Explore jobs
Find specific jobs
Explore careers
Explore professions
Best companies
Explore companies
The differences between flight engineers and navigators can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. Additionally, a flight engineer has an average salary of $85,035, which is higher than the $39,719 average annual salary of a navigator.
The top three skills for a flight engineer include FAA, flight operations and simulator. The most important skills for a navigator are patients, social work, and customer service.
| Flight Engineer | Navigator | |
| Yearly salary | $85,035 | $39,719 |
| Hourly rate | $40.88 | $19.10 |
| Growth rate | 6% | 12% |
| Number of jobs | 2,042 | 4,866 |
| Job satisfaction | - | - |
| Most common degree | Associate Degree, 41% | Bachelor's Degree, 57% |
| Average age | 44 | 44 |
| Years of experience | 4 | - |
A Flight Engineer monitors and controls various aircraft systems, such as airplanes and helicopters. They ensure that all components of the plane are in proper working order, as well as diagnose and rectify problems that may arise.
Navigators are responsible for a ship or aircraft's navigation requiring positional awareness. Their duties include mapping out for the journey, avoiding any hazards during travel, and advising the captain or commander on estimated time en route to the destination. Navigators are involved in maintaining the ship or aircraft's communication, nautical publications and charts, navigational equipment, and meteorological device. In the air force world, modern navigators are tasked with copilot duties and employing weapons systems.
Flight engineers and navigators have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Flight Engineer | Navigator | |
| Average salary | $85,035 | $39,719 |
| Salary range | Between $55,000 And $129,000 | Between $29,000 And $53,000 |
| Highest paying City | Gilbert, AZ | Rochester, NY |
| Highest paying state | Arizona | Alaska |
| Best paying company | Learjet | Adobe |
| Best paying industry | Technology | Manufacturing |
There are a few differences between a flight engineer and a navigator in terms of educational background:
| Flight Engineer | Navigator | |
| Most common degree | Associate Degree, 41% | Bachelor's Degree, 57% |
| Most common major | Aviation | Business |
| Most common college | University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign | University of Pennsylvania |
Here are the differences between flight engineers' and navigators' demographics:
| Flight Engineer | Navigator | |
| Average age | 44 | 44 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 94.7% Female, 5.3% | Male, 38.7% Female, 61.3% |
| Race ratio | Black or African American, 2.7% Unknown, 5.5% Hispanic or Latino, 6.9% Asian, 2.7% White, 81.9% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.3% | Black or African American, 6.6% Unknown, 4.0% Hispanic or Latino, 15.8% Asian, 5.5% White, 67.7% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.4% |
| LGBT Percentage | 9% | 5% |