DLR How much do pilots earn at Lufthansa and SWISS?
According to media reports from autumn 2025, starting first officers earn about CHF 89,000 a year at SWISS, around 90,000 EUR at Lufthansa and around 74,000 EUR at Eurowings. Experienced captains reach about CHF 220,000 (SWISS) or up to around 300,000 EUR (Lufthansa). These are media figures, not pay scales.
What a pilot earns depends mainly on the airline, the collective labour agreement, the role (first officer or captain) and years of service. Publicly available figures come almost exclusively from media reports. The values below are therefore orders of magnitude with source and date, not binding pay scales. Collective agreements change, and according to Blick the current SWISS agreement (GAV) expires at the end of 2026.
How much do first officers and captains earn according to media reports?
Reported starting salaries range from around 74,000 EUR to around 90,000 EUR, or about CHF 89,000; at the top end of a captain's career the reports mention about CHF 220,000 to around 300,000 EUR per year.
| Airline | Starting first officer (per year) | Experienced captains (per year) | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| SWISS | approx. CHF 89,000 | approx. CHF 220,000 | Blick, 9 Nov 2025 |
| Lufthansa | around 90,000 EUR | up to around 300,000 EUR | frankfurtflyer.de, 15 Oct 2025 |
| Eurowings | around 74,000 EUR | up to around 214,000 EUR | frankfurtflyer.de, 15 Oct 2025 |
The Lufthansa and Eurowings figures come from an article on frankfurtflyer.de, which refers to Süddeutsche Zeitung and company information. According to that article, Lufthansa additionally pays around 23,000 EUR a year into the pension scheme. The SWISS figures are given by Blick in a report on the pilot shortage.
How does pay at SWISS develop with years of service?
Pay rises with years of service, with the move to long haul and later with promotion to captain. On 26 October 2022, 20 Minuten reported the following monthly salaries for the 2023 agreement:
| Level | Monthly salary according to 20 Minuten (26 Oct 2022) |
|---|---|
| Entry level (before the 4.3 % increase for 2023) | CHF 6,378 |
| First officer short haul, from 6 years | approx. CHF 8,215 |
| First officer long haul, from 19 years | approx. CHF 13,518 |
| Captain short haul, from 19 years | approx. CHF 13,566 |
| Captain long haul | over CHF 16,000 |
The same report mentions that around CHF 1,000 a month is deducted from young pilots' pay for training costs. That matches today's SWISS training loan, which according to EFA is repaid in 90 monthly instalments of CHF 1,000 plus interest.
What does a pilot's salary depend on?
- Airline and collective agreement: there are clear differences even within one group, as the Lufthansa and Eurowings comparison shows.
- Role and aircraft type: first officer or captain, short haul or long haul.
- Years of service: the industry works on seniority; pay levels and promotions depend on length of service.
- Allowances and expenses, plus your workload (part time).
What is left in the first few years?
In the first years on the job, training repayments come off your gross pay. In Germany, repayment to the education fund Brain Capital is, according to EFA, 12 % of gross income over 11 payment years when the full amount is financed, starting from an annual income of 30,000 EUR; obligations end after 20 years at the latest. How that works is explained under How do you finance pilot training?, and total costs under How much does pilot training cost?.
You will find a detailed breakdown with all sources in the article Pilot salary at Lufthansa, SWISS and Eurowings; the cost side is covered in Pilot training: costs and financing.
ImportantAll amounts are media figures as of the date of each report. Only the current collective agreements and the airline's own information are binding.