How much does someone sitting in the cockpit and flying hundreds of passengers abroad earn? In the aviation industry, it is one of the most highly compensated professions, and numbers coming from major airlines illustrate just how much. At Qatar Airways, for instance, a veteran captain's salary can reach hundreds of thousands of dollars a year - but in Israel, the figures are also exceptionally impressive.
According to compensation data published in 2026 across the aviation sector, a captain at Qatar Airways can earn between $195,000 and $320,000 a year. That amounts to roughly NIS 620,000 to more than NIS 1 million annually, depending on exchange rates and seniority. First officers can earn around $100,000 to $140,000 per year.
The amount does not consist of base salary alone. According to the data, compensation also includes pay for flight hours, and the employment package may feature benefits such as housing or a housing allowance, transportation, children's tuition coverage, and flight perks. In addition, Qatar has no personal income tax on salaries, so the financial advantage for the employee is not limited to the gross sum.
And what happens at El Al?
Here, too, the numbers are far from modest. The best-known public figure regarding El Al pilots' pay was revealed during legal proceedings, when the company reported that the average monthly salary for captains stood at approximately NIS 95,000. It was also reported at the time that 78 pilots earned between NIS 110,000 and NIS 160,000 per month, including overtime. But alongside the base pay, there is another figure that is hard to ignore: Bonuses.
In 2025, following El Al’s record profits in 2024, the airline distributed total employee bonuses of about $104 million. Company pilots received the largest piece of the pie - 6% of pre-tax profit, which totaled nearly $41 million. At the end of 2024, El Al employed around 600 pilots, making the average bonus about $67,600 per pilot - about NIS 247,000 according to the exchange rate at that time.
So who earns more? The answer is not unequivocal. At Qatar Airways, annual pay can reach up to $320,000, alongside a significant benefits package and no local income tax. At El Al, on the other hand, high compensation is paired with a reward mechanism that allows pilots to share in the company's peak financial years - as demonstrated by the bonus of about NIS 247,000 per pilot.
In other words, even if the Qatari cockpit looks especially glamorous on paper, El Al pilots are certainly not flying under the radar when it comes to their paychecks.