This is why pilots are paid soo little....

Chief Captain said:
I hope to God you are right. 35/hr or 350/day seems a wee bit more reasonable. At the same time, we all know that there are people out there that would consider 35/day.

What pisses me off, is that this guy will probably do this for 35/day then go to the first crappy regional that hires him, then promptly start complaining about pay, QOL, lack of respect etc.
Click to expand...

Nope it's 35 a day "CMEL/CSEL Immediate availability anywhere in the United States with pass riding privileges, dependable and affordable at only $35 per day! Plus, Pilot has his own Ferry Pilot insurance which means rates that cannot be beat! Broad range in 450 hours of flight time in Cessna, Piper, Beechcraft, American Champion, and Pitts aircraft. Flight experience ranges from the mountainous areas of Northern Arizona to the everglade swamp lands of Florida. In it for the joy of flying and the privilege to meet new people! Check out resume in SPECS"
 
b3181981 said:
Nope it's 35 a day "CMEL/CSEL Immediate availability anywhere in the United States with pass riding privileges, dependable and affordable at only $35 per day! Plus, Pilot has his own Ferry Pilot insurance which means rates that cannot be beat! Broad range in 450 hours of flight time in Cessna, Piper, Beechcraft, American Champion, and Pitts aircraft. Flight experience ranges from the mountainous areas of Northern Arizona to the everglade swamp lands of Florida. In it for the joy of flying and the privilege to meet new people! Check out resume in SPECS"
Click to expand...

I don't understand. If he's in it for the joy of flying and the privilege to meet new people, why exactly is he charging any money at all? And for the matter, what exactly does his $35 cover? OMG, I think I figured it out! This guy is from the past. He built a time machine and is transporting himself back and forth from the year 1955, because making $35/day is a lot where he's from. That's the best I can come up with.
 
Good grief, I wouldn't have him drive the Beemer to Tucson for $35/day. Like hell I'm going to trust him in my G6! (as if!)
 
In an other thread like this I mentioned that I was going to do a ferry trip for free, well after a lot of thinking I decided to get paid, but at the end I will still do it for free, why? Well I don`t have experience doing this kind of stuff, especially from the US to South America, I`m sure I would do fine but I want ot learn, so I will not keep the money but give it to an other ferry pilot that will ride along, I will try to do most of the work and ask him to be a supervisor, I just don`t wanna lose the opportunity of learning and doing the trip, even just for fun....how do you guys judge this?
 
swisspilot said:
the opportunity of learning and doing the trip, even just for fun....how do you guys judge this?
Click to expand...
You go for it! As I also advise the original advertiser of the 35 a day. He seems to be a low time guy gaining experience. That, to me, is just a normal part of the learning to fly experience. Hiring youself out cheaply during the grind to 1500 hours is like an internship. You don't really know what you're doing, so why should you expect the Big bucks?
That's my 2 cents.
 
Nosehair,

I disagree with you. While 450hr is not exactly high time, it should be experienced enough to go from A to B in a Cessna. At 450hrs, I considered myself to be worth more like 35/hr rather than $4.375 an hour. (What's federal minimum wage?). In fact, I can hardly think of anything you'd get me to do for $35 a day.

He isn't hiring himself out, he's himself out. And when does flying stop being an internship? I believe in getting experience before moving on to bigger and better equipment, but I'm getting a little tired of hearing the old "paying your dues" argument people use to rationalize what some pilots are paid.
 
swisspilot said:
In an other thread like this I mentioned that I was going to do a ferry trip for free, well after a lot of thinking I decided to get paid, but at the end I will still do it for free, why? Well I don`t have experience doing this kind of stuff, especially from the US to South America, I`m sure I would do fine but I want ot learn, so I will not keep the money but give it to an other ferry pilot that will ride along, I will try to do most of the work and ask him to be a supervisor, I just don`t wanna lose the opportunity of learning and doing the trip, even just for fun....how do you guys judge this?
Click to expand...

You sir, made a shrewd choice. You realize your limitations, and that this trip probably takes you out of your comfort zone. A more experienced pilot is being paid to pass on his knowledge to you. After 2 or 3 such trips, you will be able to command your own salary.
 
Even though I agree %100 that this guy is speeding up the race to the bottom and fundamentally disagree with what he's doing, I just wanted to share a different perspective.

Much like companies that have different levels of "playing fields" (different cost structures), so does this guy. He either has a good chunk of change stashed away so that he can afford to charge that lowly amount and still make profit on it, or he's just a complete moron that is just selling himself short by charging too little to make anything. I'd venture to say that it's probably the former. If this guy will give the same product that someone else will at half the price and still make a profit, who's the idiot? Us for choosing the more expensive product, or him? Consumers want value, and if they get the same value at a lower cost, guess which one they'll choose? (Think WalMart, SWA)...I'm just sayin'.
 
FDX8891,

How much money would you need to have stashed away so that $35 is a profit? I'm sure flipping burgers pays more than that. Hopefully airplane owners are smart enough to realize that you get what you pay for. I can think of 2 recent events where the airline paid as little as they could, then wound up making the headlines...
 
swisspilot said:
I just don`t wanna lose the opportunity of learning and doing the trip, even just for fun....how do you guys judge this?
Click to expand...

I don't think there are many people here that would approach it any differently. If you are out of your comfort zone, but still want the experince, it's one way around throwing youself into a situation that could get ugly real quick. I'd try and get some money out of it, but I can't fault you for doing it that way. I'd say more than anything, you are being safe about what could be a very sticky situation.


Edit to add: As for the $35 a day guy. This isn't something new. People like him have been around for decades. I think it was jrh who said something about the kind of business you attract advertising stuff like this. If someone is that cheap with a ferry pilot, who cheap are they going to be with their airplane? Do I want to fly an airplane that someone is that cheap with anyways? Or do I want to fly the guys airplane next to it that has had all the oil changes and inspections that it needs to not only be airworthy, but safe (because airworthy and safe are always two different things). Let this guy do it. I have no desire to fly a Ercoupe that has been sitting on the ramp for the last 10 years, or C-150, or C-140, or whatever sub $20k airplane from Washington to Florida for $35 a day, just to end up parking it in a field because the engine spit parts out, or the rust in the fuel tanks plugged the lines up, or the rats that ate the wiring caused me to loose my electrical system at night.
 
Chief Captain said:
FDX8891,

How much money would you need to have stashed away so that $35 is a profit? I'm sure flipping burgers pays more than that. Hopefully airplane owners are smart enough to realize that you get what you pay for. I can think of 2 recent events where the airline paid as little as they could, then wound up making the headlines...
Click to expand...

I think if he can do it for 35 dollars, probably he could even do it for free, I don`t think what he wants is the money but just flying.....looking at his resume makes me think that it`s not one of those poor pilots that need to flip burgers to pay his loan back.
 
mshunter said:
http://www.barnstormers.com/listing.php?mode=usersearch&user=108549
Click to expand...

Well.. I just called this guy..

Seems like a pretty nice kid..

~450tt.. A few months away from his CFI's..

He basically said that he saw what 1-2k hour guys were charging for ferry and felt at 450, he wasn't worth as much as them. I told him he is just as valuable as those guys and for all anyone knows, could be a more talented pilot.. I've flown with lots of 1,500 hour guys that were much more impressive than 3,000 hour guys..

Anyway, we had a pretty good discussion and I told him about this thread..

From the convo, I think his rate will go up.. I hope it does.. He said he would change it.. I guess time will tell..

I think what we have is a case of a guy trying to break into the business and not knowing exactly what is "acceptable.'

Those of us who spend vast amounts of time on forums like this are in the .001 percentile.. If you look at the posts on this board, they are comprised of the same core 10-15 guys.. Before we crucify someone, we need to take a step back and think about what we are doing..

Off-topic but I recently spoke to a CFI who saw my "No Scabs" sticker on my bag.. He asked me what it meant.. Well, for me, I've known what a scab was since I knew who Optimus Prime was.. Frank Lorenzo is a four letter word in my house and the best way to get my pops blood pressure up.. This young CFI I was talking to had no real idea what a scab was, who Scumlorenzo was, etc.. So I had to educate this young lad..

It is OUR duty to educate the youth of this industry and without us, it will continue to spiral down the porcelain merry go round..
 
CFI A&P said:
There is a ferry pilot listing on Barnstormers for $35 a day! AND he provides his own insurance!!! WTF? His resume includes a degree from Everybody Runs Away Unemployed!

Jesus, how can anyone compete with that? A degree that wasn't cheap, provides his own insurance. What's next, the pilot pays the airplane owner for the flight just like GIA?

Rant over.
Click to expand...
Cute...

And I'm supposed to care about your career and how much you think you should make after comments like that?
Small industry.....
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top