I am a Nigerian planning to pursue piloting as a career. I am wondering how much pilots earn? Please enlighten me.
Answer
A pilot is one of the best paid people in Nigeria. While it requires money and dedication to complete piloting course, the pay is extremely good.
Generally there are number of variables that determines what an airline pilot earn monthly such as:
- Years of experience
- Type ratings
- Flying hours
- The airline
- Rank of the pilot
A fresh pilot from aviation school with a NCAA Commercial Pilot License (CPL), without type rating, may find it difficult to secure a job in Nigeria. If the person manages to get a job with an airline that would send him to a type rating course, the person may earn around 200K to 500K naira monthly depending on the airline.
Someone with type rating (a first officer) may earn around 330K to 900K. Again this depends on the airline. The aircraft he’s rated on, and his flying hours.
Finally, a captain (the authority on the aircraft) would earn around 500K to 1.5M monthly. The specific salary again depends on the airline. The aircraft he’s the captain on ( a Cessna captain can’t earn same with B737 captain).
Airline Pilots abroad can earn up to $10,000 – $25000 monthly (that’s 2-5million assuming exchange rate to be 1:200). Because you cannot compare Emirates pilot with local Air peace pilots.
If you are considering flying as a career in Nigeria; make sure you have a plan for employment after spending the millions they pay at NCAT for training. Right now, very few aircraft are flying in Nigeria. Airlines are closing down. If you’re getting a scholarship fine, grab it.
But given a choice between piloting, law, education and business related courses, medicine is the most ideal course to take in Nigeria. This is because it has more opportunities than most of the courses in Nigerian universities.
