How To Become A Flight Engineer: What It Is and Career Path

What is a flight engineer and how to become one

Updated January 8, 2025

4 min read

If you are looking for a way to fly the friendly skies, then becoming a flight engineer may be the best way to get your foot in the door. Flight engineers are the ones who make sure all the instruments are operating properly on the aircraft. They assist the pilot during flight by monitoring and operating many of the systems and instruments and making any required in-flight repairs. In a three-member crew, the pilot is called the captain, the co-pilot is the first officer, and the flight engineer is the second officer.

Some other duties flight engineers perform include regulating cabin pressure, communicating with air traffic control, and overseeing fuel usage. Flight engineers are also responsible for performing a basic inspection of the engine and other mechanical systems before each flight.

However, flight engineers are not as common as they used to be. Due to advances in technology, this position has mostly been eliminated on many large aircraft. However, you still may want to use a flight engineer position as an initial step towards becoming a pilot for a commercial airline.

To become a flight engineer, you need a flight engineer (FE) license from the Federal Aviation Administration and a commercial pilot's license. Additional qualifications include at least 1,500 hours of flying experience.

ScoreFlight EngineerUS Average

Salary

6.6

Avg. Salary $85,035

Avg. Salary $59,228

Stability Level

9.8

Growth Rate 6%

Growth Rate 0.3%

Diversity

5.2

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 0.26%

Asian 2.75%

Black or African American 2.66%

Hispanic or Latino 6.94%

Unknown 5.52%

White 81.87%

Gender

female 5.30%

male 94.70%

Age - 44

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 3.00%

Asian 7.00%

Black or African American 14.00%

Hispanic or Latino 19.00%

White 57.00%

Gender

female 47.00%

male 53.00%

Age - 44

Stress Level

9.8

Stress level is very high

7.1 - high

Complexity Level

9.4

Complexity Level is advanced

7 - challenging

Work Life Balance

4.4

Work Life balance is poor

6.4 - fair

Key steps to become a flight engineer

Explore flight engineer education requirements

Most common flight engineer degrees

Associate

40.8 %

Bachelor's

40.6 %

High School Diploma

7.3 %

Start to develop specific flight engineer skills

Skills	Percentages
FAA	10.06%
Flight Operations	9.23%
Simulator	7.57%
DOD	7.33%
Combat	5.25%

Complete relevant flight engineer training and internships

Accountants spend an average of 1-3 months on post-employment, on-the-job training. New flight engineers learn the skills and techniques required for their job and employer during this time. The chart below shows how long it takes to gain competency as a flight engineer based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data and data from real flight engineer resumes.

Research flight engineer duties and responsibilities

Manage and execute all aircraft grind servicing as well as security for USAF assets abroad.
Lead several Russian inspectors during a highly-visible reentry vehicle inspection on-site inspection - commend for superb leadership
Perform operational checks on helicopter systems and subsystems to isolate and facilitate troubleshooting of malfunctions.
Modify airframe for customer options.

Prepare your flight engineer resume

When your background is strong enough, you can start writing your flight engineer resume.

You can use Zippia's AI resume builder to make the resume writing process easier while also making sure that you include key information that hiring managers expect to see on a flight engineer resume. You'll find resume tips and examples of skills, responsibilities, and summaries, all provided by Zippi, your career sidekick.

Choose From 10+ Customizable Flight Engineer Resume templates

Build a professional Flight Engineer resume in minutes. Browse through our resume examples to identify the best way to word your resume. Then choose from 10+ resume templates to create your Flight Engineer resume.

Apply for flight engineer jobs

Now it's time to start searching for a flight engineer job. Consider the tips below for a successful job search:

Browse job boards for relevant postings
Consult your professional network
Reach out to companies you're interested in working for directly
Watch out for job scams

How do flight engineers rate their job?