Colgan Starts at $14,400?

[Flywrite]

Yea they do cuz I show up with a smile to work ...

H,

I respect and admire the fact that you go to work with a smile on your face, too many in this business (and many others) do not. My implication that others may not look forward to flying with you may be incorrect, you may be a heck of a guy, but your comments in this thread point in another direction.

You seem to be smiling at work because (not "cuz") you used to make a lot of money (somewhere in the 250K+ range seems to be what you are claiming based on earlier comments). Because of this money and a wife who supports you (and who you go home to "do"...classy...) you dont care how much you make.

If you take a daytrip to the world where most of us fly you will find that this is usually not the situation for many of the guys you think enjoy flying with you.

Many of them do not have large savings accounts and wives who support them. Many of them have wives who themselves are making sacrifices so that they can pursue a dream of flying for a "living". They may have a couple of kids who are getting reduced lunches as school because Dad flies for the Colgan family and mom had to give up her career because Dad is gone so much and daycare is not available or cost effective.

Maybe these pilots are not so happy that there is always some doofus ready and willing to fly for peanuts and who dont give a rat's rear about anyone else because they have what they want.

That, BigH is why I can imagine why others may not like flying with you, because like many others starting out in this business, all you care about is what YOU want and what works for YOU.

Just remember next time you're sitting there in your big King Air grinning like a monkey that the guy in the other seat may not look so happy because he has a sick kid who needs expensive medication, but he is struggling to pay for it on the salary he makes flying 120 hours a month.

That is what we mean when we speak of lowering the bar.

 

[TheBigH]

H,

I respect and admire the fact that you go to work with a smile on your face, too many in this business (and many others) do not. My implication that others may not look forward to flying with you may be incorrect, you may be a heck of a guy, but your comments in this thread point in another direction.

You seem to be smiling at work because (not "cuz") you used to make a lot of money (somewhere in the 250K+ range seems to be what you are claiming based on earlier comments). Because of this money and a wife who supports you (and who you go home to "do"...classy...) you dont care how much you make.

If you take a daytrip to the world where most of us fly you will find that this is usually not the situation for many of the guys you think enjoy flying with you.

Many of them do not have large savings accounts and wives who support them. Many of them have wives who themselves are making sacrifices so that they can pursue a dream of flying for a "living". They may have a couple of kids who are getting reduced lunches as school because Dad flies for the Colgan family and mom had to give up her career because Dad is gone so much and daycare is not available or cost effective.

Maybe these pilots are not so happy that there is always some doofus ready and willing to fly for peanuts and who dont give a rat's rear about anyone else because they have what they want.

That, BigH is why I can imagine why others may not like flying with you, because like many others starting out in this business, all you care about is what YOU want and what works for YOU.

Just remember next time you're sitting there in your big King Air grinning like a monkey that the guy in the other seat may not look so happy because he has a sick kid who needs expensive medication, but he is struggling to pay for it on the salary he makes flying 120 hours a month.

That is what we mean when we speak of lowering the bar.

Oh God no, if I was making 250+ I'd shoot myself ... It down in the low 100's ... And I see what you mean, perhaps I didn't state my opinions correctly, but MELIT just has a way of saying things to piss people off ...

Let's try again, I am not happy because I make 25K to fly an overgrown King Air, I'm happy because I always wanted to be a pilot and that's what I am. I went into this fully knowing the sacrifice that had to be made, and the BAR was already lowered by then ... You're right, a lot of the guys I fly with are struggling to support their families, and believe it or not some have it even better than me ... But none of us went to Colgan because we were lowering the BAR ... it just happened to be the company that offered the job when we needed it ...

And trust me I care a lot about the guys I fly with, it's one of the big reasons I've stayed at Colgan ... this airline has more kick ass people than anything else and you can ask anyone that works here or has worked here that and they'll tell you the same ...

Oh and the savings account is long gone, I've just adjusted my spending habits, ask anyone that makes or has made a lot of money, the more you make the more you spend ... for me it was a matter of giving up the good life to go do something for a living that I don't mind waking up in the morning to go do ... It does help a lot that I don't have to support the fam, if I did I sure as hell would not have chosen this path knowing that the real BAR has been lowered by the RJ drivers of the world ... guys in Beeches don't lower the BAR my friend ...

 

[FirstMate]

How common...Nobody cares nor wants to hear about how you used to make a six figure salary. "if I was making 250+ I'd shoot myself ... It down in the low 100's " GAG

 

[Magneto]

if I did I sure as hell would not have chosen this path knowing that the real BAR has been lowered by the RJ drivers of the world ... guys in Beeches don't lower the BAR my friend ...

You're not making many friends with comments like this. Grow up.

 

[TheBigH]

You're not making many friends with comments like this. Grow up.

Oh sorry, I make real friends in real life, not on message boards where my buddies and I get bashed all the time ...

Hang on while I go cry ....

 

[capt. megadeth]

being home every night to do my wife so that she keeps paying for my toys ...

Hey Big H,
Why don't you show your wife this post?

Classy.

 

[BRA]

I wonder what the percentage is of colgan pilots that are actually living paycheck to paycheck? I know it isn't 100%. I wonder if it is better then 50%? Including FO's my guess is the percentage is small. Also consider how many PFT we have here, including those that went to GIA in a prior life.

 

[HughBeamont]

You know what you're going to make when you come to Colgan. Lot's of sites will tell you that.

At my base, we see newbies with 1100 total / 100 ME, flight instructors, etc. and this is their first 121 job. If you end up in the right base, it's a great move. 800 hrs SIC / year. And then:

1) go to a jet regional in a year, or,
2) upgrade in a year in a half.

If you stay, 1900 captains pay in the mid-$30Ks. 1000 PIC and 15 months after that, you get the Saab type, make $45K and build more PIC.

Anyone that comes to Colgan will succeed if they try. You just have to put up with the BS, and the BS is diminishing all the time, thanks to the FAA. They are watching Colgan closely to ensure that they don't expand (too far) beyond their capablities.

I recommend it.

 

[ShyFlyGuy]

Hugh, you're just plain class. Well said.

Shy

 

[ShyFlyGuy]

On the other hand, I love the reasoning that you can fly at Colgan and beat ExpressJet's first year pay just because you can work more (and consequently have no home life) in a smaller aircraft.

I'm just stating fact, that at Colgan (a commuter) you can beat regional pay, even if by working harder. There are 19 seats in the 1900 and up to 100 in the RJ... at least the commuter pilot is being paid more like a main-liner per seat.

Shy