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An aircraft pilot or aviator is a person who controls the flight of an aircraft by operating its directional flight controls. Some other aircrew, such as or , are also considered aviators because they are involved in operating the aircraft's navigation and engine systems. Other aircrew members, such as drone operators, , mechanics and ground crew, are not classified as aviators.
In recognition of the pilots' qualifications and responsibilities, most militaries and many airlines worldwide award to their pilots.
Boeing expects 790,000 new pilots in 20 years from 2018, 635,000 for commercial aviation, 96,000 for business aviation and 59,000 for : % in Asia Pacific (261,000), % in North America (206,000), % in Europe (146,000), % in the Middle East (64,000), % in Latin America (57,000), % in Africa (29,000) and % in Russia/ Central Asia (27,000). By November 2017, due a shortage of qualified pilots, some pilots were leaving corporate aviation to return to airlines. In one example a Global 6000 pilot, making $250,000 a year for 10 to 15 flight hours a month, returned to American Airlines with full Seniority list. A Gulfstream G650 or Global 6000 pilot might earn between $245,000 and $265,000, and recruiting one may require up to $300,000. At the other end of the spectrum, constrained by the available pilots, some small carriers hire new pilots who need 300 hours to jump to airlines in a year. They may also recruit non-career pilots who have other jobs or airline retirees who want to continue to fly.
In August 2017 financial company UBS predicted pilotless are technically feasible and could appear around 2025, offering around $35bn of savings, mainly in pilot costs: $26bn for , $3bn for and $2.1bn for civil helicopters; $3bn/year from lower pilot training and aviation insurance costs due to safer flights; $1bn from flight optimisation (1% of global airlines' $133bn jet fuel bill in 2016); not counting revenue opportunity from increased capacity utilization.
Regulations have to adapt with air cargo likely at the forefront, but pilotless flights could be limited by consumer behaviour: 54% of 8,000 people surveyed are defiant while 17% are supportive, with acceptation progressively forecast.
AVweb reporter Geoff Rapoport stated, "pilotless aircraft are an appealing prospect for airlines bracing for the need to hire several hundred thousand new pilots in the next decade. Wages and training costs have been rapidly rising at regional U.S. airlines over the last several years as the major airlines have hired pilots from the regionals at unprecedented rates to cover increased air travel demand from economic expansion and a wave of retirements".
Going to pilotless airliners could be done in one bold step or in gradual improvements like by reducing the cockpit crew for long haul missions or allowing single pilot cargo aircraft. The industry has not decided how to proceed yet. Present automated systems are not autonomous and must be monitored; their replacement could require artificial intelligence with machine learning while present certified software is deterministic. As the Airbus A350 would only need minor modifications, Air Caraibes and French Bee parent Groupe Dubreuil see two-pilot crews in long-haul operations, without a third pilot for rotation, happening around 2024–2025.
Single-pilot freighters could start with regional flights. The Air Line Pilots Association believe removing pilots would threaten aviation safety and opposes the April 2018 FAA Reauthorization Act's Section 744 establishing a research and development program to assist single-pilot cargo aircraft by remote and computer piloting.
For French aerospace research center Onera and avionics manufacturer Thales Group, artificial intelligence (AI) like consumer neural networks learning from large datasets cannot explain their operation and cannot be certified for safe air transport. Progress towards ‘explainable’ AIs can be expected in the next decade, as the Onera expects "leads" for a certifiable AI system, along EASA standards evolution.
Retirement age is provided by each airline, with some set to age 60, but changes to the Canadian Human Rights Act have restricted the retirement age set by the airlines.
In 1930, the Air Commerce Act established pilot licensing requirements for American civil aviation.
Commercial airline pilots in the United States have a mandatory retirement age of 65, having increased from age 60 in 2007.
Military pilots are trained with a different syllabus than civilian pilots, which is delivered by military instructors. This is due to the different aircraft, flight goals, flight situations and chains of responsibility. Many military pilots do transfer to civilian-pilot qualification after they leave the military, and typically their military experience provides the basis for a civilian pilot's license.
It was in France that the world's first bombing group was created, on November 23, 1914. The Voisin III were the only aircraft available for this mission. These could only carry very light loads (between 55–160 kg of bombs), the bombs were rudimentary and the aiming systems remained to be developed. Initially, the bombs were simply thrown overboard by the crew, with necessarily very limited accuracy.
Nevertheless, the beginnings of tactical and strategic bombing took place in the first days of the war. Thus, the Royal Naval Air Service (RNAS) carried out bombing missions of the hangars of the airports of Düsseldorf, Cologne and Friedrichhafen during the autumn of 1914. The formation of the Brieftauben Abteilung Ostende ("Ostend Carrier Pigeon Detachment", name of code of the first German bombing units) carried out bombing missions over the English Channel in December 1914.
Most jurisdictions have restrictions on the use of UAVs which have greatly limited their use in controlled airspace; UAVs have mostly been limited to military and hobbyist use. In the United States, use of UAVs is very limited in controlled airspace (generally, above 400 ft/122m and away from airports), and the FAA prohibits nearly all commercial use. Once regulations are made to allow expanded use of UAVs in controlled airspace, there is expected to be a large surge of UAVs in use and, consequently, high demand for pilots/operators of these aircraft.
In the United States, an LSA (Light Sport Aircraft) license can be obtained in at least 20 hours of flight time.
Generally, the next step in a pilot's progression is Instrument Rating (IR), or Multi-Engine Rating (MEP) addons. Pilots may also choose to pursue a Commercial Pilot License (CPL) after completing their PPL. This is required if the pilot desires to pursue a professional career as a pilot. To captain an airliner, one must obtain an Airline Transport Pilot License (ATPL). In the United States after 1 August 2013, an ATPL is required even when acting as a first officer. Some countries/carriers require/use a multi-crew cooperation (MCC) certificate.
A 1978 study of military pilots found increased longevity, which was attributed to "generally good socioeconomic background, the positive genetic influence of long-lived parents, the above average intelligence, and the health and fitness orientation of the military aviator".
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