# Airline Pilots, Copilots, and Flight Engineers

> Pilot and navigate the flight of fixed-wing aircraft, usually on scheduled air carrier routes, for the transport of passengers and cargo. Requires Federal Air Transport certificate and rating for specific aircraft type used. Includes regional, national, and international airline pilots and flight instructors of airline pilots.

- **SOC code:** 53-2011.00
- **Canonical URL:** https://singulariki.com/roles/role-53-2011-00
- **Also known as:** Airline Captain, Captain, First Officer (FO), Pilot, Airbus Captain, Airline Pilot, Check Airman, Co-Pilot
- **Frame:** "AI exposure" means task overlap (how codifiable the work is), not jobs lost or a forecast. Every figure below is traced to a named public dataset.

## What this work is

**Core tasks** (O*NET):
- Use instrumentation to guide flights when visibility is poor.
- Start engines, operate controls, and pilot airplanes to transport passengers, mail, or freight, adhering to flight plans, regulations, and procedures.
- Work as part of a flight team with other crew members, especially during takeoffs and landings.
- Respond to and report in-flight emergencies and malfunctions.
- Inspect aircraft for defects and malfunctions, according to pre-flight checklists.
- Contact control towers for takeoff clearances, arrival instructions, and other information, using radio equipment.
- Monitor engine operation, fuel consumption, and functioning of aircraft systems during flights.
- Monitor gauges, warning devices, and control panels to verify aircraft performance and to regulate engine speed.
- Steer aircraft along planned routes, using autopilot and flight management computers.
- Check passenger and cargo distributions and fuel amounts to ensure that weight and balance specifications are met.
- Confer with flight dispatchers and weather forecasters to keep abreast of flight conditions.
- Coordinate flight activities with ground crews and air traffic control and inform crew members of flight and test procedures.

## Skills, tools, capabilities

**Knowledge, skills & abilities** (O*NET, highest importance first):
- Operation and Control _(transferable_skill)_
- Response Orientation _(ability)_
- Transportation _(knowledge)_
- Problem Sensitivity _(ability)_
- Operations Monitoring _(transferable_skill)_
- Control Precision _(ability)_
- Reaction Time _(ability)_
- Near Vision _(ability)_
- Far Vision _(ability)_
- Active Listening _(essential_skill)_
- Critical Thinking _(essential_skill)_
- Monitoring _(essential_skill)_

**Skills in demand:**
- Depth Perception _(Common Skill)_
- Deductive Reasoning _(Common Skill)_
- Critical Thinking _(Common Skill)_
- Active Listening _(Common Skill)_
- Information Ordering _(Specialized Skill)_
- Inductive Reasoning _(Common Skill)_
- English Language _(Common Skill)_
- Time Management _(Common Skill)_
- Reading Comprehension _(Common Skill)_
- Speech Recognition _(Specialized Skill)_
- Active Learning _(Common Skill)_
- Geography _(Specialized Skill)_

**Tools & technology:**
- R _(hot technology, in demand)_
- Microsoft Excel _(hot technology)_
- Microsoft Office software _(hot technology)_
- Microsoft Outlook _(hot technology)_
- Microsoft PowerPoint _(hot technology)_
- Microsoft Visio _(hot technology)_
- Microsoft Word _(hot technology)_
- AeroPlanner
- Airline Pilots Daily Aviation Log PPC
- AirSmith FlightPrompt
- CoPilot Flight Planning & E6B
- Document Object Model DOM Scripting

## AI exposure & outlook

- **AI task-overlap index:** 39th percentile (Moderate) across all occupations — composite of current-era exposure studies (ai-exposure-index-v1).
- **Overall AI exposure (Felten et al.):** 43rd percentile (Moderate) — source: felten_aioe.
- **LLM task exposure, γ (OpenAI / Eloundou):** 50th percentile (Moderate) — source: eloundou_gamma.
- **AI assistant applicability (Microsoft):** 31st percentile (Low) — source: microsoft_applicability.
- **Frey–Osborne (2013, historical computerization estimate):** 33rd percentile — kept separate from current-era studies.
- **Remote-capable (Dingel–Neiman):** no — task structure, not who actually works remote.
- **Projected employment (BLS 2024–34):** 3.9% growth (About average); 11.7k annual openings; 100k → 103.9k jobs.
- **Pay & employment (BLS OEWS, May 2024):** median $226,600; 99,300 employed.

## Sources

- **O*NET** (30.3) — U.S. Department of Labor / National Center for O*NET Development. https://www.onetcenter.org/database.html
- **BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS)** (May 2024) — U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. https://www.bls.gov/oes/
- **BLS Employment Projections** (2024–2034) — U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. https://www.bls.gov/emp/
- **Anthropic Economic Index** (v4 (2026-01-15) + v2 (2025-03-27)) — Anthropic. https://www.anthropic.com/economic-index
- **Microsoft “Working with AI”** (working-with-ai) — Microsoft Research. https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/research/
- **“GPTs are GPTs” (Eloundou et al.)** (arXiv 2303.10130) — OpenAI / academic. https://arxiv.org/abs/2303.10130
- **AI Occupational Exposure (AIOE)** (Felten, Raj & Seamans) — academic. https://github.com/AIOE-Data/AIOE
- **Frey & Osborne (2013)** (frey-osborne-automation) — academic. https://www.oxfordmartin.ox.ac.uk/publications/the-future-of-employment/
- **Dingel & Neiman (2020)** (dingel-neiman-workathome) — academic. https://github.com/jdingel/DingelNeiman-workathome

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_Generated from Singulariki's joined dataset; data snapshot 2026-06-02T21:00:32.945303+00:00. https://singulariki.com/roles/role-53-2011-00_