First Officer H-1B wages
Filings decided July 2025 to June 2026. Most are classified as Airline Pilots, Copilots, and Flight Engineers (SOC 53-2011).
Employers filed 36 wage applications for First Officer jobs from July 2025 to June 2026, across 7 employers. The median offered wage was $243,360, exactly the government's prevailing wage, the legal minimum, for the job. Kalitta Air, LLC filed the most (10, median $243,360).
- Filings
- 36
- Positions covered
- 62
- Employers
- 7
- Median offered
- $243,360
- Median prevailing wage
- $225,680
- Filings since FY2020
- 322
- Median offer change since FY2022
- +127%
Offered wage since 2020
The median wage offered for First Officer jobs rose 127%, from $107,224 in fiscal 2022 to $243,360 in fiscal 2026 so far. In fiscal 2026 it sat exactly on the prevailing wage. Filings peaked in fiscal 2022, with 154 filings.
Middle half of offered wagesMedian offered wageMedian prevailing wageFilings per year
Fiscal years run October to September. Fiscal 2026 is still running: these figures cover October 2025 to June 2026.
First Officer by fiscal year
| Fiscal year | Filings | Median offered | vs year before | Median prevailing | vs prevailing |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 (Oct to Jun) | 21 | $243,360 | no change | $243,360 | at the minimum |
| 2025 | 48 | $243,360 | no change | $181,064 | at the minimum |
| 2024 | 44 | $243,360 | +17.0% | $187,554 | +0.1% |
| 2023 | 50 | $208,000 | +94.0% | $162,490 | +10.9% |
| 2022 | 154 | $107,224 | −9.1% | $107,224 | at the minimum |
| 2021 | 4 | $117,894 | n/a | $117,894 | at the minimum |
| 2020 | 1 | n/a | n/a | n/a | n/a |
Employers that file for this title
Middle half of offered wagesMedian offered wageMedian prevailing wage
| Employer | Filings | Median offered | Offered range and prevailing wage | vs prevailing |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Kalitta Air, LLC | 10 | $243,360 | at the minimum | |
| Allegiant Air, LLC | 10 | $119,954 | at the minimum | |
| Frontier Airlines | 9 | $246,979 | at the minimum | |
| Piedmont Airlines, Inc. | 3 | $327,600 | at the minimum | |
Showing the 4 employers with the most filings of 7. Employers with fewer than 5 filings in total are counted but not named.
Where First Officer jobs are filed
| Worksite | Filings | Median offered | Offered range and prevailing wage | vs prevailing |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ypsilanti, MI | 10 | $243,360 | at the minimum | |
| Denver, CO | 8 | $246,979 | at the minimum | |
| Sanford, FL | 3 | $119,954 | at the minimum | |
| Punta Gorda, FL | 2 | $119,954 | at the minimum | |
| Scottsdale, AZ | 2 | $90,000 | +27.8% | |
| Appleton, WI | 1 | $119,954 | at the minimum | |
| Carolina, PR | 1 | $246,979 | at the minimum | |
| Charlotte, NC | 1 | $351,000 | at the minimum | |
| Clearwater, FL | 1 | $119,954 | at the minimum | |
| Fort Lauderdale, FL | 1 | $119,954 | at the minimum | |
| Middletown, PA | 1 | $327,600 | at the minimum | |
| Morrisville, NC | 1 | $130,000 | +1.1% | |
| Philiadelphia, PA | 1 | $327,600 | at the minimum | |
| Pittsburgh, PA | 1 | $119,954 | at the minimum | |
| Provo, UT | 1 | $119,954 | at the minimum | |
| Van Nuys, CA | 1 | $110,000 | +47.8% | |
Seniority of the jobs filed
The government assigns each job one of four wage levels. A higher level means a higher legal minimum.
What these numbers are
- They are wages employers attested to on Labor Condition Applications (Form ETA-9035), not paychecks. Bonuses and stock are not included.
- A filing is not a visa or a hire. One filing can cover several positions, and some are later withdrawn. Wage figures use certified filings only.
- The prevailing wage is the minimum the employer must pay for that job in that area, set from government wage surveys.
- 2 filings are for part-time work. Hourly wages are shown as full-time equivalents (2,080 hours a year).
Source: U.S. Department of Labor, OFLC disclosure data. How we clean and count it.