“UAS Pilot” was more accurate, but it only brought up three legitimate results.“Drone Pilot” shows a median salary of $79K, but it is somewhat inflated due to manned pilots being included Glassdoors calculations.We did some salary research and tested a number of search terms on Glassdoor, coming away with the following insights: However, we still want to give you a general idea of what type of income drone pilots can expect. Salaries vary based on employer and industry. There’s not a straight answer to how much money drone pilots make. Getting down to the nuts and bolts, let’s see what it pays to fly a drone for hire. Of these directories and networks, one of the most prolific is DroneBase-an online service that provides clients with vetted drone pilots in their area. We’ve put together a list of certified drone pilot directories and national drone networks here, where you can submit your information and get listed. Freelance services like Upwork and Fiverr are humming with work for drones operators, but there are drone-specific hiring and listing sites as well. For freshly minted drone pilots, getting their name on the market can be difficult. Client-based/Freelance Drone Pilotsįreelance and client-based work is a hotbed of drone pilot activity. You can check out an example of a successful droneprenuer and her drone services business in our interview with Rachel Gilmore of Florida ProFly. Droneprenuers can create a business around aerial services such as GIS surveying and mapping, thermal imaging, security surveillance, and inspecting just to name a few. More and more industries are beginning to realize the value drones can offer, from agriculture to telecommunications. Someone comfortable buying a factory refurbished drone can be up for even less.Īn additional draw of the droneprenuer avenue is the wide range of drone services there are to choose from when deciding what offerings to incorporate into their business model. After the small cost of obtaining a Part 107 certification and purchasing a quality unit, a person can start up drone photography/videography business for well under $2,000. Professional-grade drones are available to just about anyone from dozens of popular retailers. The beauty of setting up your own drone business is that the start-up costs are fairly low. If you decide to go it alone, you will need to secure a commercial drone pilot license, business license, insurance, and a client base. Setting up your own aerial services business is not something to dive into without careful consideration, but it can provide satisfying financial gains for the person who does it right. With all that competition, this leads many drone pilots to go into business for themselves rather than compete on job boards. The FAA has issued nearly 200,000 Part 107 certificates. The rising demand for certified drone pilots is matched, or even exceed by, a growing supply. Image Source: UAVAIR, Flickr Self-Employed Droneprenuers Our drone jobs guide takes a close look at the top 11 sectors where drone pilots are finding work. According to a 2018 report by Skyward, some of the sectors where drone adoption is growing most are Construction & Engineering, Government, and Transportation & Warehousing. More companies are adopting drone use into their daily operations and finding themselves in need of certified drone pilots. These examples represent opportunities for professionals already established within a certain career field to find work flying drones. In another example, public safety organizations are setting up drone programs and training their officers to fly drones for search and rescue missions. In some cases, larger companies may build multi-person teams of drone technologists to not only fly drones, but to also manage drone operations and process the data collected. In industries where drone adoption is growing, companies are establishing programs and full departments dedicated to drone operations.įor example, construction companies are adding in-house drone pilots to their staff to conduct aerial surveys of their work sites. Industry Professionals Operating Within a Drone Program We recognize there are other avenues for drone pilots to gain employment beyond these three categories, but these are the most common ways we see drone pilots making a living. Industry Professionals Operating Within a Drone Program.We can categorize the employment opportunities for drone pilots into three primary categories: Salaried isn’t the only way to go as a drone pilot though. Salary jobs dedicated solely to drone operation are no more than a handful nationwide. The best set of job listings yielded only a little over one hundred jobs. A quick check on a few of the leading job boards can reveal what to expect in this line of work. First, we need to address where exactly drone pilots work.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |