People who want to pursue this career have skills in these areas.
Basic Skills
Keeping track of how well people and/or groups are doing in order to make improvements
Thinking about the pros and cons of different ways to solve a problem
Problem Solving
Noticing a problem and figuring out the best way to solve it
People and Technology Systems
Thinking about the pros and cons of different options and picking the best one
Figuring out how a system should work and how changes in the future will affect it
Does this sound like something you'd like to do?
1. Do some research
- Identify how your interests, values, and strengths match this occupation
- Talk to someone who works in this field or spend a day job shadowing
- Use the colleges and training directory to explore programs related to this career
2. Plan your next move
- Talk to your college and career counselor or school admissions staff
- Visit Idaho Launch
- Search for available Commercial Pilots jobs on Idaho Works
Data for NSI career cards comes from the following: Idaho Department of Labor, US Bureau of Labor Statistics, O*NET, MyNextMove, and Career OneStop