If McDonalds has to do it. . .
- Thread starter surreal1221
- Start date
avi8tor
Well-Known Member
Electricians (journeymen) in chicago make about $ 85-90,000/year all on straight time. If your a foreman, general foreman, or work overtime your annual pay goes up.These wages are after a 5 year apprenticeship. Being a tradesmen is not easy work it is ball busting work.
Trip7
Well-Known Member
anic: Is that what Adamus means by a "couple" years of apprenticeship?
wheelsup
Well-Known Member
Not saying I don't believe you (but I don't). I don't think someone is easily able to make that much money. Overtime? Maybe. Owner of an electrician company, sure. But not as an employee at straight up 40 hours/week, 48-50 weeks a year.
Salary.com
Salaryexpert.com:
Yes, some people will make more than those averages. But most won't. I'm sure there are some out there that make $80k, $90k, plus, but let's be honest, do you think they are the majority or the minority?
wheelsup
Well-Known Member
I'm the opposite - I wouldn't give up flying voluntarily to make $60k, $70k, even $80k/yr working a corporate type job with all the crap that goes along with it. I'd gladly make half that much, have loads of time off, no stress, and have a damn good time at work while I'm there.
wheelsup
Well-Known Member
Good one...
Here, I bolded the pertinent info for you:
Job Description
Flight Instructor
Instructs student pilots in flight procedures and techniques in ground school courses and flight training. Prepares lesson plans. Evaluates and monitors students performance. This position is typically is represented by a senior level pilot. The compensation data does NOT reflect salaries of flight instructors from smaller local flight schools who typically work on an hourly basis and consider the accumulation of airtime the highest priority in their respective careers.
http://swz.salary.com/salarywizard/...t Instructor&narrowdesc=Aviation and Airlines
So I would say yes, the salary.com report is pretty accurate if you consider that it is for the higher level major airline instructors.
tonyw
Well-Known Member
You're assuming that I'm working a corporate type job. I'm not.
And believe me, $80K is definitely achievable for me. I've got a cush job, I've got an employer who treats me well and my income is only going to go up.
So why should I toss that for $19K a year the first year and $30K a year for the second for an employer who's going to treat me like crap?
I'm sorry, but the title "airline pilot" doesn't pay the bills. Cold hard cash does.
The crap pay and crap treatment of airline employees is why it's very unlikely I'll ever move past the instructor level. Unless airlines decide to make it worth my while, I'm not signing up.
wheelsup
Well-Known Member
I wasn't trying to be a prick, if I came off like it I apologize
. Just letting you know that the salary figure was possibly accurate, for the conditions dictated.Now, I have no idea what electricians in Chicago (or any city) make, all I can go by is either salary.com (or similar site) or someone on here who claims that they make $85k-$90k/yr.
wheelsup
Well-Known Member
I don't think anyone really cares if you move past the instructing level to be honest with you...if you are happy and make more money doing something else, why stop?
Or is this your way of justifying your decision to yourself?
tonyw
Well-Known Member
I don't have to justify myself to anyone.
I'm simply pointing out that airline careers are not attractive to some people because airlines treat their employees like crap and these people have to take a big paycut to do it.
A second person posted that as well -- wanna jump down her throat, too?
wheelsup
Well-Known Member
Sweet, thanks for that heads up captain obvious
.Tell me Tony, are there dozens of forums that cover what you do for a living? Are there web sites dedicated to helping people "grow up" to hold the job title that you do?
No?
Now Tony, why do you think that is? Why do you think that there are web sites out there (we are on one) that are dedicated to helping those achieve their dream of being an airline pilot?
No, because I already agreed with that statement on page #1
...see post #9.
avi8tor
Well-Known Member
You base your argument on salary expert? What a joke. Try checking out Illinois prevailing wages for electricians in cook county. After an electrician finishes his 5 year apprenticeship they make full scale about $ 80k a year on straight time. If you factor in their medical, retirement, and vacation fund they are worth about 115k/year.
wheelsup
Well-Known Member
I don't really have anything else to go on, I don't know any electricians in the Chicago area. I thought it was pretty coincidental that the too job salary sites were pretty close to each other in terms of pay.
On a side note, do you think their union would consider taking on pilots
?
Trip7
Well-Known Member
:yeahthat: NICE PIC!
clumpinglitter
Well-Known Member
For me, it's not really about money at all. It's about security. I could take an 80% pay cut right now to go apply at a regional, and I would love to do that, more than I can say, but it just doesn't seem responsible. I have too many friends who don't save and have no plan for the future, and that scares me -- on an airline salary, I wouldn't be able to save like I do now. I never stay awake at night and worry about bills. It would be different if there was solid assurance that a good dedicated airline pilot could eventually make up for the low starting salary, but there's none, and an airline job can disappear overnight and you're back at square one.
I think it's much easier to make the career leap if you're married and can rely on someone else to supplement income, take care of pets or an exploding water heater or whatever. It's a real struggle right now to figure out just how much I'm willing to sacrifice to do what I love. It also worries me that if I did switch, I would end up resenting doing what I used to love because of money stress. So it's not quite as simple as just skipping off and doing whatever makes you happy. Then again, maybe the desire for security is justification for not making the leap. That could certainly be the case, who knows.
-Christine
tonyw
Well-Known Member
Wait, I thought this site was all about the good, the bad, and the ugly. You know what? I too had those starry eyed dreams of being an airline pilot.
Until I read about what Doug had to put up with. And what Amber had to deal with at American. And what her husband dealt with. And what Flying Turkey dealt with.
And dozens of other perspectives which showed me the grass isn't always greener.
I used to dream about being a major league hall of famer. Ain't gonna happen.
This site isn't just about dreams. It's also about reality.
And I thank folks like Doug for pointing out the downside instead of always pumping up the industry like the glossy full page ads for flight academies do.
And Christine, you are getting paid to do what you love. So you might not be able to jump in with both feet.
So be it! You're flying, and someone's paying you for it. You don't need no steenking fancy title to enjoy that.