#12 on top 15 highest paying Careers

[Quimby]

Fo Sho Average median income at the poverty line is $22K. Truly the American Dream. Happy 4th. The only true freedom is freedom from debt

Wise words.

 

[HAL]

Just about every regional RJ Capt is in the to 15% of U.S. earners when it comes to income. I sure that overall we are holding our own. If you think $60K-$100K jobs are a dime a dozen then you are a little out of touch with reality. Flame away.

That is closer than most people think here. The actual data (from several online sources) show that if you make $65,000 a year, you earn more than 2/3 of the American population. That includes a lot of college graduates who (aviation or not) often owe over $100k in student loans.

There are also more mainline pilots than regional, and the average pay for those airlines is higher than the regionals. Are you a 3rd year Delta F/O on the Mad Dog? You're probably making about $85,000 a year, which puts you above 80% of the population. A 737 Captain with USAirways? Even with the concessionary contract you're still working under, you're making $110,000 a year, which is above 85% of everyone else around you.

You aren't going to start out at $100k. You aren't going to be a widebody Captain in a couple of years. You are going to have to pay your dues, along with educational expenses, just like the rest of the working people in America. Work hard, and with a little patience and luck (yes, it's needed too), you will be at the top end of the earnings brackets.

As SplitBar said, if you think these $60-100k jobs are all over the place, why don't 80% of the people in America have them?

HAL​

 

[airplane wizard]

That is closer than most people think here. The actual data (from several online sources) show that if you make $65,000 a year, you earn more than 2/3 of the American population. That includes a lot of college graduates who (aviation or not) often owe over $100k in student loans.

There are also more mainline pilots than regional, and the average pay for those airlines is higher than the regionals. Are you a 3rd year Delta F/O on the Mad Dog? You're probably making about $85,000 a year, which puts you above 80% of the population. A 737 Captain with USAirways? Even with the concessionary contract you're still working under, you're making $110,000 a year, which is above 85% of everyone else around you.

You aren't going to start out at $100k. You aren't going to be a widebody Captain in a couple of years. You are going to have to pay your dues, along with educational expenses, just like the rest of the working people in America. Work hard, and with a little patience and luck (yes, it's needed too), you will be at the top end of the earnings brackets.

As SplitBar said, if you think these $60-100k jobs are all over the place, why don't 80% of the people in America have them?

HAL​

The 20% that have those jobs had good "luck", the rest had bad luck.

 

[HAL]

The 20% that have those jobs had good "luck", the rest had bad luck.

But that's my point! It isn't 20% with those jobs, it's closer to 80%. It may not seem like it on these boards, but with a few exceptions, the guys making $100k+ don't browse through message boards like this one.

HAL

 

[HAL]

The article the original post referred to is here: http://www.theblaze.com/stories/these-are-americas-top-15-highest-paying-jobs-in-2012/

The average pay for pilots in the US is $118,070. That means half of the pilot in America make more than 85% of the US population. And considering that the average is more than $118k, I'd bet that more than 80% of the pilots do make more than the average US citizen, whose median income is $44,400. 57% of Americans have at least some college education, so there's a lot of people in that median pay range that are trying to pay off college loans, just as some pilots are.

Feel free to complain about how crappy our industry is. Just know that in comparison to the rest of the US, we're still doing pretty damn good.

HAL

 

[SplitBar]

Not 100k+ loans. That's a recent phenomenon. And true I have no sympathy for those people who wrote a check and 4 years later were in an RJ with 0 experience. Not good for the industry IMO.

Easily 100K + My Niece is going to Carleton next year and it's 50K a year. U of Michigan is about the same. I think you are a little out of touch with how much tuition is at good colleges. Yeah there are cheaper colleges but most achievers who bust butt to get straight A's and desire success don't go to UND for $7K a year, they go to U of Mich or Northwestern, Carleton, etc etc.

 

[mushroom]

.....

 

[waveflyer]

Hey, I got into this industry bc an average gig pays decent. But have we got to the point where we're comparing "airline pilot" with ALL the population? Most of those that can do our job (not many), wouldn't once they taste life on the road- many of us wouldn't do it over, we're just invested. If this job paid average, I wouldn't do it. And I LOVE flying.
But the difference articles like that don't disclose is that it's only good for those with seniority- and seniority begins all over everytime you change companies no matter the reason- outsourcing skews that. Built up. Shrunk. Built up another shrunk. So does competition. Where else does your experience count for nothing when you change companies?
We compete in an industry, where in the 2000's the industry grew and did better, but pilots did not. How many professions does this happen in. The free hand is compromised by seniority and the RLA.
Comparing single year w-2's doesn't tell the story

The good paying jobs are the epitome of the saying "it's a good job, IF you can get it." nature of the beast.

 

[Andy]

Let's see ... it was 12 yrs ago this month that I was hired at UAL. Let's say that I made an average of $70K/yr during the 4 years that I wasn't on furlough. The math is: $70K x 4 = $280K divided by 12 = $23.3K/yr average salary.

 

[jonjuan]

Let's see ... it was 12 yrs ago this month that I was hired at UAL. Let's say that I made an average of $70K/yr during the 4 years that I wasn't on furlough. The math is: $70K x 4 = $280K divided by 12 = $23.3K/yr average salary.

So you're saying that you haven't been able to find a single job since? Many went to SWA, netjets, a Corp flight dept or did something else, many making much more than 70k/year. People lose jobs all the time and find another job.