First Officer

The first officer is the second-in-command of a commercial aircraft, seated to the right of the captain on the flight deck, sharing equal responsibility for flying the aircraft during their designated legs while operating under the captain's overall authority. The role is simultaneously a fully qualified flying position in its own right and the primary stepping stone toward an airline captaincy.

What Is a First Officer?

Under ICAO Annex 1 and most national aviation regulations, a multi-crew aircraft operated in commercial air transport must be crewed by at least two pilots: a pilot-in-command (captain) and a co-pilot (first officer). The first officer holds a commercial pilot license with instrument rating or, in the United States under post-2013 FAA rules, a full ATP certificate. They are not a student or observer — they are a certificated aviator legally authorized to fly the aircraft and to take full command if the captain becomes incapacitated.

How It Works in Practice

In standard airline operations the two pilots alternate flying duties on a leg-by-leg basis using the "pilot flying" (PF) and "pilot monitoring" (PM) designation. On a round trip, the captain might fly the outbound leg while the first officer monitors, then the first officer flies the return. Each pilot is equally responsible for the safety of the flight regardless of who has the controls at any given moment. The PM pilot handles radio communications, reads checklists, monitors systems, and announces deviations from standard parameters while the PF focuses on aircraft control inputs.

First officers follow the same type-rating requirements as captains. A first officer on a Boeing 737 MAX holds a valid 737 type rating and has completed the same simulator training program. The difference from a captain lies in seniority, pay, and legal authority: on a U.S. airline governed by FAA Part 117 and a union contract such as an ALPA agreement, the first officer's wage is typically 50 to 70 percent of captain pay in the first few years, growing as the first officer accumulates seniority toward a captain upgrade.

Upgrade timelines vary enormously by airline and era. During aviation's growth cycles, first officers at major U.S. carriers like Delta or American upgraded to captain within 5 to 8 years of hire. During periods of contraction — post-9/11, the 2008 financial crisis — some first officers spent 12 to 15 years in the right seat waiting for a captain vacancy to bid. The current pilot shortage has dramatically compressed upgrade timelines; some regional carriers are promoting first officers to captain within 12 to 18 months of hire.

Why It Matters

The first officer is a critical redundancy in the aviation safety system. Every procedure is designed to catch errors made by either pilot; the cross-checking and challenge-response discipline enforced by the two-crew model has been one of the most important contributors to the dramatic improvement in commercial aviation safety since Crew Resource Management (CRM) was formalized in the late 1970s. NTSB and IATA analyses consistently show that breakdowns in first officer assertiveness — the "co-pilot problem" where a junior crew member fails to challenge a captain's error — are a contributing factor in many preventable accidents.

Crew Resource Management training, now mandatory at Part 121 carriers and required by EASA for all commercial operations, has transformed expectations for first officer behavior. A well-trained first officer is empowered to call out deviations, challenge decisions, and — in the most extreme circumstances — take over control from a captain who is incapacitated or making an unsafe input. Aviation psychologists distinguish between "authority gradient" and "captain authority": a steep gradient, where the captain's word is never questioned, has been implicated in accidents from Korean Air 801 in Guam (1997) to Air France 447 (2009). Flat, collaborative crew dynamics where the first officer actively monitors and speaks up are now the industry standard. The evolution of the first officer role from passive observer to assertive co-pilot represents one of the most consequential cultural changes in aviation's modern history.

Key Facts and Figures

• In the United States, FAA regulation 14 CFR Part 121 requires that all first officers on Part 121 air carrier operations hold an ATP certificate (since August 2013).
• ALPA's 78,000-pilot membership includes both captains and first officers; the union negotiates single pay scales that typically award first officers 50-75% of captain pay depending on years of service.
• The minimum rest requirement between duty periods for a first officer is identical to that for a captain under FAA Part 117: 10 hours minimum, with at least 8 consecutive hours of sleep opportunity.
• First officer salaries at U.S. major carriers ranged from approximately $80,000 (year one) to $200,000+ (senior first officer) in 2024 contracts.
• The EASA stipulates that both pilots of a multi-crew aircraft must complete the same operator proficiency check (OPC) every six months, regardless of which seat they occupy.

Related Concepts

Pilot Shortage, Airline Transport Pilot License, Seniority System, Crew Fatigue, Type Rating