Pilot
Pilots fly the aircraft that carry passengers, freight and mail, and they hold the final say on whether a flight goes ahead and how it is flown.
- Median salary
- $137,900
3.8%vs last year, before tax
- People employed
- 8,200
1.2%vs last year
- Projected growth
- +13.7%
to 2035
- AI exposure*
- Low
- 2 out of 10
- Average hours
- 44/wk
+4h vs all jobs
- Shortage status
- In shortage
national
- Pilots work for airlines, charter and freight operators, aeromedical services and regional carriers, flying anything from a single-engine turboprop to a wide-body jet.
- Air traffic controllers direct traffic from the ground, while the pilot in command makes the calls in the air.
- Before you can start you need a CASA commercial pilot licence, a Class 1 medical, and type and instrument ratings kept current through regular checks.
How much do pilots earn?
The median full-time salary for a pilot is $137,900 per annum, before tax, up $28,500 since 2018.
Airline pay comes from enterprise agreements, and the rate steps up with years of service and the size of the aircraft you fly, so a wide-body captain and a turboprop first officer are on very different numbers. Charter, freight and aeromedical operators have their own scales, and night flying, remote bases and time away from home often attract allowances on top of the base rate. When you compare two offers, ask what the base figure covers and whether those allowances are included, because a roster with more flying hours can beat a higher headline salary.
What does a pilot do day to day?
The list below is what fills most weeks; the exact mix shifts with seniority and whatever stage the current work is at.
- Walking around the aircraft before the first sector, checking fuel, tyres, fluid levels and any visible damage, then signing off the daily inspection
- Briefing the first officer and cabin crew on the route, the weather and any expected turbulence before pushback
- Flying the take-off and approach by hand, and monitoring the autopilot and flight management system through the cruise
- Reworking the fuel plan and alternate airfields in the air when a storm, a diversion or a technical fault overturns the original plan
- Sitting recurrent simulator sessions and route checks each year to keep the type rating and instrument rating current
What skills do pilots need?
Employers look for operations management, risk and internal controls, backed by Flight management systems (FMS) fluency and strong problem solving.
Specialist skills
- Operations management
- Risk and internal controls
Software and tools
- Flight management systems (FMS)
- Glass cockpit avionics
- Radio communication equipment
- Weather radar and navigation systems
- Flight simulator training devices
General skills
- Problem solving
- Written communication
- Attention to detail
- Time and deadline management
- Safety and compliance awareness
Is the job growing?
About 8,200 people work as pilots in Australia, and employment is projected to grow 13.7% over the decade to 2035. That's healthy, above-average growth, and the role should stay in solid demand.
How do you become a pilot?
Here's the path most pilots take, step by step.
- 1Get a Class 1 aviation medical and an aviation security check
You cannot hold a commercial licence without a current Class 1 medical, and it is far cheaper to find out about a health issue before you commit to flight training.
- 2Train for a commercial pilot licence
Flying schools and university aviation programs take you from a recreational or private licence to a CASA commercial pilot licence and the instrument rating that lets you fly in cloud and at night. A diploma or bachelor of aviation covers the same licences with the theory built in, and gives you a structured timetable if you prefer that to booking lessons around work.
- 3Build flying hours
Instructing at a flying school, or flying charter, freight and regional routes, is how you collect the command time and instrument experience airline recruitment looks for. This stage is paid work in most cases, though the pay is well below airline rates.
- 4Add an airline transport pilot licence and a type rating
Command on larger aircraft requires an ATPL and a type rating for the aircraft you fly, plus multi-crew training and recurrent simulator checks to keep both current.
- 5Apply through a cadet program or directly to an operator
Selection usually runs through aptitude testing, a simulator assessment and interviews, and the process can take months, so start applying while you are still building hours.
Ready to apply as a pilot?
Whether you're working toward becoming a pilot or already are one and want a hand with the next step (sharpening your resume for ATS screening, tightening your cover letter, or knowing what you'll actually be asked at interview), here are examples grounded in this specific role, not generic templates.
What jobs can a pilot move to?
Moving into Defence Force Officer typically comes with the biggest pay rise, worth $46,300 a year more on average.
- Defence Force OfficerRecorded move$184,200+$46,300
- Helicopter PilotRecorded move$119,600−$18,300
- Flying InstructorRecorded move$91,000−$46,900
Thick lines are moves people were recorded making in Jobs and Skills Australia's Data on Occupation Mobility (income tax records, 2011-12 to 2020-21). Thin lines are moves we suggest from skill overlap and entry requirements.
| Move to | Typical pay change | Overlap | Retraining |
|---|---|---|---|
Defence Force Officer Pilots bring aviation expertise and discipline to defence force officer roles, though military officer training and commissioning are required.Known move | +$46,300 | 32% | requalify |
Helicopter Pilot Pilots bring fixed-wing experience to helicopter operations but need a helicopter type rating and conversion training.Known move | −$18,300 | 41% | requalify |
Flying Instructor Pilots bring flight experience and instructional knowledge to flying instructor roles, though an instructor rating and training are required.Known move | −$46,900 | 25% | reskill |
Moves are chosen from Jobs and Skills Australia's Data on Occupation Mobility, which follows income tax records between 2011-12 and 2020-21, together with entry requirements and skill overlap. A known move is one people were seen making in that data. Pay change compares median full-time pay for the two roles.
Who works as a pilot?
The typical pilot is 41 years old; 93% are men, 61% work full-time, and full-timers average 44 hours a week.
- 41
- Median age
- 7%
- Female share
- 61%
- Full-time
- +4h
- vs all-jobs avg
What's it like being a pilot?
Your week is built from a roster that can start before dawn and finish after midnight, with four or five days away from home at a stretch. Once you are in the air, a routine sector is calm and heavily automated, but the concentration the approach and landing demand at the end of a long day is real. You will spend the whole day with the same small crew and rely on them to speak up when something looks wrong. Pilots who enjoy clear procedure and a defined chain of command settle into it quickly, while the standby days and the constant time zones are what wear other people down.
What people like
- Command of a complex aircraft. Taking a jet off the runway with passengers behind you never quite becomes ordinary, and there is always another system or procedure to learn.
- Long blocks of time off. Rosters tend to group your days off, so a full week at home is normal where most jobs give you a weekend.
- A clear standard to work to. The aircraft is either serviceable or it is not, and the flight either meets the standard or it does not, which takes the guesswork out of the day.
- The view from the cockpit. Sunrises over the coast and the outback from cruise level come free with the rosters, and no two weather days are quite the same.
What people find hard
- The roster decides your week. Public holidays and family birthdays get worked on a repeating cycle, and swapping a duty means finding someone to take it and getting the change approved.
- Fatigue on long days. An early report, four sectors and a hotel room that is not home leave you tired in a way a single sleep does not clear.
- Time away from home. Four or five days away at a stretch means missing school events and ordinary evenings, and how much say you have over your roster comes down to seniority.
- The cost and risk of training. You pay for the licences and the flying hours well before any flying income, and if training stalls or hiring slows you carry that money and time yourself.
Based on our synthesis of professional-body surveys and public accounts of the role, not first-person verified reviews.
Which industries employ pilots?
Transport, Postal and Warehousing employs the largest share of pilots, followed by Public Administration and Safety.
Top employing industries
- 1Transport, Postal and Warehousing
- 2Public Administration and Safety
Ranked by employment share; the source doesn't publish an exact percentage per industry.
| Diploma / Advanced Diploma | 33.4% | |
|---|---|---|
| Bachelor degree | 31.1% | |
| Year 12 or below | 16.4% | |
| Certificate III/IV | 8.6% | |
| Postgraduate | 7.2% |
Will AI replace pilots?
Low exposure. Unlikely. AI will change some of the work around this job, not the job itself.
Automation already flies the cruise and the straight-in approach on a routine sector, so you spend more of the flight supervising the aircraft than hand-flying it. What the systems cannot do is decide: reading a forecast, choosing an alternate, judging whether an approach is stable and managing the crew all rest on you. If you are starting now, learn the flight management system and the autopilot logic properly, and get used to explaining your decisions out loud, because that is what simulator checks and airline assessments test.
How a typical week splits
- Cruise management and systems monitoring20% of the week
The autopilot and flight management system hold the route and the altitude while you watch the fuel, the weather ahead and any warning that drifts up.
- Flight planning, fuel and weather decisions15% of the week
Software builds the flight plan and the forecast, but you weigh that weather against your alternate airfields, the fuel load and the crew's duty hours.
- Crew briefings, decisions and disruption40% of the week
Whether to hold, divert or turn back is a conversation with your first officer and the company, with passengers, connections and fuel all in front of you.
- Take-off, approach and landing25% of the week
No autoland system gets you through a gusty crosswind on a short regional runway, so these phases are still flown by hand.
How we work this out
We break each job into its main tasks, estimate the share of a typical week each one takes, and judge how far current AI and automation tools reach into it. The score out of 10 starts from the job's overall rating (low is 1 to 3, moderate 4 to 6, high 7 to 10) and the task split places it within that range. Source: Career Tips analysis of each role's main tasks.
Common questions about becoming a pilot
Straight answers to the questions people ask most.
How much do pilots earn?
Full-time pilots earn a median of $137,900 per year before tax. What you receive depends most on the enterprise agreement you are on, the aircraft you fly and how many years of service you have, with night flying, time away from base and simulator duty sometimes adding allowances. Ask to see the salary scale and the roster behind the figure when you compare two offers.
How do you become a pilot in Australia?
You need a CASA commercial pilot licence, a current Class 1 medical and enough flying hours to be competitive, which means training through a flying school or a university aviation program. Instructing or charter work then builds the command time airlines recruit on. Check a school's graduate employment record and its fee structure before you enrol, because the training is paid up front.
Are pilots in demand?
Pilots are currently in shortage nationally, and employment is projected to grow 13.7% over the decade to 2035. Treat that as a signal about the market today rather than a promise about the year you finish training, and ask operators and flying schools where they expect to be hiring as you get close to your licence.
Will AI replace pilots?
Not in the near term. Autopilot, autothrottle and flight management systems already fly the cruise and can land an aircraft in low visibility, but choosing an alternate, managing the crew and taking control when the automation does something unexpected remain your calls. Systems knowledge and calm decision making under pressure are the skills worth building now.
What else can a pilot do?
Flying instruction uses the licence you already hold and needs an instructor rating, and it pays $46,900 less. Helicopter work opens up aeromedical and firefighting contracts but requires a helicopter type rating, and it pays $18,300 less. Defence force officer roles pay $46,300 more, though you would also need officer training and commissioning.
Do you need a degree to become a pilot?
You can qualify through a flying school without one, and plenty of pilots do. A diploma or bachelor of aviation bundles the theory with the flight training and can help with cadet selection, but the licence and the flying hours are what employers check first.
Related roles
- Flying Instructor
- Helicopter Pilot
- Defence Force Officer
- Airport Ground Crew
- Railway Signaller
- Train Controller
Not sure this is you? Take the career quiz and get a ranked shortlist of roles that fit how you like to work.
Career advice
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