do commercial airline pilots have parachutes on board?

Only as possible cargo.

I suspect that if commercial airline pilots did routinely carry
parachutes, no one in an official capacity would ever admit that this
was being done.

For a pilot to be equipped in such a manner as to be able to bail out
and save his own skin, leaving a plane full of doomed passengers
heading toward fiery death-- well, it just wouldn't be good for the
airline's image.

Dirk --

My flight instructor is a captain with a major U.S. airline and I can
guarantee that they do not.  Exiting a commercial jet that's not
designed for jumping would be very hazardous.  Witness the case of
D.B. Cooper, who though he may have been an experienced jumper, did it
at high speed, at night and over unknown terrain:
http://www.crimelibrary.com/criminal_mind/scams/DB_Cooper/index.html?sect=27

Most jumpers say that the force of jumping at the speed of a 727 would
have ripped his shoes right from his feet.

And, surprisingly, many pilots are afraid of heights.  Thus the famous
pilot's query to a skydiver: "Why jump out of a perfectly good
airplane?"

Note that aerobatic pilots are REQUIRED to wear a parachute.

Best regards,

Omnivorous-GA