Also called: Air Tanker Pilot, Smokejumper Pilot, Helitack Pilot
Flies air tankers, scoopers, or helicopters that drop water and fire retardant on wildfires.
During fire season you live near the action, waiting for a dispatch. Then you fly into smoke and wind, follow a lead plane, and drop thousands of gallons of red retardant in a line ahead of the flames. It is intense, seasonal, and deeply meaningful work.
Estimated; contract pilots are often paid by day plus flight hours during fire season.
Approximate: anchored on Bureau of Labor Statistics data for a broader job group.
Certificate, about 4 years after high school. Commercial pilot certificate and thousands of hours, often in heavy aircraft or helicopters; many are ex-military.
Ways in: Certification, Military, On-the-job training. Training cost: $60k – $150k.
Majors to look at: Aviation / Professional Pilot, Fire Science.
Growing faster than average. Growing need as wildfire seasons lengthen in the West.
Low risk for 10 years. Drones and AI help map fires; flying heavy tankers low through smoke stays human, and demand is rising.
Classes: Physics, Earth science, Algebra II.
Official data: O*NET occupation 53-2012.
Career Universe is an early version. Pay, training and AI-risk figures are estimates to start your own research, not verified facts. The research was written with AI research assistants, checked by validation scripts and spot-checked by hand. Check anything important with schools, employers and official sources. How the numbers work.