All occupations › Transportation & material movingCan AI Replace Airline Pilots, Copilots, and Flight Engineers in 2026? Moderate exposure. AI could handle about 51% of today's airline pilots, copilots, and flight engineers tasks by 2036, and there is a 33% chance the number of jobs falls by a fifth or more. AI is likely to take over many tasks outright.
See how not to be replaced
Timeline Year 2030 Chance of 20%+ fewer jobs
14% 2030 · 33% 2036
One person could cover, 2036
1.7 roles
0% 50% 100% 2026 2028 2030 2032 2034 2036 2026: 13% 2027: 15% 2028: 18% 2029: 21% 2030: 26% 2031: 32% 2032: 38% 2033: 43% 2034: 46% 2035: 49% 2036: 51% 26% Share of today's tasks AI can perform 40 80 120 2026 2028 2030 2032 2034 2036 2026: 100 2027: 99 2028: 98 2029: 97 2030: 95 2031: 93 2032: 91 2033: 89 2034: 87 2035: 86 2036: 86 95 Headcount index, 2025 = 100 (dashed line) Your survival map Not every part of your job is at the same risk. Tap a number to see what to do about each task.
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Tap a number on the map or a task below.
1 Start engines, operate controls, and pilot airplanes to transport passengers, mail, or freight, adhering to flight plans, regulations, and procedures. 2 Work as part of a flight team with other crew members, especially during takeoffs and landings. 3 Inspect aircraft for defects and malfunctions, according to pre-flight checklists. 4 Use instrumentation to guide flights when visibility is poor. 5 Contact control towers for takeoff clearances, arrival instructions, and other information, using radio equipment. 6 Monitor engine operation, fuel consumption, and functioning of aircraft systems during flights. 7 Record in log books information, such as flight times, distances flown, and fuel consumption. 8 Make announcements regarding flights, using public address systems. Lower-risk jobs that use similar skills Your plan Ticks are saved in this browser only.
Try an AI tool on one task you'd normally do by hand: "Record in log books information, such as flight times, distances flown, and fuel consumption". Learn one AI tool well enough to show it in an interview, for: "Use instrumentation to guide flights when visibility is poor". Get visibly better at your human core: "Start engines, operate controls, and pilot airplanes to transport passengers, mail, or freight, adhering to flight plans, regulations, and procedures". Rewrite the top of your CV around judgment, people and decisions, not routine output. Read about a lower-risk move: Commercial Pilots. Lower-risk jobs with similar tasks Based on 26 O*NET tasks for "Airline Pilots, Copilots, and Flight Engineers" (SOC 53-2011.00). LLM alone: 9% of tasks; with AI tools: 61%. Projections are a model, not official statistics. How we calculate this · Data version 2026-10
