Aviation careers come in many forms, appealing to a variety of pilots

Helicopter pilot, scenic tour pilot, corporate pilot, highway patrol pilot, fire fighting pilot, commercial pilot – if you love to fly, aviation offers a career option to suit your tastes and your needs.

So, you’ve decided you want to fly for a living. Now it’s time to narrow down your options. From large airline commercial pilots to private pilots, helicopters to fixed wing planes, high altitude operations to sea-level flying, there are many options and opportunities for those seeking a career in the skies.

 

This laundry list below covers many popular options, but the key decisions a student pilot needs to make are: helicopter or fixed wing, commercial or private, single-engine (like a Cessna training aircraft172 series) or multi-engine craft (Piper Seminole). Beyond that, decide if you want to fly long distances (commercial flight) or short (news broadcast, agricultural pilot) and if you are looking for a particular geography (high altitude flight requires special mountain training, water landings also require special training)

Aviation Careers:

Major commercial airline pilot

Regional airline pilot

Commercial freight pilot

Corporate pilot / business pilot

Private pilot

Agricultural flying 

Banner towing / aerial advertising

Fire fighting 

Medical evacuation / air ambulance

Government services including, FAA, BLM, NASA, Homeland Security

Scenic tour 

Law enforcement

News broadcasting

Military pilot

Flight instruction

Highway patrol

Search and rescue

Aircraft salesman/delivery pilot

Airshow stunt 

Air taxi 

Oil rig transport

Geological survey

Aerial photography

Don’t see anything on this list that tickles your fancy? Then chances are you don’t really want to become a pilot because few other careers offer so much career diversity within their field as aviation does.

Justin Plentier writes about the wacky and the wonderful world of professional helicopter pilots and fixed wing pilots. He hopes some day to become a private pilot, if he can just get that next 150 flight training hours completed. Justin spends a few weeks each year touring and reviewing flight schools throughout the United States.