First Year Pay

Trip7

Trip7

Well-Known Member
I hear complaints about first year pay all the time and generally people quote 18k-20k first year but when I talk to friends in the industry this does not seem to be the case. I've heard of 29k at Skywest, and over 30k at XJET. Seems like if you know how to work the system you can gain extra money, such as working 90 hours and being payed for 120. So I wonder what is a realistic estimate of first year regional pay?
 
777forever said:
I hear complaints about first year pay all the time and generally people quote 18k-20k first year but when I talk to friends in the industry this does not seem to be the case. I've heard of 29k at Skywest, and over 30k at XJET. Seems like if you know how to work the system you can gain extra money, such as working 90 hours and being payed for 120. So I wonder what is a realistic estimate of first year regional pay?
Click to expand...


Between 18K-20K. You are on reserve and rarely make better than block. I made 23K my first year at Colgan. Was ten dollars short per paycheck to being on foodstamps.

Sorry, anything less than $35,000 per year is SAD.
 
777forever said:
I hear complaints about first year pay all the time and generally people quote 18k-20k first year but when I talk to friends in the industry this does not seem to be the case. I've heard of 29k at Skywest, and over 30k at XJET. Seems like if you know how to work the system you can gain extra money, such as working 90 hours and being payed for 120. So I wonder what is a realistic estimate of first year regional pay?
Click to expand...

Remember what Kellwolf said. Base your standard of living and salary first year on your reserve schedule or line.

And not the hope of being flown crazy, and working 85-90 hr. lines every month!
 
Seggy said:
Was ten dollars short per paycheck to being on foodstamps.
Click to expand...

This is just ridiculous. People who are responsible for flying around multimillion dollar machines with dozens of passengers on them should not be paid such low wages they qualify for food stamps.:banghead::mad:
 
Maximillian_Jenius said:
Remember what Kellwolf said. Base your standard of living and salary first year on your reserve schedule or line.

And not the hope of being flown crazy, and working 85-90 hr. lines every month!
Click to expand...

Yeah I know lol, Im just looking for a realistic average of what to expect so I can separate those that work extremely hard and the regular guys. I know it depends on airline because some airlines have different overtime rules and such. I even heard at one airline if you pick up open time it is at 150% pay.
 
Before I pulled the trigger on getting my ratings, I put together a spreadsheet comparing compensation at different regional airlines. I got the pay scales for every regional airline and compared first year compensation. I figured worst case scenario at each airline (lowest paying aircraft, guaranteed hours, pier diem=block hours). This way flying anything over guarantee, or on a bigger airplane is extra $$$.

I then expanded the spreadsheet to compare total compensation over a 5 year period. Making a different graph for different scenarios, 1 year FO/4 year CA; 2 year FO/3 year CA; and so on.
 
777forever said:
Yeah I know lol, Im just looking for a realistic average of what to expect so I can separate those that work extremely hard and the regular guys.
Click to expand...

Those that work hard? Regular guys?

You're schedule gets awarded based on seniority, not who wants to work hard and who doesn't. The regional airlines are low cost carriers, therefore they really don't want you over flying your guarantee. Typical lines at Colgan are between 55hrs and 68hrs. If you get lucky and get an 83hr line, that month will be pretty nice.

For example, in May, the company wanted me to achieve 100hrs in the airplane as quickly as possible so that you're not a "green" crew member very long. In May I flew 90hrs and got pay credit for a little over 100.

In June, completely different story. I flew about 55hrs, but spent at least 5-6 days on reserve. This month I have 12 days off with a 62hr line! Ridiculous! I'm going to try like heck to pick up open time, but trust me, they'd rather call someone thats sitting reserve on those days, then pay you over your guarantee.

The airlines are cheap - they aren't going to let you bank over guarantee too often. I had a trip trade denied because it would have put the other guy over guarantee.

I gross $1500 a month. I may pull down $2000 on a good month, but thats with a LOT of flying. When you fly 90-100hrs a month, thats a lot of work and you'll get worn down quickly. In May I was worthless on my off days, didn't even feel like doing anything. There's only so much of that you can take before your body just starts to get unhealthy.

At some carriers, they may just well be over flying the heck out of their guys due to staffing shortages. But I would not base a budget or even a hypothetical situation on over guarantee. You're just going to end up disappointed. Bet on your guarantee, and if you make more, then consider it a nice bonus. :)
 
wheelsup did a great write up, a long time ago detailing his first year pay at whatever company he is at. I know which one, but it'll remain nameless unless he says it.

If I remember correctly, he brought in >24k.
 
Picking up all sorts of extra time isn't exactly smiled upon all that much either. If you are going to be an hour #####, especially if the company is short, be ready to deal with the consiquences.
 
Airdale said:
The airlines are cheap - they aren't going to let you bank over guarantee too often. I had a trip trade denied because it would have put the other guy over guarantee.
Click to expand...

This probably varies a lot between companies. I have been passing guarantee by about 30 hours a month so far. Last month I did 110 pay hours with 12 days off. A captain I flew with did 135 pay hours with 11 days off.
 
BobDDuck said:
Picking up all sorts of extra time isn't exactly smiled upon all that much either. If you are going to be an hour #####, especially if the company is short, be ready to deal with the consiquences.
Click to expand...

I think it's one thing if the company is shortstaffed and people are picking up hours when there are pilots out on furlough vs. the company trying to maintain an appropriate staffing level.

In the first case, if people would stop picking up so much open time flying, the furloughees would get their job back and boy would that be nice for them.

In the second case, if a company is losing 30-50 pilots a month due to attrition, or maybe the company is growing, or both, and they are hiring and training as many new hires as they can per month and the training department is maxed out, I don't see how it hurts to pick up as much open time as one wants to.
 
BobDDuck said:
Picking up all sorts of extra time isn't exactly smiled upon all that much either. If you are going to be an hour #####, especially if the company is short, be ready to deal with the consiquences.
Click to expand...

I was going to say just that. But, as a first year FO. . .I really can't say I blame anyone for flying more than they are scheduled to fly.

Albeit, I'm sure it makes a lot of guys feel great to tell first year FOs to quit flying so much and enjoy their $1500 (roughly) a month - in an effort to convince them to pressure the company to hire more employees. . .

But - yeah.
 
I fully agree with building your budget based on guarantee. That's the way I'm doing it. MUCH better to have MORE money than you planned than to "hope" that you'll make more.

Having said that, I fully expect to do MUCH better than guarantee (even our reserve guys are getting around 80-85 hrs/month, with a 70 hr guarantee). BUT... ain't no way I'm telling my wife, "sorry, honey, but I just didn't work hard enough this month!" :)

Psychologically, it's just easier to deal with if you plan for the minimum, then make more.
 
HP N826AW said:
Before I pulled the trigger on getting my ratings, I put together a spreadsheet comparing compensation at different regional airlines. I got the pay scales for every regional airline and compared first year compensation. I figured worst case scenario at each airline (lowest paying aircraft, guaranteed hours, pier diem=block hours). This way flying anything over guarantee, or on a bigger airplane is extra $$$.

I then expanded the spreadsheet to compare total compensation over a 5 year period. Making a different graph for different scenarios, 1 year FO/4 year CA; 2 year FO/3 year CA; and so on.
Click to expand...

The pay scales you see are definately important, but in no way do they reflect what you'll actually be making. I'm netting more at Skywest at 19.25/hr than I was at 23.50/hr at Eagle due to much better work rules and more flying (although I get more days off here), as well as not having to pay to non-rev.

777forever said:
Yeah I know lol, Im just looking for a realistic average of what to expect so I can separate those that work extremely hard and the regular guys. I know it depends on airline because some airlines have different overtime rules and such. I even heard at one airline if you pick up open time it is at 150% pay.
Click to expand...

It can vary--here, if they call you for a trip (which you always have the option of turning down) you should get time and a half. For the next month here, they're offering 150% for any open time you pick up due to the quantity of open time they have.

For what it's worth, I'm netting an average of $2000/month for an average of 14 days off and picking up almost no open time whatsoever (four legs in the last 11 months).
 
So the airlines don't like it if you pick up too much open time? I would think they are happy you're helping them out.
 
The airline is real happy if you pick up open time.

Your fellow pilots are not.

Think about it, if the airline has guys picking up open time on their days off then why properly staff the airline so there isn't open time? It isn't something there should be a ton of floating around if you staff properly.

So by picking up open time you're telling the airline that they don't need to hire anybody else and that the pilots will fly their balls off willingly.
 
zmiller4 said:
The pay scales you see are definately important, but in no way do they reflect what you'll actually be making. I'm netting more at Skywest at 19.25/hr than I was at 23.50/hr at Eagle due to much better work rules and more flying (although I get more days off here), as well as not having to pay to non-rev.
Click to expand...

Yeah its amazing how much work rules can change compensation. Mesa's pay scales look decent but those guys are losing a lot of money due to their poor contract. Are regional pilot contracts open to the public? It would help a lot in deciding which regional to chose.
 
777forever said:
So the airlines don't like it if you pick up too much open time? I would think they are happy you're helping them out.
Click to expand...

If you have your fellow pilots out on the street and you pick up open time you will not be looked fondly upon from your pilot group.
 
Seggy said:
If you have your fellow pilots out on the street and you pick up open time you will not be looked fondly upon from your pilot group.
Click to expand...

How do the other pilots know who is picking up a whole bunch of open time?
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top