Compensation for business aviation professionals in the U.S. rose 8% this year, according to an industry survey analysis by AirComp Calculator. This ahead of a 6% industry pay increase in 2025 and more than double the year-to-date 3.4% national rate tracked by the Bureau of Labor Statistics,
Pay increases varied widely by role. Non-flying aviation managers saw the largest gain, jumping almost 20%, while senior flight attendants got 11% and maintenance assistants 10%. Chief pilots gained 9% and technicians 7%. Flying directors of aviation, the highest-paid group, got just 3.5% despite strong demand for their skills, AirComp Calculator founder Chris Broyhill told AIN.
The biggest surprise in the 2026 data came at the top of the market, Broyhill said. Pilots of the Gulfstream G700 and G800 now earn about a 20% premium over pilots of other jets in the same class. Broyhill attributes that to demand and a type rating that costs about $150,000.
“You lose that person, then you’ve got to pay another 150 grand to replace them,” he said. “So people are saying, ‘You know what? We’re going to suck it up, and we are going to pay out the wazoo to keep these people here.’” In one industry survey, G700 captains averaged about $395,000 in total cash compensation, with the 90th percentile reaching about $495,000.
Flight departments paying at the 50th percentile risk losing staff unless they offer additional incentives, Broyhill said, and a predictable schedule tops that list. He has seen people turn down raises of $20,000 to $30,000 to stay at companies where they knew they could reliably take time off.
Rotating crews or budgeting for contract pilots can give employees more reliable days off, he said. Workplace culture matters, too. “What you pay is a function of your culture,” he said. “It’s inescapable.”
Dallas-based AirComp Calculator draws on three industry compensation surveys, among them NBAA’s, and adjusts for local labor markets. Participation has slipped, Broyhill said, and one survey lost 63 participating organizations this year, which can make pay appear to fall when it hasn’t.
When one survey shows pay for a position falling while another shows it rising, he uses the positive number for his data analysis. He also never estimates growth below the 3.4% national rate, which business aviation pay has beaten in each of the past five years, he said. Broyhill urges flight departments to take part in as many surveys as they can, calling it “almost like a civic duty.”
“Not participating in a survey, you’re not only doing yourself a disservice, but you’re also doing the industry a disservice, because by not providing the data and not making the data set more robust, you make it harder for everybody to pay well,” he said.
On Thursday at NBAA-BACE 2026, he and Aviation Personnel International CEO Sheryl Barden will lead a “Beyond the Survey: Decoding Job Titles, Roles and Compensation Trends in Aviation” session from 11 a.m. to noon in room W219 at the Las Vegas Convention Center West Hall.
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