#12 on top 15 highest paying Careers

[Dumb Pilot]

That was a response to JonJuan - he indicated that I should have had no problem finding another job without any problem. He must not remember 2002 and 2009.

No kidding! That is why I split in 07;-)

 

[pilotyip]

Pay in the upper 15% of all US wage earners, lots of days off, no company responsibility between lines, and all this while doing something you like to do. How many other job in the US offer all that?

 

[DUATS]

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

Please remember the difference between average and median (Back to the Statistics 101 class you took at that $100K university): Average is just that - add 'em up and divide. Median means half are higher, half are lower. If you include all professional pilots, from beginning flight instructors to whale captains with 30 years at the same carrier, I am sure that you will find the average income is much higher than the median income - because there are alot of guys out there flying Caravans to Outback, Nebraska waiting for the chances to fly big jets for $100K a year or more.

We do have to remember that many of us have a passion for this industry that makes us consider more than just raw data. I thought of that as I read the latest Flying magazine on the beach yesterday, while noting that there were no CPA's reading "Accounting Monthly"!

Fly safe - and for those fortunate enough to have a decent flying job, remember it beats working for a living!

Blue skies, all.

 

[Twisted Mind]

Nothing worse than sitting in a wide body jump seat listing to the guys bitch about pay. The CA is in the top 5% and the FO 10%. Figure it out guys.

 

[Andy]

JUS does, because we know you can fly, starts a around 40K/yr

YIP, thanks. That's good to know. Most domestic airlines won't touch a furloughed pilot once they have major airline stink on them. I know from friends at FedEx that they won't hire UAL furloughees.

Many UAL furloughees had to go overseas for jobs.

I don't need a job at the moment; I'm flying on the legacy Continental side of the fence.

 

[propilot]

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.

It would appear you don't really know much about UND... Do some research on their alumni and you might be humbled... Numerous CEOS, politicians, althletes, entertainers, and other noteworthy grads have walked their halls, including the current CEO of the largest private corp. in the world... UND is NOT an aviation university. It's a public university that happens to have an aviation curriculum(albeit one of the best in the country)...

 

[pilotyip]

YIP, thanks. That's good to know. Most domestic airlines won't touch a furloughed pilot once they have major airline stink on them. I know from friends at FedEx that they won't hire UAL furloughees.

Many UAL furloughees had to go overseas for jobs.

I don't need a job at the moment; I'm flying on the legacy Continental side of the fence.

We actually like to hire furloughed pilots, don't make them resign seniority because we know there is a good chance they will stay with us until recalled. We have bunch of NJ guys here now.

 

[jonjuan]

YIP, thanks. That's good to know. Most domestic airlines won't touch a furloughed pilot once they have major airline stink on them. I know from friends at FedEx that they won't hire UAL furloughees.

Many UAL furloughees had to go overseas for jobs.

I don't need a job at the moment; I'm flying on the legacy Continental side of the fence.

Strange. I personally know of 6 furloughed AA guys who got hired at FDX and a few who were hired at SWA. Many furloughees were hired at every fractional (in fact, nj was hiring Regional FOs by the hundreds in '03/04.). I know there are quite a few UAL and AA furloughees on here who got hired by a number of corporate flight depts in 03/04. Also, Jblu hired hundreds in 02-05, many of whom were furloughees.

 

[Andy]

JonJuan, there are always a few exceptions. A very few. Remember that UAL furloughed 2172 post-911 and AMR probably furloughed more than that. It was a horrific time to be unemployed and I chose to pursue a desk job in the AF reserve in order to get somewhat stable work.
2009 wasn't a much better environment to be an unemployed pilot. Age 65 had passed in late 2007 and the music virtually stopped. No movement at any airline; the only openings came due to growth.

I have a friend who used to be at UAL and got hired by FedEx in the 2002-2004 timeframe. He stayed there; many UAL furloughees returned in 2007. As a result, UAL furloughees were blacklisted for hire at FedEx when furloughs happened again in 2009.

But more importantly, you have to decide what type of flying you want to do. My goal in life was to 'doze for dollars' as a widebody FO. I looked at flying long haul as the most efficient way to rack up monthly credit hours. Give me a 10 hour augmented flight with a 25 hour layover and then 10 hour return flight any day of the week.

While I'm happy flying the Guppy at L-CAL, it's a LOT more work to get the same credit hours that you get with long haul widebody flying. I've got plenty of bad landings in my career; I'd prefer to minimize my bad landings in the future.

 

[SplitBar]

Pay in the upper 15% of all US wage earners, lots of days off, no company responsibility between lines, and all this while doing something you like to do. How many other job in the US offer all that?

Give it up YIP. You can't reason with the entitlement crowd.

 

[IAHERJ]

Yay! Long live mediocrity and low expectations! :erm:

Our frame of reference shouldn't be what people in other industries make, it should be about what airline pilots make.

When I was a college freshman, a United 767 Capt made $14K a month. A 727 CA made $12K a month. That was after deregulation, btw.

Today, they pay about the same rate, but it's worth less than half, thanks to inflation. That's what we should be looking at, not what a nurse or a truck driver makes.

Umm, not so much. I'm a 7th year CAL fo who works in the training dept. I make about 12K a month if I do no overtime. I am sure a 767 CA does a lot better than that(at least I hope) being that they make about 70.00 an hour more than my 777 fo rate of 121.67 per hour.

 

[Ty Webb]

Umm, not so much. I'm a 7th year CAL fo who works in the training dept. I make about 12K a month if I do no overtime. I am sure a 767 CA does a lot better than that(at least I hope) being that they make about 70.00 an hour more than my 777 fo rate of 121.67 per hour.

Your $12K today is worth $5700. in 1986 dollars.

The $14,000. they were earning in 1986 would be worth over $28,000. today.

 

[IAHERJ]

Your $12K today is worth $5700. in 1986 dollars.

The $14,000. they were earning in 1986 would be worth over $28,000. today.

Wow, you're old! I kid, I kid....

We are doomed....

 

[Andy]

Wow, you're old! I kid, I kid....

We are doomed....

If he's old - college freshman in 1986 - that mean's I'm fossilized. Oh, to be in my 40s again ...

 

[IAHERJ]

I'd take early 30's again. I think I had my most fun then. Dreading my 40th in a few years. But age is just a number. I know guys in their early 60's who are as active as I am right now. I also know guys my age out on medical.