Am I too tall and how accurate is this MSN salary report?

V

verbalkint

New Member
I'm 25, 6'7", and I've seen other posts on here about being too short or tall, but the responses seem to be a lot of individual opinions, not many facts. Before I start spending a ton of money on flight school, etc., I'd need to know whether I'm too tall to be an airline pilot. Are there actual regulations on height, does it vary from plane to plane, are most large jets fully adjustable? any help would be appreciated.

Also, this recent article by msn lists airline pilots at one of the highest average salaries in the nation, an average 134k, below only doctors and CEO's; yet I've read many posts on this site talking about making barely any money, 15-20k, for several years after flight school. How does this work? Are these different fields of flying that people are talking about, is it all seniority, is the article full of it, what? thanks:

http://msn.careerbuilder.com/custom/msn/careeradvice/viewarticle.aspx?articleid=740&SiteId=cbmsn4740&sc_extcmp=JS_740_advice&cbRecursionCnt=2&cbsid=436c1fa73a5c486cbeabc81ac1f604b0-200511693-RH-1
 
2. Airline Pilot -- $134,090
Job Description: Transports passengers and cargo via airplane.
Qualifications: Pilot's license, which requires applicants to be at least 23 years old, have at least 1,500 hours of flying experience, and pass a barrage of written and psychological tests.
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Wow! So that means I can make $134,090 with only 1,500 hours of flying experience, AND at the young age of 23? :rawk:
 
JaceTheAce said:
Wow! So that means I can make $134,090 with only 1,500 hours of flying experience, AND at the young age of 23? :rawk:
Click to expand...
Man, I wish....I'd buy you an M3 just to celebrate...

edit: and don't hijack the thread w/ technical M3 stuff :p
 
AngelFuree said:
Man, I wish....I'd buy you an M3 just to celebrate...
Click to expand...
thread_hijacked.jpeg
hahaha, couldn't resist

Edit: And I beat you to your edit.
 
Im a Media Sales Manager and I DO NOT make 96k a year or even close to that. The only sales types I know making this type of cash are real estate agents.
 
verbalkint said:
I'm 25, 6'7", and I've seen other posts on here about being too short or tall, but the responses seem to be a lot of individual opinions, not many facts. Before I start spending a ton of money on flight school, etc., I'd need to know whether I'm too tall to be an airline pilot. Are there actual regulations on height, does it vary from plane to plane, are most large jets fully adjustable? any help would be appreciated.

Also, this recent article by msn lists airline pilots at one of the highest average salaries in the nation, an average 134k, below only doctors and CEO's; yet I've read many posts on this site talking about making barely any money, 15-20k, for several years after flight school. How does this work? Are these different fields of flying that people are talking about, is it all seniority, is the article full of it, what? thanks:

http://msn.careerbuilder.com/custom/msn/careeradvice/viewarticle.aspx?articleid=740&SiteId=cbmsn4740&sc_extcmp=JS_740_advice&cbRecursionCnt=2&cbsid=436c1fa73a5c486cbeabc81ac1f604b0-200511693-RH-1
Click to expand...

Your 6'7" and 25...you should be checking out MSN salary ranges for the NBA...:D
 
Damn I nearly 24 with over 2000 hours...where the hells my six figures. Im askin for a raise.

As for your actual questions...no there are no regulations for height/weight set by the FAA or even any Airlines that I know of. That being said...I wish I was 6' ft tall.

As for the salary report its kind of misleading. There is an opportunity to make decent money flying for a living but it will take a long time to do it...think mid thirties. And for many of the years before that your living below/at/or slightly above poverty. I think this is why many pilots are so umm..."frugal"

For comparison. I CFI'ed for a year and a half and brought in about 5000 a year doing that. I was at the airport about 70 hours a week. I also had another job...which sucks

I then worked another year at three different places and earned around 17K for the year...still sucks.

This year I should be in the 35-40K range. So I've been flying professionally for about 4 years and I'm just now making enough to cover my own bills off of flying.

Compared to every other one of my non-aviation friends Im still working more and making considerably less. All of my friends started at a minimum of 50K for thier first year most in the 55-65 range. This is in OK and TX so thats decent money.

Also I believe over the next 10 years you will see that AVG salary drop alarmingly. With allot of the flying going to RJ's now and allot of the older mainline guys retiring. But that is a completly different discussion altogether. Theres a reason over 50% of the people who enter aviation leave.
 
An average figure for a new-hire at a regional airline is about $18k. This is after gaining the necessary experience to qualify for that job, where you fly for VERY meager wages building hours instructing or banner towing or some other hour-building experience.

Very senior major airline CAs can make a good amount of money, but these people have 25+ years senority with their carrier.
 
I just flew a trip with a captain who is 6'6". He had to duck to get in the seat, but once in it didn't look like a problem.
 
SeanD said:
Im a Media Sales Manager and I DO NOT make 96k a year or even close to that. The only sales types I know making this type of cash are real estate agents.
Click to expand...

Pharmaceutical and medical device reps routinely make $100-300K per year. My starting pay with first year commissions was a hair under six figures. Our Boston rep took home nearly $400K (he's been there 10 years).

Most of those reports are seriously flawed. It also lists a podiatrist (DPM) as one of the highest paid. They make about what a 3rd year FO makes for their first 3-5 years. Bottom line is do your own research.
 
verbalkint said:
I'm 25, 6'7",
Click to expand...

I think one of my pals is about that tall. I keep finding bits of his skin on the overhead panel and he's dangerous to walk with outside because I'm afraid he's going to catch a powerline with his forehead and I'll get a proximity electrocution.
 
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