Two Jobs, One Word
Cargo pilot salary is the one pilot-pay question where a single average is actively dangerous, because the federal data contains two completely different cargo flying jobs and the gap between their medians is $253,310.
In wage data for May 2025, the 5,730 people BLS counts in the airline pilots, copilots and flight engineers occupation working in couriers and express delivery services had a median annual wage of $334,930 — the highest median of any industry row for any pilot occupation in the entire dataset. The 490 people in the commercial pilots occupation working in the same industry had a median of $81,620. Same industry code, same word on the job advert, and a quarter of a million dollars between them.
| Occupation, As BLS Defines It | Employment | 10th Percentile | Median | 90th Percentile | Mean |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Airline pilots, copilots, and flight engineers | 5,730 | $59,150 | $334,930 | $402,720 | $285,390 |
| Commercial pilots | 490 | $61,590 | $81,620 | $142,600 | $95,950 |
Source and date. US Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025 national industry-specific estimates. Read and verified 12 September 2026. BLS separately reports that couriers and express delivery services accounts for 5 percent of employment in the airline pilots, copilots and flight engineers occupation.
The caveat that belongs beside every figure on this page. Cargo pay varies by carrier, by equipment, by seat and by seniority, and these medians hide an enormous spread. Look at the first row: a median of $334,930 sitting above a 10th percentile of $59,150. That is not a rounding artefact. It is two populations inside one statistic.
Why The Same Row Contains Both
An industry code is not a job description. Couriers and express delivery services covers everything from a wide-body freighter crossing the Pacific on a published schedule to a single-pilot piston twin carrying small packages between regional airports at night. Both are cargo flying. Neither pilot would recognise the other's working life.
| Dimension | Large Scheduled Freight | Feeder And Light Freight |
|---|---|---|
| BLS occupation it is counted in | Airline pilots, copilots, flight engineers | Commercial pilots |
| Typical aircraft | Narrow-body and wide-body jets | Light twins and single-engine turboprops |
| Crew | Two pilots, sometimes augmented | Frequently single pilot |
| How pay is set | Credit-hour contract grid with a monthly guarantee | Salary, day rate or per-leg, usually without a guarantee |
| Certificate required | Airline transport pilot | Commercial, usually with instrument and multi-engine |
| Published median, May 2025 | $334,930 | $81,620 |
| Where it sits in a career | A destination | Often a first turbine or first multi-engine job |
The right way to use the federal figures is therefore to ask which row a given job belongs in before you compare it to anything. An advert that says "cargo pilot" tells you almost nothing until you know the aircraft, the crew complement and whether pay is a contract grid or a salary.
Cargo Flying Is Not Only In The Courier Row
One more complication, stated plainly because most pages skip it: BLS does not publish a "cargo pilot" figure at all. Cargo flying is split across at least two industry codes, and the largest scheduled freight operations are counted in scheduled air transportation alongside passenger airlines rather than in couriers and express delivery services. BLS publishes no separate estimate for scheduled freight air transportation, so there is no way to isolate those crews from the passenger-carrier figures.
| Industry, As BLS Names It | Occupation | Employment | 10th Percentile | Median | 90th Percentile |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Couriers and express delivery services | Airline pilots, copilots, flight engineers | 5,730 | $59,150 | $334,930 | $402,720 |
| Scheduled air transportation (passenger and freight combined) | Airline pilots, copilots, flight engineers | 90,840 | $114,390 | $293,240 | $475,690 |
| Support activities for air transportation | Airline pilots, copilots, flight engineers | 2,570 | $67,370 | $202,680 | $463,830 |
| Nonscheduled air transportation (includes on-demand freight) | Commercial pilots | 18,580 | $62,060 | $133,150 | $299,300 |
| Couriers and express delivery services | Commercial pilots | 490 | $61,590 | $81,620 | $142,600 |
Source and date. US Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025 national industry-specific estimates. Read 12 September 2026. The scheduled air transportation row combines passenger and freight operations; BLS publishes no separate wage estimate for scheduled freight air transportation, so no honest page can tell you what a scheduled freight crew earns as distinct from a passenger crew.
If you want a figure for a specific cargo operator, the answer is the same as for any airline: the pay scale is a table in that pilot group's collective bargaining agreement, published by the union that represents them. That is the authoritative source, it is current, and it is free. We do not publish per-carrier rates here because they change when contracts are ratified and a stale number could cost you a real decision.
What The Numbers Tell You About The Work
Three readings of the table above that are worth more than the medians themselves.
The courier row has the highest ceiling and one of the lowest floors. Its 90th percentile of $402,720 is below the scheduled air transportation 90th of $475,690, but its median is far higher. That pattern — high middle, lower top — is what a workforce concentrated in senior, long-tenured positions looks like. It is consistent with an industry that hires experienced pilots and keeps them.
Feeder freight is an entry point, not a career plan. A median of $81,620 with a 90th percentile of $142,600 describes a job that pays a living and rarely pays a fortune. Its value to a career-track pilot is turbine time, multi-engine time, and single-pilot instrument experience in weather — which is exactly the experience that makes the next application competitive.
Night is the defining condition. Express freight moves when passengers do not. That shapes the schedule, the body clock and the kind of instrument flying you do far more than the pay grid does, and it is the factor most people underweight when they compare a freight offer to a passenger one.
Book A Discovery Flight — $229 Book A Free Consultation
How You Get Qualified For Either One
Both cargo worlds run on the same foundation, and the divergence happens later than people expect. Large scheduled freight requires an airline transport pilot certificate — 1,500 hours of total flight time, with reduced totals available on some qualifying routes, explained on the 1,500 hour rule and R-ATP. Feeder and light freight requires a commercial certificate, almost always with an instrument rating, and very often a multi-engine rating.
| Step | Price | Why It Matters For Freight |
|---|---|---|
| Discovery flight, 60 min | $229 | No tax, no booking fee — $229 is the total. Loggable. |
| Private Pilot | $10,400 | 40-hour Part 61 minimum package |
| Instrument Rating | $11,700 | Freight flies at night and in weather; this is not optional |
| Commercial Pilot | $15,400 | 250-hour FAA minimum. The certificate that allows pay. |
| Multi-Engine Rating | $5,100 | Seven days; most light freight is flown in twins |
| CFI, CFII and MEI | $15,400 | The usual way to reach the hour totals freight operators want |
| Total, purchased individually | $58,229 | Discovery flight through MEI |
| Airline Pilot Career Program | $84,000 | Zero experience to 260 hours, packaged |
Two specifics matter more for freight than for passenger flying. Get comfortable at night early — we operate until 9 PM seven days a week, and night currency is a habit rather than a project. And take the multi-engine rating seriously rather than as a box to tick, because light freight is where you will use it first and alone.
How Freight Pay Is Structured
At the large end, freight pay works exactly like passenger airline pay: an hourly rate applied to credit hours, set by a grid of seat, year of service and aircraft category, with a monthly minimum guarantee, per diem for every hour away from base, and seniority governing which trips you can hold at all. Those mechanics are set out in full on airline pilot salary.
At the small end it usually is not a contract grid at all. Expect a salary, a day rate or a per-leg arrangement, often without a guaranteed monthly floor, and read the offer for what happens in a slow week. That distinction — floor or no floor — matters more to your life than the headline number, and it is the organising idea of how much do pilots make. The non-airline pay shapes are compared on commercial pilot salary, and how pay moves once you are inside a seniority system on pilot pay by year and seniority.
Frequently Asked Questions
How Much Do Cargo Pilots Make?
It depends which of two jobs you mean. In US Bureau of Labor Statistics wage data for May 2025, the 5,730 airline pilots, copilots and flight engineers employed in couriers and express delivery services had a median annual wage of $334,930, while the 490 commercial pilots in the same industry had a median of $81,620. Cargo pay varies by carrier, equipment, seat and seniority, and those medians hide an enormous spread.
Why Is Cargo Pilot Pay Split Into Two Figures?
Because an industry code is not a job description. Couriers and express delivery services covers both wide-body freighters on published schedules and single-pilot light twins carrying small packages at night, and the federal statistics count those crews in two different occupations. The first is counted with airline pilots, the second with commercial pilots.
Is Cargo The Highest-Paying Kind Of Flying?
The $334,930 median for airline-occupation pilots in couriers and express delivery services is the highest industry median published for any pilot occupation in the May 2025 data, above the $293,240 median in scheduled air transportation. But the same row has a 10th percentile of $59,150, and the 90th percentile in scheduled air transportation, $475,690, is higher than the courier 90th of $402,720.
Does BLS Publish A Separate Figure For Scheduled Freight Airlines?
No. The largest scheduled freight operations are counted in scheduled air transportation alongside passenger airlines, and BLS publishes no separate wage estimate for scheduled freight air transportation. There is no honest way to state what a scheduled freight crew earns as distinct from a passenger crew, and any page that does is guessing.
What Qualifications Does A Cargo Pilot Need?
Large scheduled freight requires an airline transport pilot certificate, which carries 1,500 hours of total flight time with reduced totals available on some qualifying routes. Feeder and light freight requires a commercial certificate, almost always with an instrument rating and very often a multi-engine rating, because most light freight is flown in twins and much of it is flown at night in weather.
Is Light Freight A Good First Flying Job?
It is a recognised way into turbine and multi-engine flying, and its real value is the experience rather than the income. A median of $81,620 with a 90th percentile of $142,600 describes a job that pays a living and rarely pays a fortune, while giving you single-pilot instrument experience in weather that makes the next application competitive.
Where Can I Find A Specific Cargo Airline's Pay Rates?
In that pilot group's collective bargaining agreement, published by the union that represents them. The pay scale is a table in the contract, it is authoritative, it is current and it is free. We do not publish per-carrier rates because they change when contracts are ratified and a stale number could cost you a real decision.
Start At The Same Place Both Routes Start
Every freight career, at either end of that table, begins with a first hour in the left seat. A 60-minute discovery flight over Los Angeles is $229 — no tax, no booking fee, $229 is the total — and the hour is loggable toward your Private Pilot certificate. We fly from 7900 Balboa Blvd inside Van Nuys Airport's Class D, seven days a week, 9 AM to 9 PM.
Book A Discovery Flight — $229 Book A Free Consultation Call (818) 330-1318
You Fly LA · 7900 Balboa Blvd, Van Nuys, CA 91406 · Open 9 AM – 9 PM, seven days a week.