How To Become A Commercial Helicopter Pilot: What It Is and Career Path

What is a commercial helicopter pilot and how to become one

Updated January 8, 2025

3 min read

There is more than meets the eye when it comes to being a commercial helicopter pilot. For example, did you know that they make an average of $49.28 an hour? That's $102,494 a year! Between 2018 and 2028, the career is expected to grow 6% and produce 7,700 job opportunities across the U.S.

ScoreCommercial Helicopter PilotUS Average

Salary

7.7

Avg. Salary $102,494

Avg. Salary $59,228

Stability level

8.9

Growth rate 6%

Growth rate 0.3%

Diversity

5.2

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 0.26%

Asian 2.78%

Black or African American 2.74%

Hispanic or Latino 7.23%

Unknown 5.58%

White 81.41%

Gender

female 6.35%

male 93.65%

Age - 44

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 3.00%

Asian 7.00%

Black or African American 14.00%

Hispanic or Latino 19.00%

White 57.00%

Gender

female 47.00%

male 53.00%

Age - 44

Stress level

8.9

Stress level is very high

7.1 - high

Complexity level

7.2

Complexity level is challenging

7 - challenging

Work life balance

4.4

Work life balance is poor

6.4 - fair

Key steps to become a commercial helicopter pilot

Explore commercial helicopter pilot education requirements

Most common commercial helicopter pilot degrees

Bachelor's

52.9 %

Associate

29.4 %

Certificate

5.9 %

Start to develop specific commercial helicopter pilot skills

Skills	Percentages
Pilot-In-Command	62.53%
PIC	37.47%

Complete relevant commercial helicopter pilot training and internships

Accountants spend an average of Less than 1 month on post-employment, on-the-job training. New commercial helicopter pilots learn the skills and techniques required for their job and employer during this time. The chart below shows how long it takes to gain competency as a commercial helicopter pilot based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data and data from real commercial helicopter pilot resumes.

Research commercial helicopter pilot duties and responsibilities

Serve as a professional pilot managing a flight crew and ensuring safe transportation of VIP's internationally.
Train and educate selected personnel in the emergency reclamation of down aircraft and successfully conduct one combat reclamation of a helicopter.
Train and educate selected personnel in the emergency reclamation of down aircraft and successfully conduct one combat reclamation of a helicopter.

Prepare your commercial helicopter pilot resume

When your background is strong enough, you can start writing your commercial helicopter pilot resume.

You can use Zippia's AI resume builder to make the resume writing process easier while also making sure that you include key information that hiring managers expect to see on a commercial helicopter pilot resume. You'll find resume tips and examples of skills, responsibilities, and summaries, all provided by Zippi, your career sidekick.

Choose from 10+ customizable commercial helicopter pilot resume templates

Build a professional commercial helicopter pilot resume in minutes. Browse through our resume examples to identify the best way to word your resume. Then choose from 10+ resume templates to create your commercial helicopter pilot resume.