greaper007
Well-Known Member
There is no reason to moan and groan if your a low time pilot working at a regional. You are lucky to be there. My uncle worked for free to build time when he started, Im lucky enough to have some connections and might get a job flying a metro for 20k a year. A lot of people refuse to take jobs that are not local or dont pay well simply because they think its beneath them.
Think of getting your ratings as finishing high school and working at a regional or instructing as college. Do your time and eventually you will get the good paying job.
I see where you're coming from. In fact if you do a search of my threads from about 2-3 years ago you'll see that I had the same philosophy. 20 months at the regionals have changed my view though. Just because people in the past weren't paid well, doesn't mean that we should accept low pay now. I'm probably going to be stuck at my current airline for at least a few more years. I'd venture to say that a large percentage of pilot's won't be able to make the jump to a major. I really don't mind flying the Saab for the duration. I'm about as senior as you can get as an FO right now so I can't complain about my schedule. I sure can complain about money though.
There's something wrong with the mentality that it's ok to pay someone 20,000 a year that's the number 2 person in charge of 34 people's lives. Most people that make 20,000 a year don't worry about much more than where they're going to buy a quarter of weed this weekend. They don't worry about things like passing their next PC, getting ramp checked by the FAA, passing a stringent medical exam every year, being subjected to random drug tests, conforming to grooming standards, commuting, missing important family events. Or the biggest one, if the decision they make will cause the death of 37 people's lives (their own included).
I also don't see why no one sees our low pay as a security/financial risk. At every job I've had in the past where people weren't paid appropriately there were employees that took it upon themselves to redistribute profits. Everything from theft to simple loafing. I haven't seen theft for the most part. However, I have seen many instances where employees make decisions that affect their own bottom line more than the companies. Everything from fuel decisions to pushing to finish a flight before the crew times out. By screwing us the airlines are screwing themselves.
My Dad is a pilot at SWA and I talked to him about this. He said that this doesn't happen at SWA. Simply because the pilot's there know that by being among the highest paid in the industry they have a responsibility to make the company profitable.