Which pays a pilot more — a foreign airline or a Japanese airline?

Foreign carriers pay more. United captains earn $395K and Delta captains $385K (the top tier of the US majors), and Emirates pays $231K tax-free, against ANA's $169K before tax. On a take-home basis, both the US majors and Emirates work out at roughly double ANA.

What does a Japanese pilot need in order to move to a foreign airline?

ICAO Level 4 or above English, an Airline Transport Pilot License and the required flight hours are the minimum conditions. Emirates, Qatar Airways and Singapore Airlines all have a track record of hiring Japanese pilots. US airlines, as a rule, require permanent residency.

Foreign vs Japanese Carrier Pilot Salaries [2026 Update]

Salary Ranking

Pilot Salary Ranking at the World's Major Airlines (Captain)

Rank	Airline	Country / Region	Captain salary (gross)	Captain take-home (est.)	vs ANA
🥇	United Airlines	🇺🇸 USA	$398K Range $338K–$537K	approx. $239K	approx. 2.2×
🥈	Delta Air Lines	🇺🇸 USA	$388K Range $311K–$547K	approx. $233K	approx. 2.1×
🥉	American Airlines	🇺🇸 USA	$373K Range $315K–$541K	approx. $223K	approx. 2.0×
4	Southwest Airlines	🇺🇸 USA	$303K Range $260K–$447K	approx. $182K	approx. 1.6×
5	Emirates	🇦🇪 UAE	$233K (tax-free) Range $211K–$318K	$233K (all take-home)	approx. 2.1×
6	Cathay Pacific	🇭🇰 Hong Kong	$226K Range $189K–$355K	approx. $189K	approx. 1.7×
7	Lufthansa	🇩🇪 Germany	$216K Range $157K–$272K	approx. $135K	approx. 1.2×
8	Singapore Airlines	🇸🇬 Singapore	$214K Range $173K–$261K	approx. $173K	approx. 1.6×
9	Etihad Airways	🇦🇪 UAE	$214K (tax-free) Range $189K–$377K	$214K (all take-home)	approx. 1.9×
10	Qatar Airways	🇶🇦 Qatar	$182K (tax-free) Range $164K–$302K	$182K (all take-home)	approx. 1.6×
—	ANA (All Nippon Airways)	🇯🇵 Japan	$170K (pre-tax)	approx. $111K	Baseline
—	JAL (Japan Airlines)	🇯🇵 Japan	$170K (pre-tax)	approx. $111K	Baseline

* Reference values as of March 2026. US take-home figures are estimates after federal and state tax. The UAE and Qatar levy no personal income tax, so gross equals take-home.

How to Choose

Foreign vs Japanese — the real advantages of each

Reasons to go foreign

💰 Take-home pay roughly doubles

Between the UAE's tax-free regime and US pay levels, the same job leaves you with around twice what you keep at ANA.

⚡ Faster upgrade to Captain

Emirates and Qatar Airways upgrade First Officers to Captain within five to eight years of joining — far faster than the 15 to 18 years at ANA.

🌍 A route network on the world's largest scale

More than 150 cities, every route international. Your experience and perspective as a pilot broaden enormously.

✈️ Get onto the newest aircraft sooner

Emirates operates the world's largest A380 fleet. There are opportunities to fly widebodies relatively early after joining.

Reasons to stay with a Japanese carrier (ANA / JAL)

👨‍👩‍👧 You can live in Japan with your family and relatives

No unaccompanied overseas posting, none of the strain of moving the family abroad. The reassurance of being on hand for your children's schooling and your parents' care.

🛡 Job security

During the 2020 pandemic Emirates made large-scale redundancies. The Japanese majors kept protecting jobs throughout.

🏛 Pensions and retirement benefits

The employees' pension, the corporate pension and a lump-sum retirement scheme are all in place, making life after retirement far easier to plan.

🔄 You work in Japanese

No language barrier. You can keep flying for the long haul, without stress, inside a familiar culture and way of working.

The verdict: there is no right answer — decide on your own priorities in life

If maximizing salary and take-home pay is the goal, go foreign. If family, stability and retirement come first, stay with a Japanese carrier. Which one is right depends on your own values and your family's circumstances. A move to a foreign carrier tends to be an irreversible decision — returning to ANA or JAL is difficult — so weigh it carefully against your total life plan.

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