Start engines, operate controls, and pilot airplanes to transport passengers, mail, or freight, adhering to flight plans, regulations, and procedures.

“Start engines, operate controls, and pilot airplanes to transport passengers, mail, or freight, adhering to flight plans, regulations, and procedures.” is a core task performed by Airline Pilots, Copilots, and Flight Engineers. Among the occupation's 26 rated tasks, workers place it 25th by importance (#2 most important). About 100% of workers say it is relevant to their job.

This is a single occupation-specific task statement from O*NET. The figures below describe how central the task is to the job and what independent studies measure about AI and this kind of work — not a prediction that the task will be automated.

Work activities this task rolls up to

O*NET groups concrete tasks into broader work activities shared across many occupations.

• Operate transportation equipment or vehicles. in Operating Vehicles, Mechanized Devices, or Equipment

AI exposure

The OpenAI / Eloundou “GPTs are GPTs” study rates this task E0. No direct exposure — current language models give little or no time savings on this task.

Exposure measures whether a model could meaningfully speed the task up — it is an estimate of overlap with model capabilities, not a measure of whether the work will be done by software. The study's intermediate score (β) for this task is 0.00. Automation potential label: T3.

Other tasks in this occupation

• Use instrumentation to guide flights when visibility is poor. · importance 4.9
• Work as part of a flight team with other crew members, especially during takeoffs and landings. · importance 4.9
• Respond to and report in-flight emergencies and malfunctions. · importance 4.9
• Inspect aircraft for defects and malfunctions, according to pre-flight checklists. · importance 4.8
• Contact control towers for takeoff clearances, arrival instructions, and other information, using radio equipment. · importance 4.8
• Monitor engine operation, fuel consumption, and functioning of aircraft systems during flights. · importance 4.7
• Monitor gauges, warning devices, and control panels to verify aircraft performance and to regulate engine speed. · importance 4.7
• Steer aircraft along planned routes, using autopilot and flight management computers. · importance 4.7
• Check passenger and cargo distributions and fuel amounts to ensure that weight and balance specifications are met. · importance 4.6
• Confer with flight dispatchers and weather forecasters to keep abreast of flight conditions. · importance 4.4
• Coordinate flight activities with ground crews and air traffic control and inform crew members of flight and test procedures. · importance 4.3
• Order changes in fuel supplies, loads, routes, or schedules to ensure safety of flights. · importance 4.3
• Brief crews about flight details, such as destinations, duties, and responsibilities. · importance 4.2
• Conduct in-flight tests and evaluations at specified altitudes and in all types of weather to determine the receptivity and other characteristics of equipment and systems. · importance 4.2

See all tasks on the Airline Pilots, Copilots, and Flight Engineers page.

Sources for this page

Every figure above traces to a named public dataset and the exact release below — not hand-written opinion. See the full methodology for what each measure does and does not mean.

• O*NET 30.3 U.S. Department of Labor / National Center for O*NET Development
• “GPTs are GPTs” (Eloundou et al.) arXiv 2303.10130 OpenAI / academic

Data compiled June 2, 2026. Figures are estimates, not advice.

@misc{singulariki-task-10568,
  title  = {Start engines, operate controls, and pilot airplanes to transport passengers, mail, or freight, adhering to flight plans, regulations, and procedures.},
  author = {{Singulariki}},
  year   = {2026},
  note   = {O*NET 30.3; “GPTs are GPTs” (Eloundou et al.) arXiv 2303.10130. Accessed June 7, 2026},
  url    = {https://singulariki.com/tasks/task-10568}
}