72600 Air pilots, flight engineers and flying instructors

What this occupation covers

Air pilots fly fixed wing aircraft and helicopters to provide air transportation and other services such as crop spraying and aerial surveying. Flight engineers assist air pilots with monitoring, troubleshooting and maintenance of aircraft systems and with pre- and post-flight inspections. Flying instructors teach flying techniques and procedures to student and licensed pilots. Air pilots, flight engineers and flight instructors are employed by airline and air freight companies, flying schools and by other public and private sector aircraft operators.

Official main duties

The NOC profile lists 14 main duties for this code.

• Conduct pre-flight inspection of aircraft and check passenger and cargo distribution to ensure that weight and balance specifications are met
• Coordinate flight activities with ground crews and air-traffic control, inform crew members of flight and test procedures and direct activities of aircraft crew during flights
• Contact control towers for takeoff clearances, arrival instructions and other information
• Conduct in-flight tests and monitor functioning of aircraft equipment and systems during flights, maintain communications with flight dispatchers and weather forecasters and respond to and report in-flight emergencies and malfunctions
• Prepare flight evaluation reports
• Train pilots to use new equipment, or prepare them for examinations to revalidate or upgrade existing licences
• May fly new or experimental planes to examine their flight performance and safety
• May participate in search and rescue operations, forest firefighting, aerial surveying, crop dusting and other services.
• Inspect aircraft prior to takeoff according to pre-flight checklist and verify passenger and cargo distribution to ensure that weight and balance specifications are met
• Assist air pilots in monitoring aircraft systems, equipment and functions during flight
• Make in-flight repairs, such as replacing fuses and adjusting instruments, and follow emergency procedures to compensate for equipment malfunction or failure
• Perform post-flight inspections, record equipment malfunctions and corrective actions taken during flight and report required repairs to ground maintenance personnel.
• Instruct student pilots in procedures and techniques of flying aircraft and in ground-school subjects such as navigation, radio procedures and flying regulations
• Train licensed pilots for additional certification.

Do not copy these lines into your reference letter. The letter has to describe what you actually did, in your employer’s words. DUTYPROOF flags wording lifted from the NOC as something to review, and an officer reading a letter that mirrors the NOC reads it the same way.

What DUTYPROOF screens for

This is DUTYPROOF’s screening threshold, not IRCC’s decision. For this NOC, screening requires at least 3 of its 14 official duties to be evidenced in your own words, plus the required letter elements. IRCC asks that you performed the actions in the occupation’s lead statement and a substantial number of its main duties — so treat the duty coverage as the number that matters, not the badge.

Codes this one is confused with

The NOC profile names these itself. Choosing the wrong code of a look-alike pair is the most common way genuine work experience fails to establish eligibility.

• 72601 Air traffic controllers and related occupations
• 41210 College and other vocational instructors

Excluded from this code

• Air traffic controllers and related occupations (See 72601 Air traffic controllers and related occupations)
• Ground school instructor (See 41210 College and other vocational instructors)

Job titles filed under this code

A title on this list does not by itself put your experience in this code — the duties in your letter decide that.

aerial crop duster · aerial crop dusting service contractor · aerial sprayer · aerial survey flight supervisor · aerial survey pilot · air navigator · air patrol pilot · air pilot · air pilot and flight engineer supervisor · air pilots and navigators supervisor · airline pilot · airline pilot instructor · airline test pilot · airplane pilot · bush pilot · business aircraft pilot · captain - air transport · charter pilot · check pilot · chief flying instructor · chief pilot · chief pilot - air transport · commercial airline pilot · commercial pilot

Employment requirements

• Pilots and flight engineers
• Completion of secondary school and graduation from a certified flying or aviation school are required.
• A university degree or college diploma may be required.
• A commercial pilot's licence (more than 200 hours of flight experience) or an air transport pilot's licence (more than 1500 hours of flight experience) is required.
• Additional licences or endorsements to fly different types of aircraft are required.
• Flight engineers require a flight engineer licence issued by Transport Canada.
• Structured training is provided by employers.
• Flight instructors
• A commercial pilot's or an air transport pilot's licence is required.
• Transport Canada ratings and endorsements to provide instructions on different types of aircraft are required.