What used to be seen as just a hobby, has now become a well known career. Are you wondering if drone pilot jobs are in demand?
Drone pilot jobs are definitely in demand. The drone industry is continuously growing and is not expected to slow down for years to come. The FAA projects that the commercial sUAS sector will have approximately 828,000 aircraft in 2024 in the US alone. More and more drone pilot jobs are being created at a rapid pace.
Drone technology is deeming useful in so many various industries for it’s low-cost, time and life saving capabilities.
Why Are Drone Pilot Jobs In Demand?
Drone technology has provided solutions to the numerous problems various industries face today. The amount of drone pilot jobs are continuously increasing due to innovation and creativity as many industries are finding new uses for Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) every day.
Drone pilot jobs are in demand as drone technology has solved many reoccurring issues that various industries face. These problems include but are not limited to cost efficiency, safety and saving time. The one-time cost of a drone compared to the amount of money saved in the long run makes drones the go to solution for many industries.
Do you think drones will be used in most industries in the future?
How are drones used to increase workplace safety?
Drones are being used to replace human workers in various industries that carry out dangerous tasks. There were 5,250 fatal workplace injuries in the United States back in 2018. Many of these fatalities could have been prevented with the use of drones for the particular task, therefore eliminating the need for a human worker at all.
In the manufacturing industry, UAVs can be used to transport raw materials such as spare parts without the need of a delivery driver.
This eliminates all possibilities of injury as there is no risk for a driver to get into an accident.
They can also mix dangerous chemicals in a factory which limits the exposure of harmful chemicals to workers.
For wind turbine inspections, drones can be used instead of a worker for most of the process which can help prevent or at the very least reduce the risk of falling off.
Drones can help reduce the tragedy of death or injury by replacing workers in industries that require them to reach very high heights or handle dangerous chemicals.
How are drones used for better cost efficiency?
Once a drone is bought, it can be used for so many applications that would usually have required a much more expensive alternative to carry out.
For example, in the mining industry, workers would have to walk around the entire site when conducting surveys to measure stockpiles.
Drones have completely changed this process as they can easily do this by taking numerous pictures of the site which then are put together to create a 3D model of the entire site.
According to Comparecamp.com:
Mining firms can save up to 90% of cost-per-hour using drones rather than piloted planes. This way, they can also collect unlimited data.
68 Drones Statistics: 2020/2021 Market Shares, Applications & Forecasts | CompareCamp.com
This is not only limited to the mining industry as the same sort of process occurs in things like rooftop inspections.
This greatly reduces the time spent on these sorts of tasks which can reduce costly delays. To give you an idea, this sort of process can take up to a week with traditional methods of conducting surveys whereas it only takes around 20 minutes for a drone.
How are drones used to save time?
Drones are very fast and efficient due to their small sizes (Usually) and maneuverability. They can be used to deliver relatively small objects very quickly as they no longer need to stick to the roads.
They are also being used to collect data like in the farming industry. Some farmers are using drones to inspect their crops and make sure they maximize their potential yields for harvesting.
This saves them a massive amount of time as they only need a drone which is quick to set-up and use, and a program which maps out the size of their land making the process automated.
You only need a batterie to power a drone which can be easily recharged and extremely cheap as well. This saves time as in jobs such as a deliver driver, there is no longer the need to re-fuel constantly and follow roads.
What Are Some Challenges For Entry-Level Drone Pilots?
According to Phillybyair.com, there are 522,645 registered commercial drones in the US. Beginning in this industry can be very challenging.
But in recent years, the growing army of “dronepreneurs” and low barriers to entry have flooded the drone services market with independent pilots, causing lower-end drone services prices to plummet by 90% amid skyrocketing competition.
Commercial Drone Pilots in High Demand—Find Work at PrecisionHawk (uavcoach.com)
This makes earnings in this industry for low-end services to be relatively low forcing many entry-level drone pilots to have to charge much more for their services and look for high-paying clients.
This poses a problem as they do not have much experience yet and have not built up a reputation in the industry, therefore they are not trusted and have a hard time making ends meet.
The overall price of equipment, software, sales and marketing can also be a major problem for those not willing to spend a lot of money to start without knowing where the business may end up.
This should not however prevent you from following your passion! If you would like to make a living flying drones then you definitely can. There is still a huge need for more commercial drone operators today.
Some examples of entry-level drone pilot jobs you can get into yourself are real estate, filmmaking or photography.
These are all quite easy to get into and therefore have some of the highest competition.
You can get hired to film or simply take pictures of property for real estate agents.
You can work with a producer to create a film (Requires filmmaking experience) or simply get hired to film specific aerial scenes such as flying over landscapes…
You can also become a photographer/videographer and make money selling your photos and/or videos online for profit.
What Jobs Can You Get As A Drone Pilot?
Here is a list of both entry-level and specialized drone jobs and industries you can either get into now or aim to get into when you have the requirements.
- Real Estate
- Construction / Mining
- Filmmaking/Photography
- Insurance
- Agriculture
- Energy
Check out our post on ‘5 amazing drone pilot jobs you can get today‘ to see our top picks for some awesome drone jobs you could get.
We go into detail of what the job is about so that you can determine whether it’s the right job for you.
How Much Can You Expect To Earn As A Drone Operator?
Earnings for a drone pilot will definitely vary, but research has shown that you can expect to earn on average $82,800 every year.
Some factors that may change this are things like the amount of money that you’re charging for your services and the fact that the overall industry is relatively new. This means that this number could easily change and is not an exact value.
According to AllDroneSchool:
The salary range for drone pilots ranges from $73,000 to $116,000. $200,000 a year with a thermal imaging certificate. The average hourly rate for a drone pilot is $24.18.
How Much Money Do Drone Pilots Make? – AllDroneSchool
This leads us into our final point.
Is It Really Worth It To Buy A Drone To Earn Money?
If you are truly passionate about drones and want to make this a career, then definitely! It may be hard at first to achieve a full time income, but once you get momentum and start getting a reputation, things will get much easier.
So many companies are finding new ways for drones to carry out new tasks safely and efficiently. This continuously opens up job opportunities for those wishing to begin working in this industry.
Conclusion
Drone jobs are rapidly expanding to various industries. If you feel you want to start taking part, then you can. It’s as easy as getting your Part 107 certificate. Drone jobs are most definitely in demand and this will only continue to expand for the years to come.
With the popularity of drones continuously growing, so will the opportunities for you to take advantage of.
Do you think drones will replace most human tasks in the future?
