Air Force pilots, who routinely put their lives at risk by flying into hazardous situations, are paid based on their rank (as with all military personnel across all branches), not what they encounter during the course of their duties. An O-1 earns less than $50,000 a year, while an O-4 earns between $75,000 and $100,000. By the time they reach O-7 through O-10, they’ve maxed out at $19,000 a month, or $228,000 annually. 

Meanwhile, private-sector airline pilots aren’t paid by rank but based on free-market demand for their skills. While wages can vary dramatically, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reports that the average yearly wage for airline pilots, copilots, and flight engineers (as of 2024) was $226,600, and for commercial pilots, almost $123,000 annually. While first-year commercial regional pilots typically make about $85,000, senior captains at major airlines (which have an interesting method for choosing which planes they fly) can rake in $485,500 a year. 

It’s this very disparity in pay that has left the Air Force with a severe shortage of qualified pilots, with some estimates reaching as high as 1,800, even after increasing bonuses to $50,000 a year (maxing out at 12 years for a total of $600,000). That’s on top of benefits like pensions, free healthcare, and basic allowances for both housing (BAH) and a monthly food stipend (BAS). Still, the Air Force is not only finding it hard to recruit new pilots but also to keep those it already has on the team.

The commercial aviation industry is facing a pilot shortage as well, estimating a shortfall of some 24,000 pilots in 2026. Much like the military, many airlines are offering signing bonuses up to $50,000, retention incentives totaling $100,000, and Delta Air Lines recently increased retirement contributions to 18% – all to keep the pilots they do have. Ironically, in the early days of commercial aviation, most pilots came from the military. As recently as the 1980s, roughly two-thirds of all commercial airline pilots were former military; however, that ratio has dropped in recent years to about one-third.

One might think that pilot pay would be commensurate not just with skill and experience, but also with the planes (and scenarios) they’re flying. For instance, a Lockheed Martin F-35A Lightning II sits around $82.5 million, but an F-35B can soar to $109 million. The stealthy F-22 Raptor costs $143 million but might realistically top $369 million. Those are bargains compared to the B-2 Spirit Stealth Bomber, which, at over $2 billion per plane, makes it the most expensive military aircraft ever made. Meanwhile, passenger planes like Boeing’s 737 and Airbus’s A320 cost between $50 million and $110 million, while Boeing’s 777-9 tops $442 million, effectively putting all these disparate planes at relatively similar price points.

Ultimately, it boils down to desire. If a person is possessed by that quintessential “need for speed,” and is unwaveringly duty-driven and honor-bound to serve the greater good, becoming a fighter pilot is the clear choice. However, if casually shuttling people between Newark and Des Moines without ever evading a missile lock sounds ideal, then a commercial airline pilot career path might offer better earning potential.