--- title: "Co-Pilot Pay vs Captain Pay in 2026 | Metaintro" canonical: "https://www.metaintro.com/blog/co-pilot-pay-vs-captain-pay" language: "en" author: "drashtigarach" published: "2026-09-07T07:47:36.000Z" modified: "2026-09-08T17:50:32.355Z" --- [Back to Blog](/blog) [Salary](/blog/tag/salary)[Career Tips](/blog/tag/career-tips)[Guide](/blog/tag/guide)[Skills](/blog/tag/skills)[Advice](/blog/tag/advice) # Co-Pilot Pay vs Captain Pay in 2026, What the Left Seat Actually Earns Over the Right Airline pilots earn a median $232,140, per BLS May 2025 data. See how the first officer to captain move, seniority, and aircraft type change annual pay. [![Drashti Garach](https://cdn.metaintro.com/rs:fill:40:40/q:72/plain/images/5719d740-e510-42bc-8017-e040d145f35f_1766029465094.png)Drashti Garach @DrashtiGarach](/blog/author/drashtigarach) [September 7, 2026](/blog/archive/2026/09)Updated September 8, 202617 min read ![An airliner flight deck at first light](https://cdn.metaintro.com/rs:fill:1200:675/q:78/plain/images/9750.jpg) [https://x.com/intent/tweet?text=Co-Pilot%20Pay%20vs%20Captain%20Pay%20in%202026%2C%20What%20the%20Left%20Seat%20Actually%20Earns%20Over%20the%20Right&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.metaintro.com%2Fblog%2Fco-pilot-pay-vs-captain-pay](https://x.com/intent/tweet?text=Co-Pilot%20Pay%20vs%20Captain%20Pay%20in%202026%2C%20What%20the%20Left%20Seat%20Actually%20Earns%20Over%20the%20Right&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.metaintro.com%2Fblog%2Fco-pilot-pay-vs-captain-pay)[http://www.facebook.com/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.metaintro.com%2Fblog%2Fco-pilot-pay-vs-captain-pay](http://www.facebook.com/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.metaintro.com%2Fblog%2Fco-pilot-pay-vs-captain-pay)[https://www.linkedin.com/sharing/share-offsite/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.metaintro.com%2Fblog%2Fco-pilot-pay-vs-captain-pay&title=Co-Pilot%20Pay%20vs%20Captain%20Pay%20in%202026%2C%20What%20the%20Left%20Seat%20Actually%20Earns%20Over%20the%20Right](https://www.linkedin.com/sharing/share-offsite/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.metaintro.com%2Fblog%2Fco-pilot-pay-vs-captain-pay&title=Co-Pilot%20Pay%20vs%20Captain%20Pay%20in%202026%2C%20What%20the%20Left%20Seat%20Actually%20Earns%20Over%20the%20Right)[mailto:?subject=Co-Pilot%20Pay%20vs%20Captain%20Pay%20in%202026%2C%20What%20the%20Left%20Seat%20Actually%20Earns%20Over%20the%20Right&body=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.metaintro.com%2Fblog%2Fco-pilot-pay-vs-captain-pay](mailto:?subject=Co-Pilot%20Pay%20vs%20Captain%20Pay%20in%202026%2C%20What%20the%20Left%20Seat%20Actually%20Earns%20Over%20the%20Right&body=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.metaintro.com%2Fblog%2Fco-pilot-pay-vs-captain-pay) Airline compensation gets discussed in headlines but rarely explained, and the confusion starts with a single blended statistic. The Bureau of Labor Statistics [reports a median annual wage of $232,140](https://data.bls.gov/oesprofile/?major_group=530000&occupation=532011&measure=01&areas=INDUSTRY%2CSTATE%2CMSA) for airline pilots, copilots, and flight engineers as of May 2025, and that number gets repeated constantly without the caveat that it covers every seat on every airplane type across the industry. At [Metaintro](https://www.metaintro.com), we track what a career in the cockpit is really worth against other paths, which is the comparison a student picking a flight school needs. ## How Much Do Airline Pilots Actually Earn, and Where Does the Co-Pilot vs Captain Split Come From? The BLS occupational code that covers this field is SOC 53-2011, officially labeled airline pilots, copilots, and flight engineers, and its own [O*NET summary](https://www.onetonline.org/link/summary/53-2011.00) confirms the same grouping. The government does not break the wage survey down by cockpit seniority, aircraft type, or airline size, so the $232,140 median is a blended figure across every first officer, captain, and flight engineer counted in the sample. That is the single verified anchor this article can cite, and it should be read as a midpoint of a very wide distribution rather than a proxy for what any one pilot earns. The practical reason the split matters is that airline pay is built around seniority, not job title alone. A newly hired first officer at a major airline and a twenty-year captain at that same airline are both counted inside SOC 53-2011, yet their paychecks might differ by several hundred thousand dollars a year. The national median absorbs both ends, which is why it lands in the middle rather than near either extreme. Anyone reading a pilot salary headline should assume it describes the industry's center of gravity, not a specific rung on the ladder. ## What Is the Real Pay Difference Between a First Officer and a Captain? Every major US carrier pays first officers and captains off the same published, union negotiated pay scale, and the multiplier between the two seats is public information at most airlines because pilot contracts are posted by their unions. Groups like the [Air Line Pilots Association](https://www.alpa.org/), the [Allied Pilots Association](https://www.alliedpilots.org/), and the [Southwest Airlines Pilots Association](https://www.swapa.org/) all publish rate tables that show hourly pay climbing by aircraft type and years of service, with the captain rate on a given airplane consistently running meaningfully higher than the first officer rate on that same airplane. The structural reason is simple. Captains hold final authority for the aircraft, carry more insurance and liability exposure, and are required to complete additional training and check rides beyond what a first officer needs. Airlines price that added responsibility into the contract, and the differential widens further on wide body international aircraft, where a captain's rate on a long haul jet can be several times what a first officer earns on a domestic narrow body early in their career. None of that detail changes the one number this article can hyperlink to a government source, but it explains why a single blended median has to sit somewhere in the middle of such a wide spread. > The median annual wage for airline pilots, copilots, and flight engineers was $232,140 in May 2025. > Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. ## How Does Seniority Change Pay over a Pilot's Career? Seniority is the single biggest lever in airline pay, more than education, more than which type of airplane a pilot prefers, and more than most job interview outcomes in other industries. A pilot's position on the seniority list at their airline determines schedule, base assignment, and aircraft type, and pay scales are built in year of service steps that a pilot climbs automatically as long as they stay employed. A first officer hired today and a first officer hired a decade ago at the same airline are typically on different steps of the same pay table, even flying the identical route. This is also why career changers moving into aviation later in life sometimes struggle with the math. Someone who becomes a pilot at 40 starts at the bottom of the seniority list regardless of prior work experience, which means the earliest years in the right seat look nothing like the median figure quoted for the profession as a whole. Patience matters more in this field than in almost any other white collar career, because the biggest pay jumps come from time in seat and upgrade to captain, not from switching employers the way professionals do in most other industries. ## Why Do Regional Airlines Pay So Much Less than Major Carriers? The regional and major airline split is the other structural fact that a single median wage cannot capture. Regional carriers, the smaller airlines that fly under brand names for major partners on shorter routes with smaller jets, have historically paid new first officers dramatically less than a legacy major pays its most junior first officer. Groups like the [Regional Airline Association](https://www.raa.org/) and industry trade body [Airlines for America](https://www.airlines.org/) both track this gap, because it has been a persistent pilot shortage pressure point for the industry over the past decade. The path most pilots follow is regional first, major later. A pilot typically builds flight hours and experience at a regional carrier, often for several years, before applying to a legacy major airline where both first officer and captain pay scales are considerably higher. That means a first officer's early career pay can sit far below the BLS median, while a captain at a major carrier several years into their tenure can sit well above it, and both of those real world data points are folded into the same blended government statistic. Airline hiring cycles also shape how long a pilot spends at each step of that ladder. During strong hiring years, regional carriers move pilots through quickly because majors are recruiting aggressively, which shortens the low pay years considerably. During slower years, that same regional stint can stretch out, holding a pilot at entry level pay for longer than they might have planned. A pilot evaluating a job offer should ask not just what the pay scale looks like on day one, but how quickly people at that airline have historically moved up it, since the answer changes with the broader hiring cycle the industry happens to be in at the time. ## What Licenses and Ratings Does a Pilot Need to Get Paid at All? Before any pay conversation matters, a pilot has to clear a licensing ladder that the [Federal Aviation Administration](https://www.faa.gov/pilots/become) sets and enforces. That path runs from a private pilot certificate through instrument rating, commercial pilot certificate, and ultimately the Airline Transport Pilot certificate, which the FAA requires for anyone acting as pilot in command at a scheduled airline. The ATP typically requires 1,500 total flight hours, a threshold set in federal regulation, along with passing rigorous written and practical exams. Pilots also have to maintain an FAA first class medical certificate, renewed on a recurring schedule the agency [publishes and enforces](https://www.faa.gov/pilots/medical_certification), and airlines require type ratings specific to each aircraft a pilot is cleared to fly. Training pipelines at schools like [Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University](https://www.erau.edu/), the [University of North Dakota's aviation program](https://aero.und.edu/), and [Purdue University's aviation and transportation technology department](https://polytechnic.purdue.edu/academic-areas/satt) are built around getting students through this exact ladder as efficiently as possible, because time to ATP eligibility is one of the biggest variables in how quickly a pilot starts earning meaningful money. ## How Does Aircraft Size and Route Type Affect the Paycheck? Pay scales at almost every airline are tiered by aircraft, and the tiering is not subtle. A first officer or captain flying a large widebody jet on international long haul routes is typically paid on a higher scale than a pilot flying a smaller narrow body domestic aircraft, even at the identical airline and identical years of seniority. This is one reason experienced captains sometimes describe "chasing the equipment," meaning bidding for the aircraft type that pays the most for their seniority level rather than simply taking whatever assignment is available. Route type interacts with this too. International flying often includes per diem, overnight, and layover pay structures on top of base salary, and the complexity of operating into busier or more demanding airspace can factor into training requirements and pay tier as well. Organizations like the [International Air Transport Association](https://www.iata.org/) and the [International Civil Aviation Organization](https://www.icao.int/) publish broader context on how international operations are structured, which helps explain why a captain on a long international route and a captain on a short regional hop, despite an identical job title, can be paid on very different scales. ## How Does an Airline's Base City Affect What a Pilot Actually Takes Home? Pilots are assigned to a specific crew base, a city where their trips originate and end, and that base assignment interacts with pay in ways that a national median cannot show. A first officer based in a high cost city still earns the same contractual rate as a first officer based somewhere cheaper, since airline pay scales are set by contract and aircraft type rather than by local cost of living. That means the same nominal paycheck can stretch much further or much less far depending entirely on where a pilot chooses to live and commute from. Many pilots solve this by commuting, living in a lower cost area and flying as a passenger to reach their assigned base before starting a trip sequence. That practice is common enough that airlines build reporting rules and reserve policies around it, but it also means two pilots on the identical pay step can have very different effective take-home value once housing and commuting costs are factored in. A pilot comparing offers between airlines should weigh base city options as carefully as the published pay rate itself, since the same salary line on a contract can represent a very different standard of living depending on where a pilot is domiciled. ## What Benefits and Bonuses Stack on Top of Base Salary? Base salary is only part of the picture at most airlines. Signing bonuses have been common during pilot hiring pushes, profit sharing plans at several major carriers have paid out significant sums in strong years, and retirement contributions at legacy airlines are often more generous than typical corporate 401k matching. None of these bonus structures are captured in the BLS median wage figure, which measures base compensation, so a pilot's total annual compensation package can run meaningfully above the reported number in a good year at a well performing airline. Non cash benefits matter too. Most airlines offer employees and their immediate family standby travel privileges, which pilots and their households value highly even though it carries no cash figure in a wage survey. Health coverage, life insurance, and long term disability protection, which matters enormously in a profession where a lost medical certificate can end a career overnight, round out a compensation package that looks different from a simple base pay number. Safety organizations like the [Flight Safety Foundation](https://flightsafety.org/) and pilot advocacy groups regularly highlight how the physical and medical demands of the job justify a benefits structure built around protecting a pilot's certification, not just their paycheck. Schedule structure is its own form of compensation that rarely shows up in any wage table. Airline pilots typically work a set number of days per month rather than a standard five day week, trading concentrated blocks of duty for larger blocks of time off. Some pilots value that trade so highly that they will accept a lower paying seniority position at one airline over a higher paying one at another simply because the schedule fits their life better, which is a reminder that total compensation in this field always includes a lifestyle variable that a single median wage cannot capture. ## How Can a First Officer Accelerate the Upgrade to Captain? The upgrade from first officer to captain is gated by seniority list position, total flight hours, and a company's own hiring and growth trajectory, not by simply asking for a promotion. Pilots who want to move faster generally focus on building total flight time efficiently, choosing airlines and bases with strong growth outlooks where upgrade opportunities open sooner, and staying current on every recurring training and check ride requirement so nothing disqualifies them when a captain slot becomes available. Networking inside the profession helps too. Groups such as the [University Aviation Association](https://uaa.aero/), [Women in Aviation International](https://www.wai.org/), the [Organization of Black Aerospace Professionals](https://obap.org/), and the [National Gay Pilots Association](https://ngpa.org/) all run mentorship and career pipeline programs that connect newer pilots with people who have already navigated the regional to major, first officer to captain path, which shortens the learning curve considerably compared to figuring it out alone. The broader labor market backdrop matters here too. > 69% of organizations reported difficulty recruiting for full-time positions in 2025, down from 77% the prior year, off a 2022 high of 91%. > Source: SHRM. That broader hiring difficulty context, while not aviation specific, reflects the same tight labor conditions that have pushed airlines to compete harder on pay and upgrade speed to retain pilots once they are trained, which is part of why the captain upgrade timeline at several airlines has shortened compared to a decade ago. ## How Does a Pilot's Total Flight Experience Change Their Earning Power over Time? Total flight hours function almost like a second currency in this profession, separate from the paycheck itself but directly tied to what a pilot can eventually earn. Hours logged as a flight instructor, in the military, or at a smaller commuter operation all count toward the experience threshold that opens the door to airline hiring, and pilots with more hours and a wider variety of aircraft experience generally have more leverage when choosing which airline to apply to first. That leverage matters because the airline a pilot joins first often determines the pay ceiling and seniority trajectory for the rest of their career, since switching airlines later usually means restarting near the bottom of a brand new seniority list. This is part of why some pilots deliberately slow down early career moves rather than rushing to the first available airline job. Building hours in varied conditions, earning additional type ratings, and gaining experience that makes a pilot competitive for a strong long term employer can pay off far more over a twenty year career than taking the fastest available seat at a smaller operation. The decision looks similar to career moves in other fields where a slower, more deliberate early step can lead to a materially better long term outcome, even though it feels slower in the moment. ## What Should a Pilot or Career Changer Actually Do with These Numbers? Treat the $232,140 median as a planning anchor, not a promise. A realistic budget for the first few years as a first officer, particularly at a regional carrier, should assume pay well under that figure, while a realistic expectation for a senior captain at a major airline several years into the seniority list should assume pay meaningfully above it. Building a financial plan around the median alone risks either discouraging someone unnecessarily in year one or leaving a senior captain underestimating their own earning trajectory. The [Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association's Air Safety Institute](https://www.aopa.org/training-and-safety/air-safety-institute) and general aviation resources through [AOPA](https://www.aopa.org/) are useful for anyone still deciding whether this career path makes sense financially, since they cover training cost alongside safety and currency requirements that factor into the total investment a pilot makes before ever reaching that median wage. Salary outcomes are usually decided by the homework done before the offer call, not by the call itself. That applies as much to a pilot deciding which airline to apply to first as it does to any other career decision, because the seniority list a pilot joins on day one shapes their earning curve for the rest of their career far more than any single negotiation ever could. It helps to know what the odds actually look like before the first application goes out. “According to our data, the average number of applications received for any position is in the approximate excess of over 250. Reaching the interview stage could mean that an applicant is in the top 2% of all applications. That in itself is a win.” Lacey Kaelani, CEO of Metaintro, told [Upworthy](https://www.upworthy.com/bouncing-back-from-job-interview-rejection/). ## Related Articles - [How Much Does a Corporate Controller Make](https://www.metaintro.com/blog/how-much-does-corporate-controller-make) - [How Much Do Investment Fund Managers Make](https://www.metaintro.com/blog/how-much-do-investment-fund-managers-make) - [How Much Does a School Superintendent Make](https://www.metaintro.com/blog/how-much-does-school-superintendent-make) - [How Much Does a Technical Accounting Manager Make](https://www.metaintro.com/blog/how-much-does-technical-accounting-manager-make) - [How Much Does the Postmaster General Make](https://www.metaintro.com/blog/how-much-does-postmaster-general-make) - [How Much Do Makeup Artists Make](https://www.metaintro.com/blog/how-much-do-makeup-artists-make) - [How Much Do Personal Trainers Make](https://www.metaintro.com/blog/how-much-do-personal-trainers-make) - [How to Negotiate Salary](https://www.metaintro.com/blog/how-to-negotiate-salary) - [Salary Negotiation Tactics That Work](https://www.metaintro.com/blog/salary-negotiation-tactics-that-work-2026) - [How to Prepare for a Job Interview](https://www.metaintro.com/blog/how-to-prepare-for-job-interview) ## People Also Asked ### Q: How much does a co-pilot actually make compared to a captain? A: There is no separate government wage figure for co-pilots versus captains. The BLS [reports a median annual wage of $232,140](https://data.bls.gov/oesprofile/?major_group=530000&occupation=532011&measure=01&areas=INDUSTRY%2CSTATE%2CMSA) for the combined occupation of airline pilots, copilots, and flight engineers as of May 2025. In practice, first officers typically earn below that median early in their careers, especially at regional airlines, while senior captains at major carriers typically earn above it, based on published union pay scales rather than a government breakout. ### Q: Why does the government not publish separate pay data for first officers and captains? A: The Bureau of Labor Statistics groups occupations by standardized codes, and airline pilots, copilots, and flight engineers all fall under one SOC code, 53-2011, in the national wage survey. That structure is built for consistency across industries, not for capturing cockpit seniority, so the wage estimate reflects the entire occupation rather than any single seat, airline, or aircraft type. ### Q: What is the fastest way for a first officer to become a captain? A: Upgrade speed depends mainly on seniority list position, total flight hours, and how quickly an airline is growing and opening new captain slots. Pilots who choose airlines with strong growth trajectories, stay current on training and check rides, and build flight hours efficiently through programs at schools like Embry-Riddle or the University of North Dakota tend to see faster upgrade timelines than those who do not plan around those factors. Wondering what you should earn? [Metaintro](https://www.metaintro.com) tracks verified wage data across thousands of roles and matches you to jobs that actually pay it. [Sign up](https://www.metaintro.com/signup) to see where your number really stands. ### Share this article [https://x.com/intent/tweet?text=Co-Pilot%20Pay%20vs%20Captain%20Pay%20in%202026%2C%20What%20the%20Left%20Seat%20Actually%20Earns%20Over%20the%20Right&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.metaintro.com%2Fblog%2Fco-pilot-pay-vs-captain-pay](https://x.com/intent/tweet?text=Co-Pilot%20Pay%20vs%20Captain%20Pay%20in%202026%2C%20What%20the%20Left%20Seat%20Actually%20Earns%20Over%20the%20Right&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.metaintro.com%2Fblog%2Fco-pilot-pay-vs-captain-pay)[http://www.facebook.com/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.metaintro.com%2Fblog%2Fco-pilot-pay-vs-captain-pay](http://www.facebook.com/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.metaintro.com%2Fblog%2Fco-pilot-pay-vs-captain-pay)[https://www.linkedin.com/sharing/share-offsite/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.metaintro.com%2Fblog%2Fco-pilot-pay-vs-captain-pay&title=Co-Pilot%20Pay%20vs%20Captain%20Pay%20in%202026%2C%20What%20the%20Left%20Seat%20Actually%20Earns%20Over%20the%20Right](https://www.linkedin.com/sharing/share-offsite/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.metaintro.com%2Fblog%2Fco-pilot-pay-vs-captain-pay&title=Co-Pilot%20Pay%20vs%20Captain%20Pay%20in%202026%2C%20What%20the%20Left%20Seat%20Actually%20Earns%20Over%20the%20Right)[mailto:?subject=Co-Pilot%20Pay%20vs%20Captain%20Pay%20in%202026%2C%20What%20the%20Left%20Seat%20Actually%20Earns%20Over%20the%20Right&body=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.metaintro.com%2Fblog%2Fco-pilot-pay-vs-captain-pay](mailto:?subject=Co-Pilot%20Pay%20vs%20Captain%20Pay%20in%202026%2C%20What%20the%20Left%20Seat%20Actually%20Earns%20Over%20the%20Right&body=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.metaintro.com%2Fblog%2Fco-pilot-pay-vs-captain-pay) For job seekers ## The right role, found for you. 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