Rising costs and the future of flight training.

[Cruise]

......if they can expect around 20,000 a year for the first 10 years or so.......

It's true, in the current state of the industry, that starting pay is terrible. But come on, 10 years? If that were the case, I'd probably be swinging from the rope by now. It's not really that bad!!!!!! You can easily make a livable wage w/in a couple years.

 

[derg]

You have to be really careful with that in an economic sense.

If you change airlines, that clock resets. And if you're working for an airline that was created in the last 15 years, there's no way to ensure they're even going to be around. Lots of carriers came and went after deregulation and the "airline that was supposed to change everything" isn't doing all that hot.

Also, if you look at what you'd be making in 10 years in 2006 dollars, it might seem liveable, but if you figure 10 years of inflation (which today is about 3.5%)

So the $80,000 that might look great to make in 2016, it's going to take more than $99,000 to recapture the same buying power that $80K afforded in 2006.