A commercial airline pilot's job is to safely fly an airliner from one place to another. They pilot large or small aircrafts and take many people or cargo around the world. It takes lots of training to pilot an aircraft, and have tremendous amounts of responsibility. A pilot's job is not only to safely fly an airlpane, but also to keep many variables of flying in check. Pilots often work strange hours and different shifts, and may be away from home for several days. Due to flying many hours, an airplane usually has 2 pilots to swtich off: a captain and a co-pilot. The captain of the plane usually has the overall responsiblity for the safety and smoothness of the flight.
The many responsiblities of pilots include making regular checks on the aircraft's technical performance and position, on weather conditions and air traffic during flight and communicating with air traffic control before take-off and during flight and landing. You can learn more on the Tasks page.
2012 median pay: $73,280
2012, number of jobs: 34,990
Employment growth forecast, 2010-2020: 11 percent
Entry level education requirements: Associate’s degree
Pilots may also include those of rescue operations, firefighting, crop dusting, etc.