Types of Airline Pilot Jobs

Explore Career Options for Pilots

As an airline pilot, you'll have many different career options.

Mainline carrier
Transport passengers to destinations around the world. American, Delta, and United are a few examples of mainline carriers.

Low-cost carrier
Transport passengers to domestic and some international destinations for an airline that uses a no-frills business model of lower fares and fewer comforts. A few examples are JetBlue, Spirit, and Southwest.

Regional airline
Transport passengers domestically with some limited international destinations on a smaller airline that operates “regionally” under one or more mainline brands. For example, Endeavor operates flights as Delta Connection, CommuteAir operates as United Express, and Mesa Airlines also operates as United Express.

Cargo carrier
Transport cargo around the world for brands such as FedEx, UPS, and USPS.

Military
Fly aircraft for various military branches, performing missions that can include transport, reconnaissance, search and rescue, and combat operations.

Flight instructor
Teach aspiring aviators and build flight time.

Corporate aviation
Transport passengers and/or cargo for a corporation or business.

Charter operation
Also known as for-hire operation, there is no set schedule, and you could potentially fly to many different types of destinations.

Freight airline
Operate flights on subcontracts to a cargo carrier like FedEx or UPS. May have less restrictive requirements for pilot certifications than some other pilot career options.

Ferry operation
Fly an aircraft for the purpose of delivering the aircraft itself to a person or business.

Government service
Fly for state agencies, such as the governor’s office.

Law enforcement
Fly border patrol missions, catch speeders for state troopers, or even find growth facilities in the forest.

Fire-fighting
Find the safe path for a fire bomber or pilot the fire-bomber itself!

Emergency medical service
Fly patients and life-critical aid and organs all over the globe.

Crop duster operation
Spray chemicals over farm land.

Banner towing
For great summer months flying up and down the coasts.

Media
Fly for traffic reporting companies or news organizations.

Tour guide
Fly over landmarks and areas of interest to provide passengers a sky-high view of our nation’s treasures.

Airshow stunt
Show off the beauty and thrill of coordinated flight.

Contract work
Can fall under charter, corporate, or any work that may come up on a need-for-need basis.

Test pilots
These pilots usually have a military or engineering background and use that knowledge to test that new aircraft are safe to fly.

Equipment testing
Pipeline patrols and powerline patrol pilots spend many hours flying over our nation’s infrastructure looking for faults.