Logistics & operations · Organizing & Managing
Pilot: what the job actually is
Planning, flying and landing an aircraft safely, with far more preparation, checking and paperwork than the view suggests.
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The work
What this job actually is
- Flying an aircraft safely from one place to another, which includes planning the route, checking the weather, checking the aircraft and managing the flight.
- A large share of the work is preparation and procedure. Checklists are followed every time, because routine is how mistakes are caught.
- Pilots work with a crew, air traffic control and ground staff. Communication is a core skill.
- The path usually runs through flight instruction or other early flying jobs before airline work. Job Bank's occupation group includes flying instructors.
- The licence, medical and training are all expensive in time and money, and you must stay current to keep flying.
A Tuesday
What a normal day looks like
Not a good day or a bad one. The ordinary version, which is what you would actually be living.
- 5:30 — Wake in a hotel or at home. Check the weather and your duty time.
- 6:30 — Brief with the other pilot: route, weather, fuel, and anything unusual about the aircraft.
- 7:15 — Walk around the aircraft and check it. The same checks every time.
- 8:00 — Preflight checks and communications in the cockpit.
- 8:30 — Push back, taxi, take off. The part everyone imagines lasts a few minutes.
- 9:00 — Cruise. Monitor, communicate, adjust. Mostly watching systems and the weather.
- 11:00 — Approach and landing, then paperwork and reporting any aircraft defects.
- 12:30 — Turn the aircraft around and do it again.
- 16:00 — Final landing. Complete logs, handover notes and duty records.
- 17:30 — Rest. You count the hours, because rest rules are part of safety.
Honestly
Who loves this, and who should not do it
The second list is the useful one. Nearly every careers page leaves it out, which is why nearly every careers page reads like an advert.
- You like procedure and checklists, and you see them as how safe flying works.
- You stay calm and decisive under pressure but you also follow a process.
- You can communicate clearly and briefly, including when you are tired.
- You are comfortable being responsible for other people's lives.
- You are willing to invest in long training before the career starts.
- You dislike irregular hours. Early starts, late finishes and time away from home are common.
- You cannot accept a medical gate. You need a valid Transport Canada medical certificate, and a health problem can end flying.
- You dislike repetition. Checklists and procedures are done every time, whatever your experience.
- You are uncomfortable with the cost. Training is expensive before you earn anything.
- You want to fly for the view. Much of the job is monitoring, communicating and paperwork.
The route in
How you actually get there in Ontario
Understand the licence ladder
Transport Canada issues the Private Pilot Licence (minimum age 17), the Commercial Pilot Licence (minimum age 18) and the Airline Transport Pilot Licence (minimum age 21) for aeroplanes, each with a medical requirement, written examinations, and flight experience recorded in your logbook. Job Bank says a commercial pilot's licence requires more than 200 hours of flight experience and an air transport pilot's licence more than 1,500, and that additional endorsements are required for different aircraft types. Job Bank also says this occupation is not regulated by a professional body, though the licences are issued by Transport Canada.Choose a certified flight school or a college programme
Job Bank says completion of secondary school and graduation from a certified flying or aviation school are required. In Ontario, Sault College offers a three-year, seven-semester Aviation Technology - Flight advanced diploma, and says graduates meeting Transport Canada's criteria earn a commercial pilot's licence. Its admission requirements include an OSSD, Grade 12 English, Grade 12 mathematics, Grade 12 physics and a Transport Canada Category 1 medical certificate. Check each school's current requirements and costs.Get the medical first
Because a medical certificate is required for each licence, getting the right category assessed before you spend on training avoids the worst surprise. Sault College requires a Category 1 medical certificate for its flight programme.Build experience, often through instructing
Job Bank's occupation group includes flying instructors, who hold commercial or air transport licences plus instructor ratings. Many pilots build experience in early flying jobs before moving to larger operators.
Where this comes from: Transport Canada — General information on pilot licences and permits · Sault College — Aviation Technology - Flight · Job Bank — Requirements for pilots in Ontario
The money
What it pays in Ontario
Job Bank's own figures, quoted rather than summarised, with the period they describe — so you can tell how old they are and go and check them.
- $28.85
- Low (hourly)
- $63.00
- Median (hourly)
- $126.92
- High (hourly)
Ontario, NOC 72600. Reference period 2023-2024, last updated by Job Bank on 19 November 2025. Wages vary a lot by region inside Ontario and by how long you have been doing it — the low figure is roughly where you start, not what the job is worth.
Where it is heading
The outlook for the next three years
Job Bank publishes a three-year outlook for every job in every province. It is the closest thing to an honest forecast, and it moves, so read it as a weather report rather than a verdict.
Good4 out of 5 stars
- Employment growth will lead to a moderate number of new positions.
- A moderate number of positions will become available due to retirements.
- There are a small number of unemployed workers with recent experience in this occupation.
What that rating means: how many openings Job Bank expects in Ontario for this kind of work against how many people are likely to be looking — not whether it is a good job. A “limited” rating means more competition for each opening; it does not close the door, and it can change before you are ready to walk through it.
What is changing in this work
- Improvement in the level of global air travel
- The addition of new routes and increase in the frequency of flights to existing destinations
Who hires for it
- Air transportation companies
- Federal government
- Educational services
- 5,800
- people work in this job in Ontario
- 7%
- are women (48% across all jobs)
- 5%
- are self-employed (15% across all jobs)
Source: Job Bank — Air pilots, flight engineers and flying instructors job prospects in Ontario (NOC 72600). Outlook updated by Job Bank on 10 December 2025; read by us on 5 October 2026.
Before you leave school
Things you can do now
- Take maths, physics and English, since flight programmes list Grade 12 credits in these as admission requirements.
- Look into the Transport Canada medical categories now, so a surprise does not arrive after you have paid for lessons.
- Ask your guidance office about aviation co-op or visits, and look for an aviation open day at a local flying club or airport.
- Learn to read a weather report and a map. Both are part of the knowledge requirement and are free to practise.
Test it
Do this before you decide anything
Reading about a job tells you almost nothing. This is designed to be done alone, this week, for free.
Plan a flight on paper using a real weather report
About 75 minutes- Choose two airports within reasonable distance and look up the current weather report published for each, which public aviation weather sites provide.
- Write in plain words what the reports tell you: wind, visibility, cloud and anything that would make you delay.
- Draw the route on a map and list the checks you would want before going. Write down the decision you would make and why.
- Look up the Transport Canada medical categories and read what Category 1 involves.
What it tells you. If decoding the weather and weighing whether you would go was absorbing, this is a good sign: the job is a long series of such decisions. If you enjoyed the idea of flying but found the planning dull, notice that planning is most of the work. If the medical requirements raised doubts, find out early rather than after paying for lessons.
Better than any article
Questions for somebody who does this job
Most people say yes to a teenager who asks good questions. These are the ones that get real answers rather than encouragement.
- “How did you pay for training, and was it worth it?”
- “What share of your working time is flying and what is waiting or paperwork?”
- “How did you build your first hours?”
- “What is the medical process like, and has it ever worried you?”
- “What is the hardest part of the schedule?”
- “What do you wish you had known before choosing this career?”
Could you own one of these?
The part other career sites never mention
Rarely as a first step. Some pilots later start flying operations, charter work or training, but that adds aircraft, regulation and insurance to the job. Job Bank's figures show a small share of self-employed pilots, and most work for an operator.
Not sure this is the right list to be reading
Start from yourself, not from the job.
Future Finder is free, takes about ten minutes, needs no account and stores nothing. It will tell you which kinds of work you lean toward, and which of these pages are worth your time.
Parent of a teenager weighing this up? Career coaching for teens gets them talking to people who do the work, anywhere in Ontario.
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Wages and training requirements change. Every figure on this page is linked to the body that publishes it, and the review date above says when we last checked. If you find something out of date, tell us and we will fix it.