Airline Pilot Salaries

nah no way, i love flying, i remember that way back like in elemtry and part of middle school i wanted to be a pilot. Then i started thinking about money and ignorantly thought that pilots didnt make much. a few years ago i found out that they made the top 10 "overpaid job" so i was like HELL YA!

i love money, cuase without it you really cant live, and if i can get paid to fly around and see different parts of the world, then that would be awesome. The only other thing besides flying that i would do is be in a rock band or something else that made a TON of more money.
 
Okay, seriously.

Flying is not something you get into to 'get rich quick'. The quickest way to make a small fortune in this industry is to start out with a big one. The public misconception is that airline pilots are 'overpaid'. Airline pilots are compensated for their responsibility for flying multi-million dollar pieces of aluminum tubing through the air at 500mph while having the lives of hundreds of people in their hands. The top-tier paid pilots are the super-senior captians who've been flying forever, the junior (even major) airline pilots do not make that much. The regional pilots (especially new-hire regional pilots) are paid squat, and CFIs are paid even less. You'll fly for years at these low paying flying jobs to even have a hope of flying for a major someday.

The job of airline pilot is a great one, with many rewards. But to get into this business to 'get rich quick' will only disapoint you.
 
But ... pilots do make like $350,000 a year, right? And get all the chicks? And work like five days a month? And don't even do anything, just press the land button?

Right? Right?
crazy.gif
 
[ QUOTE ]
But ... pilots do make like $350,000 a year, right? And get all the chicks? And work like five days a month? And don't even do anything, just press the land button?

Right? Right?


[/ QUOTE ]

Like..totally! Fur sure....
laugh.gif
 
[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
But ... pilots do make like $350,000 a year, right? And get all the chicks? And work like five days a month? And don't even do anything, just press the land button?

Right? Right?


[/ QUOTE ]

Like..totally! Fur sure....
laugh.gif


[/ QUOTE ]

It sounds like you are based out of ONT - Valley Girl!
 
[ QUOTE ]
would i sound crazy and evil if i said that i was looking for a way to get rich fast and retire, and that fly jets seemed like a nice way to do it? Would you agree?

Also if i were to start flight training after a four year university, meaning i would be about 21. How long would it take me to get hooked up with one of the big four, if i got all the recommended qualification on the website as fast as humanly possible?


[/ QUOTE ]

Evil? No. Crazy? Alittle.

There are a lot of things that "sound" like a nice way to get rich. It's all that foot work and starting at the bottom and working your way up stuff that tends to get in the way. Heck, I would have been a doctor and made a lot of money if it weren't for all that anatomy and biology stuff you have to learn.

Want to get rich quick? Play the lotto. Want to succeed in aviation? Prepare for years and years of "dues" paying at welfare wages in remedial aviation jobs while eating peanut butter/jelly sandwiches.

Here's an analogy. There are tons of b'ballers out there. Most, for a variety of reasons, never make it past a pickup game at the local high school. Some go on to play at some no-name college. A select few play at the top colleges like Duke, North Carolina and Kentucky. A very small percentage are good enough and lucky enough to make it to the NBA. Maybe not the best team but het, it's the NBA. An even smaller percentage of those make it to the top teams and a few of those make really mega bucks and endorsements.

Aviation is a lot like that. Someone with "0" hours asking how quickly they can get to the top major airlines is like someone with "0" experience with a basketball asking how quick they can play for the Lakers because they want to get rich quick and retire. The aviation ladder has many rungs on it. All have to be traversed one step at a time with absolutely no guarantees you'll reach the top. And, if you're one of the small percentage of people who actually reaches the top, there's no guarantee you'll stay there.
 
[ QUOTE ]
a few years ago i found out that they made the top 10 "overpaid job" so i was like HELL YA!

[/ QUOTE ]man.. there's that "overpaid job" thing again.... If i earned a dime for everytime I heard that, I'd be on a world wide cruise right now!
spin2.gif


truth be known, you might get that kind of dough after 20 yrs of service just like any other job...but you'll pay at least a good $50 grand if not more to get there and work on welfare wages for 2-4 years before getting that mighty (what everyone seems to consider "overpaid") airline job....then again, that's an IF.. not everyone makes it or wants to be a full fledged airline pilot...

geez... more I read this..the more it DOES sound like a regular career... hahahaha
 
"sounds like you are based out of ONT - Valley Girl!"

I can't wait to be based out of ONT instead of SDF so I can say "Dude" and people won't look at me funny. Plus...I'm sick of wearing a collared shirt and a freaken' tie...can we relax a little people.....checkride Sunday morning. Think good thoughts for me at and around 800 am EDT....

When Dale Jarret wins a race, we get a no tie day in the SDF training center....I mean...whoopie.....

And....I kid you not. Yesterday the coffee machine in the UPS SDF training center break room had free coffee. (machine coffee sucks...) Me and my instructor never figured out why the machine was giving free coffee. Later, I found out it was employee appreciation day. [expletive deleted]...I almost missed that one. Anyone else notice it?

Doug...tell me you knew it was employee appreciation day yesterday at DL. Or is it just a UPS thing?
 
[ QUOTE ]
employee appreciation day


[/ QUOTE ]

Employee appreciation day? What the h&ll is that?

Then again, I flew for 3 AMR carriers, so I guess I wouldn't know!
 
[ QUOTE ]
Then i started thinking about money and ignorantly thought that pilots didnt make much. a few years ago i found out that they made the top 10 "overpaid job" so i was like HELL YA!

[/ QUOTE ]

Aparently your research is about as thorough as the guy who wrote that article. If you wanna get rich, I'd pick one of the other jobs off that list. Maybe skycap.
 
[ QUOTE ]
would i sound crazy and evil if i said that i was looking for a way to get rich fast and retire, and that fly jets seemed like a nice way to do it?

[/ QUOTE ]

The only way you can get rich quick is to have very wealthy parents, in which case you inherit it, or win the lottery.

Other than that, no matter what your chosen career is, you are going to have to work very hard to get to a point where you're making a lot of money. And only a few people will do well enough to make the big bucks.
 
Loki_cmr sparked my curiosity. Taken from a CBS market watch article on "overpaid jobs". You guys are going to love this one... 9) Major airline pilots

While American and United pilots recently took pay cuts, senior captains earn as much as $250,000 a year at Delta, and their counterparts at other major airlines still earn about $150,000 to $215,000 - several times pilot pay at regional carriers - for a job that technology has made almost fully automated.

By comparison, senior pilots make up to 40 percent less at low-fare carriers like Jet Blue and Southwest, though some enjoy favorable perks like stock options. That helps explain why their employers are profitable while several of the majors are still teetering on the brink of bankruptcy.

The pilot's unions are the most powerful in the industry. They demand premium pay as if still in the glory days of long-gone Pan Am and TWA, rather than the cutthroat, deregulated market of under-$200 coast-to-coast roundtrips. In what amounts to a per-passenger commission, the larger the plane, the more they earn - even though it takes little more skill to pilot a jumbo jet. It's as much the airplane mechanics who hold our fate in their hands.

http://cbs.marketwatch.com/news/story.asp?guid={954AA053-F953-43F3-BBC8-63D351A3BF2A}&siteid=google&dist=google

I like the reference to the "glory days". Sorry I had to spark up an over done topic.

Jordan
 
[ QUOTE ]
Flying is not something you get into to 'get rich quick'. The quickest way to make a small fortune in this industry is to start out with a big one. The public misconception is that airline pilots are 'overpaid'. Airline pilots are compensated for their responsibility for flying multi-million dollar pieces of aluminum tubing through the air at 500mph while having the lives of hundreds of people in their hands. The top-tier paid pilots are the super-senior captians who've been flying forever, the junior (even major) airline pilots do not make that much. The regional pilots (especially new-hire regional pilots) are paid squat, and CFIs are paid even less. You'll fly for years at these low paying flying jobs to even have a hope of flying for a major someday.


[/ QUOTE ]
I'm going to memorize that.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top