A Look At The Hourly Pay Of US Main Airline Captains In 2026

US industrial airline pilots are among the many best-paid on the planet, with the BLS reporting that the common American pilot earned round $200,000 in 2024. Nevertheless, that single quantity hides the main hole between first-year first officers and skilled captains. The captains employed by the main US airways are sometimes a few of the best-paid within the skilled captain cadre.

So what are the salaries of main US airline captains? To start with, there is no such thing as a universally accepted definition of what constitutes a significant airline. The US Division of Transportation (DOT) usually considers 18 US airways to be main airways (17 now after the collapse of Spirit). Nevertheless, many will speak concerning the Large Three (United, Delta, American) or the Large 4 (including Southwest Airways). Arguably, Alaska (particularly after its Hawaiian acquisition) qualifies as a fifth “Large” main airline.

Delta Air Strains’ Captain Pay

Delta Air Strains claims to be the oldest US airline, and it’s within the working for being the biggest airline on the planet, relying on the metric used. It’s presently probably the most helpful publicly traded airline on the planet, with a market capitalization of round $48 billion (some airways like Emirates at the moment are publicly traded). Delta has a mainline fleet of round 1,000 plane. Of that, it’s the second-largest widebody passenger airliner fleet in the USA, together with 81 A330s, 40 A350s, and 57 Boeing 767s.

Like different main carriers, Delta tends to draw most of the most skilled captains, together with captains who’ve labored their method up by the proverbial ranks flying with regional carriers, then maybe low-cost carriers, earlier than flying with Delta. In all airways, the pay scale and the plane flown are based on expertise. So, probably the most skilled and highest-paid Captains are inclined to fly widebody plane.

In line with American Flyers, in 2026, a Yr 1 First Officer can count on to have a wage of round $117,735 flying for Delta. A Yr 6 Captain can count on to earn round $334,178, whereas senior captains with 12 years of expertise earn round $349,540. This largely aligns with wage estimates by Thrust Flight, which put 2023 Delta Yr 1 captain salaries at $313,000, Yr 5 at $323,000, and Yr 12 at $341,000. It ought to be famous that the precise pay of pilots could also be significantly larger, as bonuses, allowances, and so forth., can increase earnings by 10-30+%.

United Airways’ Captain Pay

United Airways is usually thought-about the biggest airline on the planet, though this is determined by the metric used. It has a mainline fleet of round 1,107 (the biggest on the planet), and it has the second-largest industrial passenger widebody fleet on the planet after Emirates. It’s presently the second-most-valuable publicly traded airline on the planet, with a market capitalization of round $32 billion, putting it between Delta and Ryanair.

Like Delta, United attracts most of the most skilled US industrial captains. For a lot of, flying United’s fleet of widebody plane represents the head of their income-generating profession. Some could semi-retire afterward to fly personal jets or one thing comparable at a decrease pay price and revel in a extra balanced way of life. American Flyers estimates United’s pilots have salaries barely above Delta’s. Yr 1 First Officers earn round $119,968, Yr 6 captains earn $340,756, and Yr 12 captains earn $356,443.

These are the very best captain salaries listed by American Flyers, besides these flying for the cargo airline, FedEx. It ought to be famous that this does not essentially imply United compensates its captains greater than Delta’s. Airline compensation is sophisticated and an entire bundle that not solely consists of base wage but in addition insurance coverage, typically revenue sharing, pensions, allowances, and extra.

American Airways’ Captain Pay

American Airways is without doubt one of the “Large Three” US-based airways. It operates a fleet of round 1,027 mainline plane, together with 67 Boeing 777s and 70 Boeing 787s. In contrast with the opposite two “massive” carriers, American tends to fly shorter routes, which boosts the variety of flights it operates. If the variety of flights is the metric for measuring airways, then American can be the world’s largest airline.

That mentioned, American has a relatively low market capitalization of round $9 billion, the Seventeenth-biggest on the planet, putting it behind Southwest ($20 billion) and Qantas ($10 billion). However in terms of captain salaries, American stays aggressive with the opposite main airways. American Flyers lists the First Officer (Yr 1) salaries at $117,735 (similar to Delta), Yr 6 Captain salaries at $335,680, and Yr 12 Captain salaries at $351,339.

That is the second-highest Yr 12 captain wage listed for any US industrial passenger airline after United Airways. As with Delta and United, many pilots serve the head of their flying careers flying “massive airplane, massive routes” with American. Pilots usually view captaining the 787 or 777 on trunk routes to Europe, Asia, or Australia as profession capstones after many years of development. These captains can earn $350,000-$500,000 in base pay, pushing to above $600,000 as soon as full compensation is accounted for.

Southwest’s Captain Pay

Southwest Airways is a really completely different sort of airline in contrast with the “Large Three.” Its huge fleet of over 800 plane is the fourth-largest mainline fleet on the planet, incomes it a spot within the “Large 4.” However for senior Captains, the alternatives provided by Southwest are completely different. Southwest solely operates narrowbody Boeing 737s and solely operates home routes and near-abroad leisure locations for which it might cost US {dollars}. This implies it does not fly to Canada, as a result of its system cannot settle for Canadian {dollars}.

The salaries provided by Southwest are decrease than these of the Large Three, partly due to its completely different mannequin and since it solely operates narrowbodies. A Yr 1 First Officer earns round $75,600, whereas a Yr 1 Captain earns $216,900, a Yr 5 Captain $227,700, and a Yr 12 Captain $246,600. The Yr 12 Captain salaries are much like these of smaller US-based carriers like Alaska, Frontier, JetBlue, and Spirit (when it existed).

Nevertheless, they’re under the wage vary for American, Delta, and United Yr 12 Captains flying Boeing 737 or A320 narrowbodies. These Large Three Captains are listed as having a wage within the $337,000-344,000 vary. It is also price noting that Southwest makes use of the distinctive Journey for Pay (TFP) system based mostly on the journeys/segments relatively than pure hours. This method bases compensation on distance and journey sort relatively than normal hourly “block” time. Some lists can find yourself underestimating Southwest’s pilot pay if they do not simply do TFP calculations appropriately.

Alaska Airways’ Captain Pay

Alaska Airways has grown to be a really massive provider and one with an increasing international attain. The BTS estimates Delta Air Strains has a 17.8% home market share, adopted by American Airways (17.5%), Southwest (17.0%), United Airways (16.7%), and Alaska Airways (6.3%). Add in Hawaiian Airways (1.6%), and Alaska’s share grows to round 8%.

Not solely does Hawaiian Airways function a fleet of A330 widebodies on worldwide flights throughout the Pacific, however Alaska has additionally taken over Hawaiian’s buy of Boeing 787s. Alaska is now breaking out of its Boeing 737-only mannequin (considerably much like Southwest) and is introducing worldwide long-haul flights with its newly minted Dreamliners. These widebodies entice skilled captains at larger charges, making the Alaska group considerably extra corresponding to the Large Three than Southwest on this regard.

Alaska Boeing 737 Yr 1 captains earn round $203,400 in base annual wage, Yr 5 captains earn $210,600, and Yr 12 captains earn $239,400. As a part of the Alaska Group, Hawaiian A321 Yr 1 Captains earn $227,700, Yr 5 $234,900, and Yr 12 $247,500. It’s unclear how a lot skilled captains flying the 787s and A330s earn, however it’s doubtless considerably larger.

The Cargo Airways’ Captain Pay

Lastly, it’s insightful to think about how a lot skilled pilots earn when flying for the main freighter airways: FedEx and UPS. Notice that DHL is a German airline and so is excluded. What’s notable about these two cargo airways is that they’re very widebody-aircraft heavy. FedEx operates a fleet of 476 plane, of which 50 are widebody A300s, 151 are Boeing 767s, 59 are Boeing 777s, and 29 are (parked) MD-11s.

UPS operates a fleet of 272 plane, of which 52 are A300s, 43 are Boeing 747s, and 102 are Boeing 767s. UPS’s fleet of MD-11s was quickly decommissioned after the November 2025 UPS Airways Flight 2976 crash. In line with American Flyers, FedEx Yr 1 First Officers earn $82,690, significantly greater than their UPS counterparts, who’ve base salaries of $65,275.

Nevertheless, this flips with FedEx Yr 6 Captains incomes $287,566, significantly lower than the reported $370,216 wage for UPS counterparts. For Yr 12 Captains, the hole stays at $300,859 for FedEx Captains and $687,454 for UPS Captains. It’s unclear why UPS Captains (represented by the Impartial Pilots Affiliation) have managed to barter larger present contractual hourly charges on the senior captain stage than their FedEx counterparts, despite the fact that the plane flown are broadly comparable. That mentioned, FedEx does have a bigger mixture of narrowbody plane.