• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
General Aviation News

General Aviation News

Because flying is cool

  • Pictures of the Day
    • Submit Picture of the Day
  • Stories
    • News
    • Features
    • Opinion
    • Products
    • NTSB Accidents
    • ASRS Reports
  • Comments
  • Classifieds
    • Place Classified Ad
  • Events
  • Digital Archives
  • Subscribe
  • Show Search
Hide Search

COVID hits pilots where it hurts — in their salaries

By General Aviation News Staff · March 17, 2021 ·


A new study out of England has discovered the earning power of professional pilots is far greater than average salaries. But that same study found that the pandemic dealt a severe blow to pilots’ total earning power.

According the study by CV writing service, Standout CV, before the pandemic, new pilots in the U.S. earned a total of $575,330 within 10 years of starting their professional careers.

“Now this is estimated to have dropped to $370,705,” officials said.

Pre-pandemic, the study shows that in 20 years, US pilots would earn $1,506,605.

And the average salary for a U.S. pilot with 20 years of experience is $153,200.

Boeing 777 pilots landing at an airport in Egypt. (Photo by Alex Pereslavtsev)

While the study focused on pilots in the U.K., officials with Standout CV were able to extrapolate the numbers to U.S. pilots upon request.

Other interesting findings of the U.K. study:

  • The latest data shows pilots earn an average of £92,330 per year ($128,334 U.S.)
  • For a new pilot just starting his or her career, it would take just under 17 years, from initial training to captaincy and beyond, to make the £92,330 average salary
  • Over 20 years, pilots earn the most of any career in the UK (£1,132,500), when accounting for debt and salaries ($1,574,303 U.S.)
  • Pilots carry an average debt of £95,000, due to training and other entry costs ($132,000 U.S.)
  • From 2019-2020 U.K. government figures show pilots had an average of 17.5% increase in salaries, the largest increase in the top occupations in the country.

You can find the full study and data surrounding pilots here: Standout-cv.com/highest-paying-jobs-uk-how-to-get#pilots 

Share this story

  • Share on Twitter Share on Twitter
  • Share on Facebook Share on Facebook
  • Share on LinkedIn Share on LinkedIn
  • Share on Reddit Share on Reddit
  • Share via Email Share via Email

Become better informed pilot.

Join 110,000 readers each month and get the latest news and entertainment from the world of general aviation direct to your inbox, daily.

This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.

Curious to know what fellow pilots think on random stories on the General Aviation News website? Click on our Recent Comments page to find out. Read our Comment Policy here.

© 2025 Flyer Media, Inc. All rights reserved. Privacy Policy.

  • About
  • Advertise
  • Comment Policy
  • Contact Us
  • Privacy Policy
  • Writer’s Guidelines
  • Photographer’s Guidelines