Ty Webb said:
I have a hard time believing this, unless you are hanging out with a very small segment of the "3 years out of school" population.
Regardless, if they are making that kind of money, they are likely spending half of their life at work. I'd be curious to know how much they are enjoying that job they spend so much time at . . . . after three or four years, I doubt they enjoy it as much as you enjoy flying. If I am wrong, maybe you should get out while it's easy for you to do so.
I guess I may be. I also should have been more specific. Of my core group of good friends back home several already make 6 figures. I didnt mean that to sound like I know all kinds of people making that much money.
Two are in the arena of computers and one sells surgical equipment for spinal surgery. The computer guys have your typical 9-5 and the other guy has a modified 9-5 (he takes several day trips here and there but for the most part is home and works throughout the day visiting hospitals and sitting in on surgery.)
They all work hard and they all seem to enjoy it....for now anyway. Being only a few years out of school means they are still fresh to their industrys....I suppose their jobs may get old over time...but who knows. They all have some serious earning potential. And while I agree with what most pilots say about how not many people out there enjoy their field as much as we do....well...with all the talk about QOL...
I guess at times for me the line between lifestyles is grey when it comes to either sacrificing a lifestyle you desire to have a career that you find enjoyable and feels not much like work vs. having a career that you dont necessarily love but gives you a
very comfortable lifestyle with a normal schedule, great pay, in the location you desire.
I dont know what each of your careers have been like or how long you have been in the industry...but I already have met guys older than myself who have left the industry and are glad they did and other guys who I work with who tried to leave the industry several times and have resolved to come back to work for a 1/3rd or less of what they were making in the "real world" just so that they could fly airplanes. I just find it frustrating at times knowing how much money and time I have invested and that with my qualifications (not that they are great) find a job making enough money to pay the bills. I understand the concept of "paying your dues"...I like others just wish the regionals started around the ballpark of $30-$40k a year...unfortunately that thought is almost laughable. But I am young and at this point still have over 30 years to devote to the airlines.
The reality is that everyone has a different perspective and different priorities. When I was in school and for the first year or two out of it I was one of those "I will go anywhere and do anything just to be a pilot and to further my career. I want to fly the heavy metal." I am still going to work to try to achieve my goal as a pilot for a large sucessful carrier (Fedex, UPS, JetBlue, SWA, and growing up in the midwest Ive always wanted to be a 757 driver for the redtail) and I am willing to stick out low pay and a less desired schedule because there are few things in this world I enjoy like I do flying (and I get to do it for work!)...but I would jump all over a decent corporate gig back home just to be near family and my old stomping grounds.
Dont get me wrong though...I still stick with what one of my college profs used to say about flying airplanes: "Beats workin for a living."
Im sure in a few years Ill have a good corporate gig or airline gig that is better paying with a location I like and I will joke about the "rough" days as a young up-and-comer. Who knows.
What an industry.