Now that the 2025 data have landed, we have one more set for the trend line providing a good opportunity to look back and see what compensation trends are emerging and what it might mean for the future. In the following several graphs, we’ll examine the compensation trends from 2020 through 2025 for business aviation overall, and for some of the positions that exist within corporate aviation departments.
First, we mapped the average business aviation (BA) compensation growth against the growth of private industry compensation for the 2020-2025 period, as shown in the figure above. Keep in mind that for this graph and those that follow, we’re mapping growth rates, so even when the rates shown are lower, compensation is still increasing, just at a slower rate. Also, the compensation level mapped is total cash compensation, which consists of base salary plus yearly bonus. There are a few observations to make about the graph in Figure 1. First, the growth of BA compensation has been significantly more volatile than the corresponding growth in private industry, and second, BA compensation trends don’t always follow those in private industry. Finally, overall BA compensation increased by an average of 5.95% annually over the five-year period, while private industry compensation rose by an average of 3.78%.
Now, let’s examine some of the various positions within flight departments. All business aviation compensation data is computed using weighted averages to ensure equal treatment of individual datapoints across multiple surveys. We’ve also included incumbent counts for each position in each year. First, in Figure 2 above, we’ll examine leadership positions, including director of aviation (both flying and non-flying), chief pilot, and director of maintenance. As you can see, except for a dip in 2023, those in leadership positions have enjoyed an average annual growth rate of 6.88% in total cash compensation.
From leadership, we turn to pilots: senior captain, captain, and first officer. In Figure 3, we observe an average annual growth rate of 6.08%, but a notable dip in the 2022 data. We also see a downturn in 2025.
Figure 4 above shows the rate of compensation growth for maintenance personnel: maintenance manager/supervisor, maintenance technician, and line-service technician. While the average annual rate of growth at 4.33%, is less than that of the pilots, the overall shape of the graphs is similar.
Figure 5 shows the rate of compensation growth for scheduling personnel: flight coordinator/office manager and flight coordinator/scheduler. The average annual growth rate is 4.37%.
Finally, in Figure 6, we arrive at the in-flight service personnel, including senior flight attendants and flight attendants. While we have the second-highest average annual growth rate at 6.64%, we can also see that the trend line is angling downward, unlike the other employee groups, which are trending upward.
So, what observations and conclusions can we derive from this data?
First, while compensation growth has been constant during the five-year period, it has also been somewhat erratic due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Notice that every graph has a sharp dip in either 2022 or 2023. For most line positions, this dip occurred immediately after the COVID-19 pandemic, in 2022. For the leadership and flight attendant positions, the dip took place in 2023, during the COVID recovery timeframe. The average for all positions captures both of these dips, with the initial one in 2022, followed by another lower growth rate in 2023 as the various positions began to recover. These dips provide a graphic illustration of what all of us suspected in the wake of the pandemic.
Second, 2024 was the post-COVID recovery year. In the wake of airline hiring and a return to more stable economic conditions, 2024 was the year when all positions showed significant growth as flight operations attempted to return to normalcy and recover from the financial havoc of the previous two years.
Finally, 2025 shows comp growth slowing across the board. Wage growth in the private sector is slowing, and with it, wage growth in the business aviation industry. That doesn’t mean that wage growth has stopped—it hasn’t. Wages in the private sector and business aviation will continue to grow, just at a slower rate. In short, I believe the compensation correction that everyone has been waiting for and speculating about has officially occurred.
What does this mean for the future? Good question. The major airlines are resuming their hiring processes for pilots, and business aviation OEMs are continuing to deliver new business aircraft. The conditions that create demand for skilled personnel are still in place. Bonus depreciation is now a permanent fixture in the tax code, and the national management companies continue to advertise positions for business aviation personnel on a regular basis. I believe we will still see wage growth as we go forward into 2026, just not in the larger increments we’ve seen in the past. Time will tell.
