Cargo Pilot Jobs (2026): FedEx, UPS, Atlas, Kalitta, ABX and Feeder Airlines Compared (Minimums, Pay, Pathways)

Why cargo, and why now

Cargo flying is mostly nights, but it often pays from day one and puts you on a direct path to a widebody seat. Three things are moving in late 2026. FedEx pilots ratified a new contract in June 2026 (ALPA (Jun 2026)). UPS pilots, represented by the IPA (more than 3,400 pilots), have been in federally mediated talks since late 2025, and the IPA newsroom had not reported a deal as of Oct 30, 2026 (FreightWaves (Dec 2025, reposted by the IPA); IPA newsroom). And the IPA is backing H.R. 7191, the Fatigued Pilot Protection Act. The bill was introduced Jan 21, 2026 and would make the FAA apply Part 117 duty and rest rules to all Part 121 operations, ending the “cargo carve-out” (H.R. 7191, Fatigued Pilot Protection Act (Congress.gov); IPA newsroom). Feeder operators are hiring too: Mountain Air Cargo, for example, is advertising ATR, Cessna 208 and Cessna 408 seats on its careers page (Mountain Air Cargo pilot careers).

Every number below comes from the company’s own pilot page or posting, checked Oct 30, 2026 unless noted. Where a company doesn’t publish something, we say so.

Cargo pilot employers compared

Employer	What you fly	Minimum to apply	Published pay	Pathway
FedEx Express	More than 400 jets	ATP, 1,500 h fixed-wing, 500 h PIC in jet/qualifying turboprop (1,000 jet PIC preferred) (FedEx pilot careers, checked Oct 25)	Not published	Purple Runway via feeders (Mountain Air Cargo Purple Runway page)
UPS Airlines	Not published on the pages checked	ATP, First Class medical, 1,500 h fixed-wing, 1,000 h PIC in jet and/or multi-engine turboprop (UPS First Officer posting R26031861)	Not published	FlightPath I and II via Ameriflight (UPS FlightPath I; UPS FlightPath II)
Atlas Air	Boeing 747, 777 and 767 freighters; 20 Airbus A350F ordered in March 2026 (Atlas Air fleet page)	Not published	Not published	Not published
Kalitta Air	747-400 and 777 freighters	Unrestricted ATP ME, 1,500 h (2,000 preferred), Class 1 medical (Kalitta Air pilots page)	$117/h year 1, 64 h/month guarantee	Not published
ABX Air	Boeing 767 (FO)	Unrestricted ATP ME, 1,500 h fixed-wing, First Class medical (ABX Air pilots page)	Not published	Air Cargo Carriers captains after 2 years (ABX Air ACC Pathway Program)
Ameriflight	BE99, BE1900, SA227, EMB120, SAAB340 (Part 135)	FO from 500 h (EMB120/SAAB340, CFI required); captain from 1,200 h (BE99) (Ameriflight pilot careers)	Captain $76,503–$117,702; FO $40,922–$47,563	UPS FlightPath; United pathway (Ameriflight pilot careers)
Mountain Air Cargo	ATR 42/72, Cessna 208 and 408 (FedEx feeder)	C208 SIC 800 h; C408 SIC 900 h; ATR FO 1,500 h or R-ATP mins (Mountain Air Cargo pilot careers)	Not published	FedEx Purple Runway (Mountain Air Cargo Purple Runway page)

Published cargo pilot pay

Kalitta Air lists $117 an hour in year one with a 64-hour monthly guarantee, full flight pay from day one of training, 150% pay for flying on an off day, a 16-on/15-off schedule and a 12% 401(k) direct contribution. It also buys positive-space tickets to and from work, so pilots can live almost anywhere, including Alaska and Hawaii (Kalitta Air pilots page). The guarantee alone works out to about $89,856 a year ($117 × 64 h × 12), our estimate before any extra flying.

Ameriflight publishes annual base pay by aircraft (Ameriflight pilot careers):

Seat	Year 1	Year 12
BE99 Captain	$76,503.30	$91,135.89
BE1900 / SA227 Captain	$87,006.70	$106,995.30
EMB120 / SAAB340 Captain	$97,091.76	$117,701.65
First Officer	$40,921.76	$47,563.20 (year 5)

On top of base pay, Ameriflight lists a mileage incentive starting at $0.18 per statute mile (up $0.01 a year to $0.27), load pay, $500–$1,000 per trip for weekend flying, a $1,500/month housing stipend in El Paso, a $100,000 bonus program, a 50% 401(k) match up to 5%, and a company-paid type rating. FedEx, UPS, Atlas, ABX and Mountain Air Cargo don’t publish pay on the career pages we checked. To compare against passenger airline pay, see airline pilot pay or run any hourly rate through the pilot pay calculator.

Feeder-to-major pathways

• UPS FlightPath I is for recent grads (last 24 months) or college juniors and seniors with a 3.0+ GPA and a commercial multi-engine instrument certificate. It runs 12 months as a UPS flight intern (to 500 h total time), then at least 30 months flying for Ameriflight (type rating, 1,500 h turbine PIC, ATP), then a UPS first officer interview (UPS FlightPath I).
• UPS FlightPath II is a 36-month program for Ameriflight pilots, chosen internally, who have at least 1,000 h as a turboprop captain. It includes a 24-month Ameriflight development stage and a UPS mentoring stage (minimum 1,000 h fixed-wing PIC) before the interview (UPS FlightPath II).
• FedEx Purple Runway: Mountain Air Cargo says pilots who complete the program get a guaranteed flow to FedEx, “in as little as 3 years” (Mountain Air Cargo pilot careers; Mountain Air Cargo Purple Runway page).
• ABX Air and Air Cargo Carriers: after two years as an Air Cargo Carriers captain, a recommended pilot can be hired as an ABX 767 first officer without the ABX interview, if ABX is hiring. Up to 25% of each first officer class can come from ACC captains. ACC lists captain minimums of 1,200 h total, 100 night, 75 instrument and 500 cross-country (ABX Air ACC Pathway Program).

Cargo duty and rest rules

Unless a cargo carrier opts into Part 117, domestic all-cargo Part 121 flying can run under the older §121.471: 8 hours of flight time between required rest periods, 9–11 hours of rest depending on scheduled flight time, and caps of 30 h in 7 days, 100 h a month and 1,000 h a year (14 CFR 121.471 (eCFR)). Passenger crews fly under Part 117 (14 CFR Part 117 (eCFR)). Feeder flying under Part 135 has its own limits. See the full comparison in pilot duty time and rest rules.

Texas cargo pilot jobs

Ameriflight is headquartered in Dallas and runs new-hire indoc there. Its simulator training sites include Dallas (EMB120), San Antonio (SA227) and Houston (SAAB340), and it pays a housing stipend in El Paso (Ameriflight pilot careers). See every Texas employer in the Texas pilot jobs directory.

Coming from helicopters?

Helicopter time counts toward total time, but most cargo seats also need multi-engine airplane time. One Mountain Air Cargo pilot story describes a former Navy helicopter pilot who started on Part 135 Caravan routes to finish his ATP airplane cross-country time before moving to the ATR and completing the Purple Runway (Mountain Air Cargo Purple Runway page). For rotor transition programs, see helicopter to airline pilot and hours to ATP.

Next steps

Compare every cargo operator in the cargo airline directory, and track the FedEx and UPS contracts in the pilot contract tracker.