Another pilot shortage prediction.

What I find disturbing are 121 pilots who, with the sheer amount of responsibility they have, the job they do, the amount of skill it takes, and the extensive training required just to get there......these pilots who think that 40K- 50K is "good money" as compensation for all of the aforementioned requirements....and oftentimes having to work one's butt off just to make that. It may be "realistic" money with regards to how pay scales are set and such, but it's certainly not a great wage when compared against what the pilot does, IMO.
 
boyPilot.jpg


This kid is prepared for the pilot shortage..................
 
ppragman said:
Irregardless, I have a very interesting job, I get to see my wife and kid every night, I get paid a very good wage with a salary that grows, and I have weekends off. I wouldn't be able to do that anywhere in the lower 48 for at least several years if at all.
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$60k isn't terribly hard to make down here either, but you're in a position where you're building multi turbine and won't have a problem finding a decent job down here. It's the guys who say they'll stick around at C206 aerial survey jobs because it pays $30k/year (bragging as if that's good money), who won't progress because their resumes will be full of single-engine piston time.

The regionals suck, the pay sucks, but the experience is good for those who want to continue on and fly jets for better pay later on.
 
jtrain609 said:
Sometimes i wonder if you guys think resident physicians make big bucks straight outta med school.
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Don't you know? It's super easy to get a desk job with some non-aviation degree, making $90k straight out of college. Everyone does it. :D
 
MikeD said:
What I find disturbing are 121 pilots who, with the sheer amount of responsibility they have, the job they do, the amount of skill it takes, and the extensive training required just to get there......these pilots who think that 40K- 50K is "good money" as compensation for all of the aforementioned requirements....and oftentimes having to work one's butt off just to make that. It may be "realistic" money with regards to how pay scales are set and such, but it's certainly not a great wage when compared against what the pilot does, IMO.
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Who says it's good money? I sure as heck don't plan on staying in the regionals any longer than I have to. But it was a means to an end for me, and already I've had a couple of potential opportunities come my way due to the experience I've gained. Maybe I should've stuck with flying a Citation for sub-par wages while flying 200 hours/year? Unfortunately Netjets wasn't knocking on my door at the time, and I figured working at SkyWest beat the crap out of working for SkyLimo or whatever other dirtbag charter operators lurk around south FL. More importantly, SkyWest got me the heck out of south FL!!
 
GypsyPilot said:
Who says it's good money? I sure as heck don't plan on staying in the regionals any longer than I have to. But it was a means to an end for me, and already I've had a couple of potential opportunities come my way due to the experience I've gained. Maybe I should've stuck with flying a Citation for sub-par wages while flying 200 hours/year? Unfortunately Netjets wasn't knocking on my door at the time, and I figured working at SkyWest beat the crap out of working for SkyLimo or whatever other dirtbag charter operators lurk around south FL. More importantly, SkyWest got me the heck out of south FL!!
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I've heard a number of guys in my travels think that the money was good money, normally the SJS types. While I certainly don't expect an airline pilot to make $100K out the gate or even a few years in, having them paid on the flip side of the coin of 20K to 30K per year, to even 50K after a few years, just doesn't jive with the amount of responsibility they have on their shoulders, along with all the other qualifiers I mentioned. I know there are other factors regarding where the pay scales come from, especially for regionals, but that doesn't change the fact that these pilots should be paid more for what they do. But, maybe we won't see any changes in this until demand begins to exceed supply.
 
MikeD said:
I've heard a number of guys in my travels think that the money was good money, normally the SJS types. While I certainly don't expect an airline pilot to make $100K out the gate or even a few years in, having them paid on the flip side of the coin of 20K to 30K per year, to even 50K after a few years, just doesn't jive with the amount of responsibility they have on their shoulders, along with all the other qualifiers I mentioned. I know there are other factors regarding where the pay scales come from, especially for regionals, but that doesn't change the fact that these pilots should be paid more for what they do. But, maybe we won't see any changes in this until demand begins to exceed supply.
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You have the same argument for Air Force second lieutenants?
 
jtrain609 said:
You have the same argument for Air Force second lieutenants?
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Air Force took care of me pretty well. But if there was a regional airline that wanted to give me a full ride to the university of my choice, plus paying well for primary flight training, I would have been all over that too.
 
jtrain609 said:
You have the same argument for Air Force second lieutenants?
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It goes for a number of professions, IMO. Like I said, the reality of making more money to the tune that I speak of may not be there with regards to how the pay scales are set or due to restrictions imposed by the whole regional to mainline relationship; but that doesn't change that I believe the pilots should be making more money than they do. For that matter, so should FAs, what with some of the low wages I've seen some of them making.
 
dasleben said:
And all of your former peers will be at mainline! :)
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I'm pretty happy riding in first, and letting those bums up front do the work. Hell, when I fly for fun on the weekends, the same bums fall all over each other to fly the plane and I still get to kick back :)
 
MikeD said:
I've heard a number of guys in my travels think that the money was good money, normally the SJS types. While I certainly don't expect an airline pilot to make $100K out the gate or even a few years in, having them paid on the flip side of the coin of 20K to 30K per year, to even 50K after a few years, just doesn't jive with the amount of responsibility they have on their shoulders, along with all the other qualifiers I mentioned. I know there are other factors regarding where the pay scales come from, especially for regionals, but that doesn't change the fact that these pilots should be paid more for what they do. But, maybe we won't see any changes in this until demand begins to exceed supply.
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Not sure Mike if you are only referring to regionals, but at my airline, SECOND year F/Os make $145080.00/yr at min. guarantee. And that's on a six year old contract.
 
A-300F4-622R said:
Not sure Mike if you are only referring to regionals, but at my airline, SECOND year F/Os make $145080.00/yr at min. guarantee. And that's on a six year old contract.
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I'm mainly referring to the low paying regionals, where I see a good number of the Shiny Jet Syndrome guys who think that the extremely low wages they're making is good money. They're worth more than that, or at least should be. But like I said, I am aware that there are other realities in play too.
 
MikeD said:
I'm mainly referring to the low paying regionals, where I see a good number of the Shiny Jet Syndrome guys who think that the extremely low wages they're making is good money. They're worth more than that, or at least should be. But like I said, I am aware that there are other realities in play too.
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The thing that frustrates me most is alternative paths are deemed "less competitive". Networking, blah blah blah, it still seems unrealistic for one to seek an alternative route that pays a little better in the short term.
 
UAL747400 said:
The thing that frustrates me most is alternative paths are deemed "less competitive". Networking, blah blah blah, it still seems unrealistic for one to seek an alternative route that pays a little better in the short term.
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I personally think that all depends. There's no "one path" to anywhere in aviation, be it airlines, military, law enforcement, firefighting, corporate, agriculture, contracting, etc. Guys have in their minds that there is only one way to get anywhere, and the truth is, there are many ways. Just as there many ways to help one in whichever way they choose.

I understand where your frustration comes from, because that's the mindset people are normally told or have hammered into them: that you HAVE to follow this particular way, or you aren't going to be successful. And that wouldn't be accurate at all.
 
MikeD said:
I'm mainly referring to the low paying regionals, where I see a good number of the Shiny Jet Syndrome guys who think that the extremely low wages they're making is good money. They're worth more than that, or at least should be. But like I said, I am aware that there are other realities in play too.
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What about said pilots who fly 50 seat turboprops?
 
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