Regional Pilot Salaries

killbilly said:
Y'know, in light of this, flying for a regional the first year doesn't sound NEARLY as bad as I thought it might be in terms of pay/compensation.
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Sorta - keep in mind there are people out there, even working for the same company at their same level of pay, who will see vastly different pay checks.

I will see around $2950 gross this month (including per diem, $2540 if you don't want to include it and just assume you eat for free for 2/3 of the month) as a first year FO, but if I was on reserve I would see almost half of that. Just an FYI.

It's a crapshoot. Timing is absolutely EVERYTHING in this industry.

And as someone else mentioned in a different thread, once (if!) I make it to second year pay I will see more money but a stagnent career because I will be logging more SIC time which is worth pretty much nothing at my level.
 
i think its funny that colgan pay rates are pretty similar to most other regionals and they fly half the seats


food for thought
 
Right now, I'm sitting around getting my 75 hour guarantee, but I'm begging for the phone to ring? Why? I get 75 hours no matter what (they tend to not over-fly the reserve guys), but if I don't get any trips, no per diem for me. Like wheelsup, I tend to use that money on things other than food (like the electricity bill, water bill, etc). There are a lot of trips that have a lot more time away from base than others, which can seriously up your pay. I hit the lotto last month when they had me sit in a hotel room in MSP for four days. That was four days of per diem (was over 100 hours) since I was away from MEM.
 
The only similar payrate Colgan has to other regionals is for a 1st year FO. Everything above that is significantly lower.
 
GaTechKid said:
The only similar payrate Colgan has to other regionals is for a 1st year FO. Everything above that is significantly lower.
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:yeahthat: 1st year comparable.....beyond that.....pathetic. Plus, since Colgan has so many outstation bases, per diem is a luxury not the norm. Being home every night is nice...but it's hard on the wallet.

That being said, I've gotten lucky this month. I'm gonna have around $600-700 of per diem and that's nice!
 
Cruise said:
:yeahthat: 1st year comparable.....beyond that.....pathetic. Plus, since Colgan has so many outstation bases, per diem is a luxury not the norm. Being home every night is nice...but it's hard on the wallet.

That being said, I've gotten lucky this month. I'm gonna have around $600-700 of per diem and that's nice!
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True dat, but what about the upgrade? Got to factor that in with the second year pay.
 
Seggy said:
True dat, but what about the upgrade? Got to factor that in with the second year pay.
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Absolutely! With the upgrades coming sometime in the second year......pay doubles.

And, PIC time to boot! So, during the period of second year before upgrade....pay is terrible. However, once you're making Captain pay, it's actually not bad at all.
 
That's if you upgrade in less than 2 years. What about if upgrades sloooow down and you end up making $25/hr starting your third year? That's pathetic.
 
Ophir said:
Me, I'm a poo FO.
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POO FO!!! POO FO!!! :D


No offense to the posters, but I really must say you cannot factor second year pay based on an upgrade to make it comparable. Especially when that upgrade pay is only slightly higher than other regional FO pay on larger equipment. It is great that upgrades are running at one to two years now, but should things change (they always do), then you are stuck for what could be an eternity in the $20K a year category. Then your only choice for a pay increase is to move to another regional, which means at least one more year of $20K wages before getting into something more livable, but yet still laughable.

I am enjoying my time in the regionals, but I don't think I could start over again here. Regional FO pay is a disaster.
 
FlyChicaga said:
It is great that upgrades are running at one to two years now, but should things change (they always do), then you are stuck for what could be an eternity in the $20K a year category.
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Seriously, there's no way the RJ feeders will win this argument, it's too solid. The low-end prop operators have a (generally) shorter upgrade time than the RJ operators. There are exceptions but that works for a general rule IMO.

Don't fight it, just let it go :).
 
wheelsup said:
Seriously, there's no way the RJ feeders will win this argument, it's too solid. The low-end prop operators have a (generally) shorter upgrade time than the RJ operators. There are exceptions but that works for a general rule IMO.
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That is true, but it isn't because all are going to the majors. Why is upgrade sitting at one to two years at places like Great Lakes, Regions Air, Commutair, Big Sky, and Colgan? It is because so many pilots at those airlines move on to other regionals once they have turbine time. Of course, some do go to the majors, but not after one year in the left seat.

Yes, you can upgrade to Captain in two years and move on to the majors from a turboprop operator. It is exactly what I thought would happen to me. The question is, what happens if you don't get hired by a major in a reasonable amount of time? How long will you last making $35 an hour as a Beech 1900 Captain? Will you really stay and retire at an airline that tops out at $60 an hour with a horrible retirement plan and work rules that are lacking? Worse, what happens if your airline stops growing or major airlines stop hiring? I was at a turboprop operator thinking I'd upgrade in two years. After my first year, I was lucky to have a line as an FO, let alone think I'd upgrade a year down the road.

I'm sorry, but the argument "but upgrade is two years" is not a justification for pilot pay to be low.
 
As fluid as the regionals are, I have to agree with Matt. What happens if one day Continental decides they want Q400s on those Saab routes and the contract goes to Skyway or CHQ? There goes the 2 year upgrade.

Things change WAY too quickly in the regional world to base pay on upgrade time.
 
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