Salary Or Hourly? – How Cargo Pilot Pay Works. As there is a wide range in the types of airplanes and operations in cargo flying there is also a range in the way cargo pilots are paid. UPS Access Point® location at 777 NORWICH RD, PLAINFIELD, CT Pick Up & Drop Off for Pre-Packaged Pre-Labeled Shipments For customers that have pre-packaged, pre-labeled shipments, our UPS. Track United Parcel Service (5X) #777 flight from Houston Bush Int'ctl to Muhammad Ali Intl Flight status, tracking, and historical data for United Parcel Service 777 (5X777/UPS777) including scheduled, estimated, and actual departure and arrival times.

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Flying cargo may not be as glamorous as flying people. But cargo pilots can make just as much money. Cargo flying has a diversity of operations and schedules to suit most employment needs and levels of pilot experience. Continue reading for a guide to cargo pilot salaries, other compensation, and an overview of the employment market.

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Salary Or Hourly? – How Cargo Pilot Pay Works

As there is a wide range in the types of airplanes and operations in cargo flying there is also a range in the way cargo pilots are paid.

Some smaller cargo operations will pay pilots either an hourly or daily rate for working but with no pay or minimum work guarantees.

The most common method of paying entry level cargo pilots is on a salary. These pilots are then required to work a set amount of time for their employer. Pilots in these environments have less control over their own scheduling than what is normal for a professional pilot.

Larger cargo operations and those employers that operate jets typically pay pilots an hourly rate based on a rig accrual system. These operations will have minimum monthly hour guarantees.

Pilot Pay Rig System

A ‘rig’ is a minimum hourly credit a pilot earns for time spent at work. The rig system has evolved over the years to address the complicated nature of pilot schedules and to ensure pay protections for pilots for the time they spent being available to work.

Pilots that work within a rig system are assigned trips. These trips can be single days or all the way up to multi-week trips. A pilot is considered on the same trip until they have spent time in their home base off the clock – with no duty or contact requirements.

Trip Rig Pay

Trip rig pay is based on time spent away from base while on a trip. This begins when the pilot checks in for their trip until they go home at the end of the trip. On a trip rig of 4:1 a pilot would earn one hour of pay for each 4 hours spent away from base. Most pilot work agreements have rigs set from 1:3 to 1:5.

For an example based on a 4:1 rig – if a pilot is gone on a three day trip and is away from base for 48 total hours that pilot would earn 12 hours of pay. This is determined by dividing 48 hours by 4.

Duty Rig Pay

Duty rig is based on the clock hours a pilot spends working while on a trip. During a multi-day trip pilots will have down time where they are free from work duties. Most duty rigs range 1:1.5 to 1:3.

For our example trip from above, based on a 2:1 duty rig – we’ll take the three day trip mentioned and say the pilot was on duty and working for 8 hours on day 1, 12 hours on day 2, and 8 hours on day three for a total of 28 hours of duty. The pilot would earn 14 hours of duty rig credit.

Block Rig Pay

Block rig pay is based on actual time flying . Most block rigs are 1:1.

In the same three day trip example – we’ll say the pilot was in the air for 5 hours on day 1, 8 hours on day 2, and 5 hours on day 3 for a total of 18 hours. The pilot would earn 18 hours of block rig credit on this trip.

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Determining Actual Credit Earned Based On Rigs

With most pilot employment agreements, pilots earn hourly credits based on the highest of the rigs within a trip. That is, whichever rig would earn them the most money would take priority for that trip. In the example trip above 18 hours of block rig was the highest credit earned and would be controlling for the trip. The pilot would earn 18 hours of pay for that trip.

Per Diem and Other Pay Adders

Many cargo employers will have other pay adders on top base pilot salaries or hourly rates. These can include per diem, override pay for more complicated or difficult operations, or additional hours setup to encourage pilots to help employers meet staffing needs.

Cargo Pilot Per Diem

Per diem is a meant to cover pilot expenses while on a trip. Employers usually pay for accommodations and transportation while on a trip – per diem is meant for food and miscellaneous expenses.

When per diem is an hourly rate it is earned at a 1:1 ratio based on time away from base. Some employers will pay per diem based on a daily rate for days spent away from base.

When employers have international operations they will often have a domestic per diem rate and a higher international per diem rate.

Override Pay

Override pay is added on top of normal salary or hourly rates to compensate pilots for more difficult operations. Sometimes this difficulty comes from being further from home rather than just more complicated flying.

Pilots earn override pay as an addition to their normal hourly or daily rate.

Other Pay Adders

Pilot employers will have other pay adders to encourage pilots to help them with operations. Examples of some common pay adders:

• Additional pay for working into a scheduled day off
• Additional pay for coming into work on a scheduled day off
• Additional pay if a pilot is drafted (forced) into working on a day off
• Additional pay for working above a set threshold of days in a week or month

Work Rules Impact on Cargo Pilot Pay

Work rules as part of a pilot agreement can be just as important for pay as rigs or hourly/salary rates. Rules that protect pay or provide pay adders mentioned above can have significant impact on a pilot’s take home pay.

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For an example, lets say a pilot is getting paid based on a rig system and is flying a trip being paid out on block time rig. But a flight gets cancelled for maintenance or weather issues. If the pilot works under an agreement that has a pay guarantee they will still get credit for the flight. Absent these protections and pilots will get sporadic pay cuts based on circumstances outside their control.

Pilots that have pay adders set by employment agreements can be confident in getting extra pay for working the circumstances that earn it. Absent an employment agreement pilots can face changing goal lines from penny-pinching employers.

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Entry Level Cargo Pilot Salaries

Cargo pilot jobs exist in various tiers. At the top are large-jet operators spanning the globe. These operations use airplanes similarly equipped as legacy airline airplanes and the pilots earn similar compensation. Getting to the top rung of the cargo pilot career ladder takes many years.

At the bottom rung of cargo pilot flying is entry level positions for low hour pilots. These positions are often worked instead of regional airline flying and can provide a good path to flying for either the top tier cargo pilot employers or legacy/major airlines.

Tables below are salaries for several entry level cargo pilot employers. This isn’t all-inclusive but is intended to give a broad overview of available salaries.

Entry Level Cargo Pilot Salary – Multicrew Airplanes

Year	Ameriflight EMB12- Captain	Ameriflight EMB12- First Officer	Mountain Air Cargo ATR - Captain	Mountain Air Cargo ATR - First Officer	Empire Airlines ATR - Captain	Empire Airlines ATR - First Officer	Air Cargo Carriers (Shorts) - Captain	Air Cargo Carriers (Shorts) - First Officer
15	90000	37450	108613	64196	118716	60788	72212	33765
14	90000	37450	106745	62936	116376	60788	72212	33765
13	90000	37450	104109	61702	114140	60788	72212	33765
12	90000	37450	103105	60492	111852	60788	72212	33765
11	88000	37450	101331	59306	109668	60788	72212	33765
10	86500	37450	99589	58144	107536	60788	72212	33765
9	85000	37450	97876	57004	105404	60788	70451	33765
8	82000	37450	96192	55344	103376	60788	68732	33765
7	79500	37450	94538	53732	101348	60788	67056	33765
6	78500	37450	92912	52166	99320	60788	65420	33765
5	77000	37450	91314	50647	97396	60788	63825	33765
4	76000	36380	89744	49172	95472	59280	61370	32781
3	75000	35310	88200	47740	93600	57876	59010	31827
2	74000	34240	86200	46350	91780	55120	56740	30900
1	70000	31000	84200	45000	90012	52520	44240	30000

Entry Level Cargo Pilot Salary – Single Pilot Turbine

Year	Ameriflight B1900	Ameriflight BE99	Mountain Air Cargo C208	Empire Airlines C208	Wiggins C208	CSA Air C208
15	86400	64200	64196	69940	67610	65480
14	86400	64200	62936	68536	66296	64196
13	86400	64200	61702	67184	64983	62936
12	86400	64200	60492	65780	64200	61702
11	84000	63130	59306	64376	63130	60492
10	82800	61525	58144	63024	61525	59306
9	81600	59920	57004	61256	59920	58144
8	79800	58850	55344	59540	58850	57004
7	78600	57780	53732	57824	57780	55344
6	76200	56710	52166	57148	56710	53732
5	74000	54750	50647	55900	54570	52166
4	72000	53500	49172	54912	53500	50647
3	71000	52500	47740	54392	52430	49172
2	69000	51000	46350	53030	49755	47740
1	67000	50000	45000	52468	46920	46350

Cargo Pilot Salaries – Jet

Tables below are salaries for several cargo pilot employers that operate large jets. This isn’t all-inclusive but is intended to give a broad overview of available pay rates.

Captain Hourly Pay Rates

B747/B777 Hourly Pay – Captain

Year	Atlas Air	Fedex (777)	UPS	Kalitta Air
15	213	313	309	273
14	213	310	305	273
13	213	307	302	273
12	213	305	300	273
11	207	301	297	267
10	201	298	293	260
9	195	295	290	254
8	190	293	289	247
7	184	292	288	240
6	179	291	287	234
5	173	290	285	227
4	168	289	284	218
3	163	288	283	211
2	159	287	283	183
1	154	258	46	143

B757 Hourly Pay – Captain

Year	Fedex	UPS	ATI
15	270	309	246
14	267	305	246
13	264	302	246
12	262	300	246
11	259	297	241
10	256	293	235
9	253	290	229
8	251	289	223
7	250	288	217
6	249	287	211
5	247	285	205
4	246	284	197
3	245	283	191
2	243	283	165
1	219	46	129

B767 Hourly Pay – Captain

Year	Atlas Air	Fedex	UPS	ABX Air	ATI	Kalitta Air
15	179	313	309	219	246	273
14	179	310	305	219	246	273
13	179	307	302	219	246	273
12	179	305	300	219	246	273
11	174	301	297	216	241	267
10	169	298	293	214	235	260
9	164	295	290	212	229	254
8	159	293	289	210	223	247
7	154	292	288	208	217	240
6	150	291	287	206	211	234
5	146	290	285	204	205	227
4	141	289	284	195	197	218
3	137	288	283	180	191	211
2	133	287	283	168	165	183
1	129	258	46	156	129	143

Misc. Aircraft Hourly Pay – Captain

Year	Fedex A300 & MD11 - Captain	UPS A300 & MD11 - Captain
15	313	309
14	310	305
13	307	302
12	305	300
11	301	297
10	298	293
9	295	290
8	293	289
7	292	288
6	291	287
5	290	285
4	289	284
3	288	283
2	287	283
1	258	46

First Officer Hourly Pay Rates

B747/B777 Hourly Pay – First Officer

Year	Atlas Air	Fedex (777)	UPS	Kalitta Air
15	149	222	219	184
14	149	220	217	184
13	149	219	216	184
12	149	218	215	184
11	145	212	209	181
10	141	207	203	177
9	137	201	198	173
8	133	197	194	168
7	129	193	190	163
6	123	189	186	159
5	117	186	183	154
4	111	182	179	148
3	105	178	175	144
2	100	178	175	124
1	80	79	46	111

B757 Hourly Pay – First Officer

Ups 777f

Year	Fedex	UPS	ATI
15	195	219	166
14	194	217	166
13	193	216	166
12	192	215	166
11	186	209	163
10	180	203	160
9	173	198	156
8	169	194	152
7	166	190	147
6	162	186	143
5	159	183	139
4	155	179	134
3	152	175	130
2	146	175	112
1	76	46	76

B767 Hourly Pay – First Officer

Year	Atlas Air	Fedex	UPS	ABX Air	ATI	Kalitta Air
15	125	222	219	153	166	184
14	125	220	217	153	166	184
13	125	219	216	153	166	184
12	125	218	215	153	166	184
11	122	212	209	149	163	181
10	118	207	203	146	160	177
9	114	201	198	142	156	173
8	111	197	194	139	152	168
7	108	193	190	135	147	163
6	103	189	186	132	143	159
5	98	186	183	128	139	154
4	93	182	179	121	134	148
3	89	178	175	110	130	144
2	84	178	175	101	112	124
1	80	79	46	52	76	111

Misc. Aircraft Hourly Pay – First Officer

Year	Fedex A300 & MD11 - Captain	UPS A300 & MD11 - Captain
15	222	219
14	220	217
13	219	216
12	218	215
11	212	209
10	207	203
9	201	198
8	197	194
7	193	190
6	189	186
5	186	183
4	182	179
3	178	175
2	178	175
1	79	46

Cargo Pilot Employment Benefits

Most cargo pilot jobs include employment benefits. These include standard benefits such as health insurance, paid time off, and retirement accounts. Many cargo pilot employers have also arranged travel benefits with airlines for employees and their immediate families.

As is common, the level of benefits available varies by employer. Where the differences are especially apparent is in retirement plans. Some cargo employers offer defined benefit plans (pension) while others offer defined contribution plans (401K). And some cargo pilot employers will offer a combination of both defined benefit and defined contribution.

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Cargo Pilot’s Paid Time Off

Most cargo pilots earn paid time off. This typically ranges from 2 weeks off a year up to 5 weeks paid time off a year.

In salaried positions pilots are typically awarded time off as in any other job. They earn paid time off (PTO) hours that are then applied towards days taken off from work. Some employers will provide dedicated vacation and sick time while other employers will have a combined pool of PTO hours.

Paid Time Off In the Rig System

Paid time off is a more difficult concept when working within an hourly rig system.

When a pilot calls in as too sick to work the trip they are calling in sick for is dropped off their schedule with hours then deducted from their bank to cover the credit hours that trip is worth.

If a pilot calls off sick during a trip the trip is recalculated based on the difference between what the pilot earned to that point versus what the trip was worth, with the difference being deducted from their sick bank.

Pilots are typically awarded vacation periods based on calendar weeks. When a schedule is assigned to a pilot they will have any trips touching that week dropped off their schedule with the hourly value of those trips deducted from their accrued PTO hours.

Some employers will allow pilots to split up parts of a trip to drop when staffing allows.

Flight Experience to Work As a Cargo Pilot

Some cargo pilot jobs are considered entry level positions while others are considered top tier jobs that pilots work through their career to obtain. As such the flight and work experience needed to qualify for a position varies significantly.

Entry Level Cargo Pilot Job Requirements

Most entry level cargo pilot employers operate under part 135 of the federal aviation regulations. Because of this they must adhere to flight experience requirements for part 135.

Part 135 – Visual Flight Rules

Operations that only take place in visual flight rules are limited to flying outside of clouds and not under instrument flight plans. These are more common in bush flying. This type of employer isn’t as common for cargo pilots.

To operate in part 135 visual flight rules a pilot must hold a commercial pilot license with instrument rating.

Minimum flight experience for Part 135 (VFR):

• At least 500 hours of flight time
• At least 100 hours of cross country flight time
• At least 25 hours of night cross country flight time

Part 135 – Instrument Flight Rules

This is a more common cargo pilot position as it allows operators to fly in all weather conditions.

To operate in part 135 instrument flight rules a pilot must hold a commercial pilot license with instrument rating.

Minimum flight experience for Part 135 (IFR):

• At least 1,200 hours of flight time
• At least 500 hours of cross country flight time
• At least 100 hours of night time
• At least 75 hours of actual or simulated instrument time. At least 50 hours of this must be in flight

Requirements Might Be Higher Than Regulation Minimums

Depending on the employment environment, entry level cargo employers might be able to be more selective than the minimum regulated flight experience requirements. They will default to competitive minimums – what is required to be of equal or greater experience than the average applicant.

Employers may also have higher experience requirements for different airplane types – especially for faster/larger/more complicated turbine airplanes.

Cargo Pilot Jobs Flying Jets

Most cargo airplane operators that use jets operate under part 121 of the federal aviation regulations. These regulations require pilots flying in this environment to have an airline transport pilot rating – even for first officers. Some operators may consider applicants with commercial pilot certificates if they are at or above airline transport pilot rating minimum experience requirements.

The top tier of cargo pilot jobs have a lot applicants for their open positions, even during pilot shortages. The competitive minimum time requirements for these employers are almost always well above the minimum requirements they need for regulations. Pilots wishing to apply to the top tier cargo employers will need to work as pilots for many years before having enough experience for consideration.

In the current pilot job market some of the employers that operate large jets but wouldn’t necessarily be considered as top tier employers will now consider pilots with less flight experience than in years past. If you are wanting to fly a large cargo jet it would be good to check with these employers rather than discounting your current experience levels.

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