# Will pilots be replaced by AI? Updated October 2026 Airline pilots score 32 of 100 for AI exposure. The largest share of their task time, 56%, is work AI speeds up while they stay in charge. AI can take over 6% outright, and 38% stays with people. - **6%** AI can do it - **56%** AI helps - **38%** Needs a person Moderate exposure Lower than 59% of the 923 occupations we scored. ## Task by task We graded 24 tasks, listed here from most to least exposed. AI can do 2 of them today, speeds up 13 and leaves 9 to people. | Task | AI exposure | | --- | --- | | Record in log books information, such as flight times, distances flown, and fuel consumption. Logbook entries are largely pulled from aircraft data automatically. | 80% AI can do it | | File instrument flight plans with air traffic control to ensure that flights are coordinated with other air traffic. Flight plan filing is structured data entry, largely automatable with review. | 70% AI can do it | | Plan and formulate flight activities and test schedules and prepare flight evaluation reports. AI can draft evaluation reports and schedules; a person approves. | 60% AI helps | | Check passenger and cargo distributions and fuel amounts to ensure that weight and balance specifications are met. Weight and balance software computes loads; crew verifies against manifests. | 50% AI helps | | Confer with flight dispatchers and weather forecasters to keep abreast of flight conditions. AI can summarize weather and NOTAMs; live conversation stays human. | 50% AI helps | ## How airline pilots compare All occupations (923) Transportation and material moving (52) **Airline pilots score 32**, marked by the dark line. Each dot is a score, darker where more occupations share it. The short marks show the averages, 37 for all occupations and 25 for transportation and material moving. ## Pay and outlook in the US Median pay $232,140 a year, May 2025 People employed 103,560 in the US, May 2025 Projected change in jobs +8.3% from 2024 to 2034 ## Skills to build - Hold a Federal Air Transport certificate and aircraft type rating - Walk around the aircraft for pre-flight defect inspection - Check weight and balance against passenger and cargo manifests - Review AI-drafted evaluation reports in Microsoft Word before sign-off - Verify AI weather and NOTAM summaries against official briefings - Hold live radio clearances with air traffic control ## Safer roles nearby 5 related occupations with lower scores. - [Aircraft service attendants13 out of 100](https://www.aigentcy.com/ai-exposure/aircraft-service-attendants/) - [Ship captains26 out of 100](https://www.aigentcy.com/ai-exposure/ship-captains/) - [Aircraft mechanics17 out of 100](https://www.aigentcy.com/ai-exposure/aircraft-mechanics/) - [Aviation inspectors31 out of 100](https://www.aigentcy.com/ai-exposure/aviation-inspectors/) - [Locomotive engineers22 out of 100](https://www.aigentcy.com/ai-exposure/locomotive-engineers/) ## Questions about airline pilots and AI Will AI replace airline pilots? Partly. About 3 in 10 working hours for an airline pilot go to tasks AI can already do, led by logbook entries and flight plan filing. What stays with people is flying the aircraft, live radio with air traffic control, and the command decisions the captain makes. Will AI take over pilot jobs? AI can already do 6% of the task time in pilot and speeds up another 56%. People still do 38% of it. The US has 103,560 airline pilot jobs, with a projected change of +8.3% from 2024 to 2034. Which tasks will AI take over for airline pilots? Logbook entries and flight plan filing lead the list, with exposure scores of 80 and 70. Aircraft data can fill in flight times, distances, and fuel consumption automatically, and flight plan filing is structured data entry that AI can prepare for a pilot to review. AI can also draft flight evaluation reports, which a pilot approves. Which airline pilot tasks stay human? The walkaround inspection, crew teamwork during takeoffs and landings, and live radio with air traffic control stay with the pilot, each scoring 8 to 12 on exposure. The walkaround needs a person physically at the aircraft, and AI only checks logbooks and records. Voice clearances from air traffic control are regulated and time critical, so a pilot speaks them live. How can airline pilots stay valuable with AI? Keep the Federal Air Transport certificate and aircraft type rating current, and hold the walkaround inspection in your hands, using AI records only as a cross-check. Check AI-built weight and balance figures against the manifest, verify weather and NOTAM summaries against the official briefing, and edit AI-drafted evaluation reports in Word before you sign them. ## Related jobs - [Commercial pilots33 out of 100](https://www.aigentcy.com/ai-exposure/commercial-pilots/) - [Aerospace engineers51 out of 100](https://www.aigentcy.com/ai-exposure/aerospace-engineers/) - [Flight attendants30 out of 100](https://www.aigentcy.com/ai-exposure/flight-attendants/) ## Next steps for airline pilots - ### Check your job Your job title is a rough guide. Your actual tasks decide your score. Paste your job description or CV and see which of your tasks AI can do. [Check your job](https://www.aigentcy.com/tools/ai-exposure-checker/) [Check your CV](https://www.aigentcy.com/tools/cv-checker/) ### Check which roles in your team AI can take on We map your team's tasks, show what AI can do today and build the automations that pay back first. [Book an AI audit](https://www.aigentcy.com/audit/) ## Related topics - [**Jobs AI can't replace**Cement masons score lowest, at 8.](https://www.aigentcy.com/ai-exposure/jobs-ai-cant-replace/) - [**Jobs most at risk from AI**Proofreaders score highest, at 76.](https://www.aigentcy.com/ai-exposure/jobs-most-exposed-to-ai/) - [**High-paying jobs with low AI exposure**Radiologists earn a median $420,860 and score 46.](https://www.aigentcy.com/ai-exposure/high-paying-jobs-low-ai-exposure/) - [**Entry-level jobs with low AI exposure**Cement masons need little prior training and score 8.](https://www.aigentcy.com/ai-exposure/entry-level-jobs-low-ai-exposure/) - [**Jobs AI speeds up the most**For natural sciences managers, AI speeds up 96% of task time.](https://www.aigentcy.com/ai-exposure/jobs-ai-speeds-up/) - [**AI and jobs in Malta**15 iGaming roles graded task by task.](https://www.aigentcy.com/ai-exposure/malta/) - [**Skills that keep work human**The skills to build in the jobs AI changes least.](https://www.aigentcy.com/ai-exposure/skills/) - [**Jobs A to Z**Every job we publish, by first letter.](https://www.aigentcy.com/ai-exposure/jobs/) - [**AI exposure by industry**Average scores for 22 occupation groups.](https://www.aigentcy.com/ai-exposure/industries/) - [**Write a CV screening software can read**How applicant tracking systems read a CV, and what to change.](https://www.aigentcy.com/ai-exposure/cv-screening-guide/) - [**AI for businesses**The tasks to automate first in each team and industry.](https://www.aigentcy.com/ai-for/) - [**How we score AI exposure**The grading, the weights and every source.](https://www.aigentcy.com/ai-exposure/methodology/) Occupation data from the O\*NET 30.3 Database by the U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration (USDOL/ETA), used under [CC BY 4.0](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) and modified by Aigentcy. O\*NET® is a trademark of USDOL/ETA. Wage, employment and projection data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. EU occupation names from ESCO, European Commission. AI usage signals from the Anthropic Economic Index (CC BY) and Microsoft Research (CC BY 4.0). [Methodology and sources](https://www.aigentcy.com/ai-exposure/methodology/). Scores © Aigentcy. Quote them with a link to the page.