Airline Pilot Overview

There are certain skills that many airline pilots have in order to accomplish their responsibilities. By taking a look through resumes, we were able to narrow down the most common skills for a person in this position. We discovered that a lot of resumes listed communication skills, problem-solving skills and quick reaction time.

When it comes to the most important skills required to be an airline pilot, we found that a lot of resumes listed 22.0% of airline pilots included aircraft systems, while 17.0% of resumes included safety rules, and 12.8% of resumes included flight operations. Hard skills like these are helpful to have when it comes to performing essential job responsibilities.

When it comes to searching for a job, many search for a key term or phrase. Instead, it might be more helpful to search by industry, as you might be missing jobs that you never thought about in industries that you didn't even think offered positions related to the airline pilot job title. But what industry to start with? Most airline pilots actually find jobs in the transportation and technology industries.

If you're interested in becoming an airline pilot, one of the first things to consider is how much education you need. We've determined that 61.1% of airline pilots have a bachelor's degree. In terms of higher education levels, we found that 12.5% of airline pilots have master's degrees. Even though most airline pilots have a college degree, it's possible to become one with only a high school degree or GED.

Choosing the right major is always an important step when researching how to become an airline pilot. When we researched the most common majors for an airline pilot, we found that they most commonly earn bachelor's degree degrees or master's degree degrees. Other degrees that we often see on airline pilot resumes include associate degree degrees or license degrees.

You may find that experience in other jobs will help you become an airline pilot. In fact, many airline pilot jobs require experience in a role such as flight instructor. Meanwhile, many airline pilots also have previous career experience in roles such as pilot or captain.