What does a second officer do?
Sophia Koch
Updated on April 22, 2026
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Furthermore, what is the difference between first officer and second officer?
In aviation, the first officer (FO) is the second pilot (also referred to as the co-pilot) of an aircraft. The first officer is second-in-command of the aircraft to the captain, who is the legal commander. The senior first officer will then sit in the left seat when the captain takes a rest.
Also Know, can second officers log flight time? A second officer is usually a flight engineer, and as such will log flight engineer time only. As well, with most 3-seat aircraft going away, there is probably not a long term career option for someone just getting into that job. It is not a piloting job at all, and is not looked at as such by hiring airlines.
Consequently, how much do second officer pilots make?
According to an airline industry salary survey conducted by FltOps.Com, the average starting salary of a co-pilot is $36,283 per year. However, this varies considerably by airline. The lowest reported starting salary for a co-pilot, $21,600 per year, was reported at US Airways.
Do pilots get paid well?
Most well-known airlines actually pay more than the average, Glassdoor data shows: Delta Air Lines pilots make about $137,500 annually, while American Airlines pilots come in around $141,200. But United Airlines beats them both, coming in at an average pilot salary of $178,100.
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