Updated
PERM occupation, SOC 53-2012.00, #441 of 1,410 by filings
Commercial Pilots
- Biggest sponsor
- Trans-Exec Air Service, Inc. · 11% of its filings
- Busiest state
- FL · 30% of its filings
- Major group
- Transportation and material moving · SOC 53
Weighing an offer for this job?
Where it falls among certified offers, and the four wage levels DOL sets for it by area.
Median wage
$141,055
all PERM $103,272
Filings
56
#441 of 1,410
Approval
76.5%
field 96.8%
Median days
490
13 slower than the field
What it pays
Where its median offer sits among every occupation, then the whole ladder of certified offers by year and by state.
Median offered wage
$141,055above 90%
Approval rate
76.5%ahead of 3%
Median days to decision
490 daysahead of 7%
Each bar counts occupations at that value. More
Who files it
The sponsors and firms with the most PERM filings under this code, the places the work sits, and who the workers were.
Sponsors filing it
- Trans-Exec Air Service, Inc. 6 filings
- Ace Aviation Services Corp 5 filings
- Craft Charter LLC 3 filings
- CommuteAir LLC 2 filings
- Incobrasa Industries Ltd. 2 filings
- M.I. AIR CORPORATION 2 filings
How this is counted
The employers with the most applications under this code. 20 of 56 filings, 36% of the total.
Firms filing it
- Certified Immigration Services 6 filings
- Buitrago Law Firm PA 5 filings
- Sturman & Associates 3 filings
- HAIGHT LAW GROUP, PC 2 filings
- LAW FIRM OF KIM & MIN 2 filings
- Martin Jolic and Associates, LLC 2 filings
How this is counted
The law firms named on the most applications under this code. 20 of 56 filings, 36% of the total.
Where the jobs are
- Florida 17
- California 10
- Illinois 3
- Montana 3
- Texas 3
- Michigan 2
How this is counted
The worksite state on the application, which is where the job is and not where the company is headquartered. Volume by state across everyone is on the state map. These 6 states cover 38 of 56 filings.
Where the work is
- Fort Lauderdale, FL 6
- Van Nuys, CA 6
- Opa-Locka, FL 3
- Belgrade, MT 2
- Chino, CA 2
- Miami, FL 2
How this is counted
The worksite city on the application, which is where the job is. These 6 cities cover 21 of 56 filings.
- Every sponsor that files it, by state, approval rate, offered wage and time to a decision
- Every filing for it, PERM, wage requests and H-1B, case by case
Newspapers it advertised in
- 8 cases
Sun-Sentinel
- 6 cases
Los Angeles Daily News
- 6 cases
Miami Herald
- 3 cases
Chicago Sun-Times
- 2 cases
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
- 2 cases
Cleveland Plain Dealer
How this is counted
The newspaper or professional journal named for each case's two print ads, one count per paper per case, however the filer spelled it.
Additional steps it used
- 20 cases
Job search websites
- 18 cases
Local or ethnic newspapers
- 9 cases
The employer's website
- 7 cases
Employee referral programs
- 7 cases
Radio or TV ads
- 6 cases
Job fairs
How this is counted
The steps a professional job needs beyond the job order and the ads, by the number of cases that name each.
How long before filing it began
- 0.0%
Under 30 days
- 3.8%
30 to 59 days
- 28%
60 to 89 days
- 32%
90 to 119 days
- 23%
120 to 149 days
- 13%
150 to 180 days
- 0.0%
Over 180 days
How this is counted
Days from the first recruitment step to the filing. 20 C.F.R. § 656.17(e) puts the job order and ads 30 to 180 days before filing.
The job itself
What O*NET says the work is, what the market pays it by BLS's survey, its outlook, and DOL's wage levels year by year.
- United States47,630 jobs
- Miami-Fort Lauderdale-West Palm Beach, FLFort Lauderdale, Miami
- Bozeman, MTBelgrade
- Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario, CAChino
- middle half of pay (BLS)
- median
- 10th to 90th percentile
- DOL's Levels I to IV, left to right
- median PERM offer
| Area | BLS median | Level I | Level II | Level III | Level IV |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| United States | $123,220 | ||||
| Miami-Fort Lauderdale-West Palm Beach, FL | $127,360 | $84,030 | $119,900 | $155,770 | $191,640 |
| Bozeman, MT | $137,430 | $83,570 | $124,737 | $165,903 | $207,070 |
| Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario, CA | $112,320 | $65,270 | $102,180 | $139,090 | $176,000 |
How these figures fit together
BLS surveys employers on what they pay everyone in a job; DOL builds its four levels from the same survey a year later (the July 2026 wage year uses BLS's May 2025 estimates). DOL publishes levels by area, not nationally, so the United States line has none. Levels are hourly in DOL's tables; here they're shown a year at 2,080 hours, as DOL computes them. The metros are the ones holding the most of this job's PERM filings, placed by Census's county files.
The block is the middle half of what employers report paying everyone in this job, citizen or not; the ticks under it are DOL's four prevailing wage levels for that metro, the floors a PERM or H-1B offer is held to. More
DOL's levels for this job in Miami-Fort Lauderdale-West Palm Beach, FL, year by year
Each July DOL resets the four levels from BLS's newest survey. A determination keeps the figures of the year it was issued in.
| Wage year | Level I | Level II | Level III | Level IV |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2026-27 | $84,030 | $119,900 | $155,770 | $191,640 |
| 2025-26 | $84,460 | $121,890 | $159,320 | $196,750 |
| 2024-25 | $82,040 | $115,920 | $149,800 | $183,680 |
| 2023-24 | $79,480 | $115,910 | $152,340 | $188,770 |
| 2022-23 | $61,220 | $88,977 | $116,733 | $144,490 |
| 2021-22 | $64,200 | $112,487 | $160,773 | $209,060 |
What the job is
Pilot and navigate the flight of fixed-wing aircraft on nonscheduled air carrier routes, or helicopters. Requires Commercial Pilot certificate. Includes charter pilots with similar certification, and air ambulance and air tour pilots. Excludes regional, national, and international airline pilots.
- Preparation
- Medium Preparation Needed
- O*NET Job Zone 3
- DOL's education basis
- High school diploma or equivalent
- Wage year 2026-27
- Jobs, 2025 to 2035
- +5.2%
- About 5,200 openings a year (BLS)
- Typical entry
- Postsecondary nondegree award
- BLS
Bright Outlook O*NET OnLine lists this job for rapid growth.
The work, most important first
- Check aircraft prior to flights to ensure that the engines, controls, instruments, and other systems are functioning properly.
- Co-pilot aircraft or perform captain's duties, as required.
- Consider airport altitudes, outside temperatures, plane weights, and wind speeds and directions to calculate the speed needed to become airborne.
- Use instrumentation to pilot aircraft when visibility is poor.
- Monitor engine operation, fuel consumption, and functioning of aircraft systems during flights.
- Order changes in fuel supplies, loads, routes, or schedules to ensure safety of flights.
The education workers in it report
- 15%
Less than a High School Diploma
- 29%
High School Diploma or the equivalent (such as a GED)
- 17%
Some College Courses
Titles people use for it
Captain, Commercial Pilot, Helicopter Pilot, Pilot, Charter Pilot, Check Airman, Commercial Helicopter Pilot, EMS Helicopter Pilot (Emergency Medical Service Helicopter Pilot).
Related jobs: Airline Pilots, Copilots, and Flight Engineers, Air Traffic Controllers, Airfield Operations Specialists, Aircraft Mechanics and Service Technicians, Aviation Inspectors, Locomotive Engineers.
This section includes information from the O*NET 31.0 Database and O*NET OnLine by the U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration (USDOL/ETA), used under the CC BY 4.0 license. O*NET® is a trademark of USDOL/ETA. PERM Tracker has modified some of this information (the shares are rounded and only the top tasks are shown); what changed. USDOL/ETA has not approved, endorsed, or tested these modifications.
Against other jobs
Where this sits in the ranking
Ranked 441 of 1,410 by volume: 440 filed at least as many filings, and 969 filed no more.
- Just above
- Production, Planning, and Expediting Clerks 56 filings
- Just below
- RECYCLING AND RECLAMATION WORKER 56 filings
Other transportation and material moving roles
Occupations sharing this one's SOC major group, which is carried in the first two digits of the code. More
Occupations sharing this one's SOC major group, which is carried in the first two digits of the code. Wages inside a group still swing hard, because the group holds every seniority level and every metro.
- #463 Driver/Sales Workers 49 filings · 9 denied
- #473 First-Line Supervisors of Material-Moving Machine and Vehicle Operators 47 filings · 1 denied
- #474 First-Line Supervisors of Helpers, Laborers, and Material Movers, Hand 47 filings · none denied
- #499 Shuttle Drivers and Chauffeurs 41 filings · 4 denied
- #501 Machine Feeders and Offbearers 41 filings · none denied
- #337 N/A 84 filings · 7 denied
The same job on H-1B
188 certified H-1B labor condition applications for this occupation since FY2020, offering a median of $104,000 a year; the middle half ran $74,823 to $130,000. By state and year in the salary explorer.
Notes on these numbers
Reading the wage
A floor, not a salary survey: every level and metro mixed. DOL's four wage levels for this job, by area.
What the median is
The median wage employers committed to in federal filings for this occupation. It mixes every experience level and every metro, and it's a floor: the employer must offer at least the prevailing wage DOL determines for the occupation, level and county. Across all PERM filings the middle half of offered wages runs $45,178 to $141,357, so a figure inside that band is unremarkable whichever occupation it belongs to. The levels page reads DOL's OFLC wage search live.
What these numbers don't say
4 notes
- The code is the identity
- This one is SOC 53-2012.00. Two SOC codes can carry the same job title, so a title that looks duplicated on the ranking is two different occupations. Match on the code when you're checking a specific filing.
- A median isn’t an offer
- It's the middle of all 56 wages committed to for this occupation across the country, entry level and principal alike. The same role's medians swing hard by worksite, which the state map shows directly.
- Approval isn’t about the occupation
- The denial rate moves with what happened in the filing rather than with the job title, so nothing here is a property of Commercial Pilots. The measured factors are on the denial risk page, published as separate rates.
- Nothing here is pending
- All 56 counted here carry a decision date, because every case in DOL's disclosure files does, so a case still waiting is in none of them. The largest filer of this occupation is Trans-Exec Air Service, Inc.. Where the queue stands today is on the processing times page.
The window these figures cover: DOL's PERM disclosure files for fiscal years 2024 to 2026, through the third quarter of 2026, 373,939 decided cases. Nothing pending is counted here. How each figure is built
Weighing an offer?
Compare it against this median, then check the state map, where the same occupation's medians swing hard by worksite.
Setting one?
All 1,410 occupations sort together on the wages page, and denial rates show how outcome moves with the offered wage.
Filings newer than DOL's last published file can't be attributed to this occupation until DOL publishes them. The live list on the case search page carries them by employer.
Case data: DOL quarterly disclosure files (flag.dol.gov) · data through Jun 30, 2026 · quarterly
Employers and firms: Derived from DOL's disclosure files · data through Jun 30, 2026 · rebuilt with each quarterly load
O*NET occupation data: O*NET Database, USDOL/ETA (onetcenter.org) · data through Aug 16, 2026 · twice a year
BLS market pay: BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (bls.gov) · data through May 31, 2025 · yearly, each spring
BLS employment projections: BLS Employment Projections (bls.gov) · data through Dec 31, 2025 · yearly, each autumn
DOL wage tables: DOL OFLC wage data downloads (flag.dol.gov) · data through Jul 1, 2026 · yearly, each july
What each source includes
Case data: Decided PERM cases only. A case still waiting isn't in here, so counts and durations describe finished cases.
Employers and firms: Employers, law firms and occupations ranked from decided cases only.
O*NET occupation data: What O*NET says each occupation is and takes: its description, tasks, Job Zone and the education workers report. A description of the job everywhere, not of any one employer's opening.
BLS market pay: What employers report paying everyone in each job, nationally, by state and by metro, from BLS's yearly survey (May of the year named). Citizens and immigrants alike; not PERM offers.
BLS employment projections: BLS's ten-year projection of each job's employment and yearly openings, and the entry education it calls typical. A projection, not a count.
DOL wage tables: The four prevailing wage levels DOL publishes for every job in every area, each wage year from 2021-22, as DOL's own tables print them. The floors an offer is held to, not what anyone was paid.
Cite this page
Waiting on a PERM case?
- When it'll likely be decided
- An email when DOL moves it