Pay Scales

I've read that starting pay is approximately 13-15 an hour depending on which regional you are hired at. How high does the pay scale tend to go at regionals and what can one expect to make at say, year 5? I'm just pondering whether it is realistic to make a career out of the regionals, as a dispatcher.
 
Let me say there is plenty of overtime that can
double your pay. I work 4 on 3 off and I can shift trade.
 
That's a matter of perspective and your personal financial needs. I know of many people who make a career out of less then $45k, sometimes far less. Then there are those who are pulling down six figures and can't seem to get ahead. It's all about determining your needs, professionally and financially, and staying within those expectations.
 
These answers are not terribly helpful. Though keep in mind many regionals are do not have a unionized SOC and as such do not have to have a set or published payscale.

That said, it depends on the regional. Skywest, Expressjet and the other larger carriers will probably top out higher and make a career seem reasonable for a few, but not for all. Assuming you get into a supervisory role you can probably top out in the $25-30/hr range at a larger regional, at a smaller regional or one that is built to fold in 10 years or less you're looking more at $20-25. When I worked at the late Colgan Air they had a 10 year payscale that topped at $20/hr for DX, pretty abysmal.

After 5 years? Probably somewhere around $18? Regional pay isn't pretty because they do not want you to stay long term. Benefits will also be pretty bad, think a 1% 401k match and healthcare coverage that is severely lacking.

Maybe if you loved the city and had a spouse who made a decent living, but as a single person or as someone who is the primary income earner in the house it's not really feasible outside of maybe two or three carriers.
 
After 5 years? Probably somewhere around $18? Regional pay isn't pretty because they do not want you to stay long term. Benefits will also be pretty bad, think a 1% 401k match and healthcare coverage that is severely lacking.

Maybe if you loved the city and had a spouse who made a decent living, but as a single person or as someone who is the primary income earner in the house it's not really feasible outside of maybe two or three carriers.

Actually my last regional had very good benefits. A traditional pension, sick leave, decent medical, disability insurance, etc. Their pay was low - pretty much in the range you mentioned - but the cost of living was much lower than in a big city as well. So yes, many people had chosen to make a career there.

The main reason I see to move on from a regional is all the uncertainty about future contracts with a major carrier. The regional I just mentioned got dumped by a very long-term major partner and had to scramble (and fork over some decent $$$) in order to find a home for its planes with somebody else. Whenever contracts are renewed majors seem to go as cheap as they can these days. I think they don't want a repeat of where they were losing tons of money after 9/11 but their regional partners were still profitable because the majors were paying them under pre-9/11 contracts for their flights.
 
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