---
title: "Will AI Replace Airline Pilots? (2026)"
description: "BLS rates airline pilots' exposure to AI as moderate. What that means, which parts of the work AI touches, and the 2025–2035 outlook (+8.3% projected)."
canonical: "https://nuecareer.com/careers/will-ai-replace-airline-pilots"
last-updated: "2026-10-15T08:19:32.066Z"
---

# Will AI Replace Airline Pilots? (2026)

**Short answer:** Unlikely. BLS rates the work's exposure to AI as moderate, below the middle of the pack, and still projects employment to grow faster than average.

The Bureau of Labor Statistics places airline pilots in its moderate AI exposure category, below the middle of the pack: some of the work overlaps with what AI can do, much of it does not. BLS projects employment to change by +8.3% over 2025–2035, against 3.5% for all occupations, with about 11,200 openings a year.

| Measure | Value | Source |
| --- | --- | --- |
| BLS relative AI exposure | Moderate | BLS Employment Projections, AI exposure categories |
| NueCareer AI-resilience score | 36/100 | NueCareer analysis of O\*NET 31.0 Database |
| Projected employment change | +8.3% | BLS EP 2025–2035 |
| Openings a year | 11,200 | BLS EP 2025–2035 |
| Median annual wage | $232,140 | BLS OEWS May 2025 |

## Exposure categories

| BLS category | Occupations |
| --- | --- |
| Low | 203 |
| Moderate (this job) | 194 |
| High | 190 |
| Very high | 199 |

Exposure means AI could be or has been used to assist with or complete some of the work. BLS says it does not imply job loss, productivity gains, automation probability or wage effects. Method: https://www.bls.gov/emp/publications/ai-exposure-categories.htm

## What holds up

- Operating vehicles, mechanized devices, or equipment: 4.7/5 (O\*NET work activity importance)
- Face-to-face discussions: 4.6/5 (O\*NET work context)
- Inspecting equipment, structures, or materials: 4.8/5 (O\*NET work activity importance)
- Hands-on work with tools and objects: 4.6/5 (O\*NET work context)

## What AI reaches first

- Processing information: 4.5/5 (O\*NET work activity importance)
- Evaluating information to determine compliance with standards: 4.7/5 (O\*NET work activity importance)
- Time spent sitting: 4.7/5 (O\*NET work context)
- Repeating the same tasks: 4.0/5 (O\*NET work context)

## O\*NET tasks

- Use instrumentation to guide flights when visibility is poor.
- Start engines, operate controls, and pilot airplanes to transport passengers, mail, or freight, adhering to flight plans, regulations, and procedures.
- Respond to and report in-flight emergencies and malfunctions.
- Inspect aircraft for defects and malfunctions, according to pre-flight checklists.
- Contact control towers for takeoff clearances, arrival instructions, and other information, using radio equipment.
- Monitor engine operation, fuel consumption, and functioning of aircraft systems during flights.

## Related careers less exposed to AI than airline pilots

- [Aircraft Mechanic](https://nuecareer.com/careers/aircraft-mechanic): BLS exposure Low, median $79,870; [Will AI replace aircraft mechanics?](https://nuecareer.com/careers/will-ai-replace-aircraft-mechanics)
- [Aircraft Service Attendant](https://nuecareer.com/careers/aircraft-service-attendant): BLS exposure Low, median $40,450

## FAQ

**Will AI replace airline pilots?**

Unlikely. BLS rates the work's exposure to AI as moderate, below the middle of the pack, and still projects employment to grow faster than average. BLS defines exposure as AI being able to assist with or complete some of the work, and says it does not imply job loss, productivity gains or wage effects. BLS projects employment to change by +8.3% over 2025–2035, against 3.5% for all occupations, with about 11,200 openings a year.

**How exposed are airline pilots to AI?**

BLS sorts 786 occupations into four relative categories: low, moderate, high and very high. Airline Pilots are in the moderate category, alongside 193 other occupations. The categories combine five public measures of where AI could be or already is used, and they compare occupations with each other rather than giving an absolute risk.

**What parts of an airline pilot's job can AI do?**

In O\*NET's description of the work, the parts that overlap most with what AI handles well are processing information, evaluating information to determine compliance with standards and time spent sitting. The parts that hold up best are operating vehicles, mechanized devices, or equipment, face-to-face discussions and inspecting equipment, structures, or materials. These come from O\*NET ratings of how important each activity is to the job, read through NueCareer's AI-resilience method.

**Is being an airline pilot a safe career from AI?**

On NueCareer's AI-resilience score, built from O\*NET work activities, airline pilots score 36 out of 100, higher than 32% of the occupations we score. The job pays a median of $232,140 a year (BLS OEWS, May 2025). No job is fully safe from technological change, but the federal exposure category and the projected openings are the two numbers worth weighing.

**What careers similar to airline pilots are less exposed to AI?**

Aircraft Mechanic (low exposure, $79,870 median), Aircraft Service Attendant (low exposure, $40,450 median). Each is in a lower BLS exposure category than airline pilots, and most are listed by O\*NET as related to the work.

Full profile: https://nuecareer.com/careers/airline-pilot.

---

This bank includes information from the O\*NET 31.0 Database by the U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration (USDOL/ETA). Used under the CC BY 4.0 license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). O\*NET® is a trademark of USDOL/ETA. NueCareer has transformed the data by joining it to BLS wage and projection data and deriving facet, personality-fit and AI-resilience scores. BLS and BEA data are public domain (17 U.S.C. §105).

O\*NET content is used under [CC BY 4.0](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). How these figures are sourced and derived: https://nuecareer.com/careers/methodology