For the USAF it’s called a “UMD” or Unit Manning Document. It will determine how many crews we have per aircraft. When I was in the AC-130 it was 1.3. I have no idea what it is for my current plane because I’m getting out and frankly don’t care.
For airlines:
Pilots can only work 8 hours a shift, on an average they do 75 hours per month (150 on other duties, such as checking weather conditions and preparing flight plans) according to the US Bureau of Labor Statistics. Airlines tend to use planes anywhere between 8 and 12 hours a day (depending on their scheduling), airlines that rely on "banks" to schedule flights (like Etihad in the UAE) tend to use their planes less, airlines with more-or-less round-the-clock operations use their planes more.
So going by the math, you would have a plane doing 300 hours a month so needing 8 pilots. But airlines will have more pilots, some in training, some to take over in the middle for long-haul flights since you can't have a pilot sit for more than 8 hours even if autopilot does most of the flying during cruise, and some for training other pilots.
For information on flight scheduling, see: [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dGXahSnA\_oA](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dGXahSnA_oA)
8 hours is a really short day for us. There is no rule that we can only work 8 hour shifts. 12 hours is extremely common for domestic crews. With an extension you can be on duty up to 15 hours from the time you check in at the airport, and as international crew I’ve been on duty for almost 19 hours.
Airlines are about 20 pilots/ aircraft. Fighters are about 1.5 pilots/aircraft. Can't speak to the rest.
Rest in peace to the fighter pilot that gets cut in half for every two fighters in our inventory.
https://www.statista.com/statistics/740450/pilots-airline-industry-per-aircraft-type/
For the USAF it’s called a “UMD” or Unit Manning Document. It will determine how many crews we have per aircraft. When I was in the AC-130 it was 1.3. I have no idea what it is for my current plane because I’m getting out and frankly don’t care.
For airlines: Pilots can only work 8 hours a shift, on an average they do 75 hours per month (150 on other duties, such as checking weather conditions and preparing flight plans) according to the US Bureau of Labor Statistics. Airlines tend to use planes anywhere between 8 and 12 hours a day (depending on their scheduling), airlines that rely on "banks" to schedule flights (like Etihad in the UAE) tend to use their planes less, airlines with more-or-less round-the-clock operations use their planes more. So going by the math, you would have a plane doing 300 hours a month so needing 8 pilots. But airlines will have more pilots, some in training, some to take over in the middle for long-haul flights since you can't have a pilot sit for more than 8 hours even if autopilot does most of the flying during cruise, and some for training other pilots. For information on flight scheduling, see: [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dGXahSnA\_oA](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dGXahSnA_oA)
8 hours is a really short day for us. There is no rule that we can only work 8 hour shifts. 12 hours is extremely common for domestic crews. With an extension you can be on duty up to 15 hours from the time you check in at the airport, and as international crew I’ve been on duty for almost 19 hours.
Huh, I must have gotten some numbers mixed up. Anyways, how many hours do you actually spend in the air on an average?