Airline Pilot

An airline pilot flies big airplanes that carry people to faraway places. Every day, they sit in the cockpit—a small room at the front of the plane full of buttons, screens, and levers—and work with a co-pilot to check everything before takeoff. They talk to people in control towers on the radio, read weather reports, and plan the safest route through the sky. For example, if there's a storm ahead, the pilot steers the plane around it so everyone stays comfortable.

Pilots help families visit grandparents who live far away, take people to new cities for work, and bring travelers home after a vacation. They practice for years to learn how to keep everyone safe, even when the weather is tricky or something unexpected happens. Every time a plane lands smoothly and passengers walk off smiling, it's because the pilot paid close attention and made good decisions up in the cockpit.