I Want To Be A Commercial / Professional Pilot

When you ask a kid what they want to be when they grow up and they answer, “I want to be a pilot,” chances are, the image in their head is that of an airline pilot.  That is what I envisioned when I thought of the word “pilot.”  Little did I know that the world is full of possibilities as far as careers go when flying is what you want to do.  Not only are there different categories of pilot careers, but there are also several sub-categories under each category.  Some examples of different pilot career categories and sub-categories are:

Airline Pilot

Major airline pilot

Cargo airline pilot

Regional airline pilot

Airline flight instructor pilot

Airline technical pilot

Air Charter/Air Taxi pilot

Corporate Pilot

            Pilot for one specific corporation

            Pilot for a company that offers the use of business jets to several corporations

            Contract pilot who is represented by a contracting company

Test Pilot

            Production test pilot

            Experimental test pilot

            Maintenance test pilot

Military Pilot

            Fighter pilot

            Military transport pilot

            Military flight instructor

            Military test pilot

Sales Demonstration Pilot

Flight Instructor Pilot

Cropduster Pilot

Medical Ambulance Pilot

and more…

As you can see, there are a variety of careers you can choose from when it comes to getting paid to fly.  Most pilots will use some of these jobs as stepping stones to their dream job of being a captain for one of the major airlines, such as United, Delta, or FedEx.  Salaries, schedules, domiciles, aircraft, quality of life, and other factors will vary according to each career.  So, here is a set of questions you should ask yourself if you’re thinking of becoming a commercial / professional pilot.