2847 pilot jobs in the US and internationally are accepting applications on WingmanPro. When employer pay is missing, some listings show a clearly labelled occupational estimate. Save a search and get told when a new one lands.
2847 open pilot jobs in the US and internationally.
Paid flying starts at the commercial pilot certificate. For an airplane single-engine rating that means at least 250 hours of flight time, including 100 hours in powered aircraft and 100 hours of pilot-in-command time, of which 50 must be cross-country (14 CFR 61.129(a)). An instrument rating is effectively mandatory alongside it: almost no employer hires a commercial pilot without one.
The Airline Transport Pilot certificate is the ceiling. For an airplane category rating it requires 1,500 hours total time, including 500 hours cross-country, 100 hours of night, 50 hours in class and 75 hours of instrument time (14 CFR 61.159(a)).
The 1,500-hour figure has legitimate reductions, and they are worth knowing because they change the whole timeline. A U.S. military or former military pilot may apply at 750 hours with the documentation listed in 14 CFR 61.160(a). A graduate of an authorised bachelor's degree programme with an aviation major may apply at 1,000 hours (14 CFR 61.160(b)), subject to the coursework and Part 141 training conditions in that paragraph.
These are restricted privileges, not a different certificate: the R-ATP lets you fly as a second in command at an airline before you hold the unrestricted certificate.
The gap between 250 and 1,500 hours is the part nobody warns you about. Instructing is the most common bridge because it pays while it logs, which is why flight instructor jobs and pilot jobs are really the same career at different stages. The other routes are the ones this board is full of: pipeline and powerline patrol, aerial survey, banner tow, skydive operations, traffic watch, and Part 135 second-in-command seats, where the regulation sets no hour floor.
Each has a different trade. Instructing builds hours slowly but reliably. Survey and patrol build them fast, often single-pilot and often seasonal. A 135 SIC seat builds turbine time, which is what the next employer will care about most.
Part 121 airlines run the largest and most structured hiring. Part 135 covers charter, air taxi, air ambulance and on-demand cargo. Part 91 corporate flight departments fly their own company's people. Flight schools, and the specialist operators doing survey, firefighting, agricultural and utility work, make up the rest — smaller employers, but the ones where a low-time pilot is most likely to get a first turbine seat.
Pay varies more by seat and equipment than by employer size: captain versus first officer, turbine versus piston, and the aircraft type on the certificate. Corporate roles are usually salaried, airline roles are per-flight-hour against a guarantee, and contract and per-diem flying is quoted as a day rate. Where the operator supplies pay, compare the structure and not just the number. Any occupational estimate is labelled separately from employer pay.
Read the full regulation: 14 CFR Part 61 (eCFR)
See all 2847 pilot jobs on the job board
Before you apply, ask. WingmanPro's community side is free to read with no account: aviation groups and pilot forums for type-specific and regional communities, and WingmanNetwork for what people are posting about reserve, upgrades, checkrides and who is actually hiring.