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Commercial airliners are generally (1) _______ by two operators, a captain and a co-pilot. The captain is (2) __________, and carries the responsibility for decisions made during the course of a flight. The co-pilot, sometimes called a first officer, acts as backup in case of (3) ____________, and often assists the pilot during a (4) ________ flight. After several years of (5) __________ in the airline industry, a co-pilot might become a captain. Starting Pay for Co-Pilots According to an airline industry salary survey conducted by FltOps.Com, the average starting salary of a co-pilot is (6) __________ per year. However, this varies considerably by airline. The (7)_______ reported starting salary for a co-pilot, $21,600 per year, was reported at US Airways. Continental and United also offered starting salaries of (8)__________ $30,000 per year. Among passenger airlines, Southwest offered the highest starting salary, (9) __________. As for parcel (10) ____________, Fedex reported a starting salary of $50,971, compared with $31,824 reported by UPS.