Declining Glories: The Airline Career

[Falconjet]

BBB: Go check some of 80s posts over on the regional forum.

You will be looking for another ally soon.

FJ

 

[ferlo]

This is still a great career, to be paid in the upper 5% of US income earners to do something you like. Most people will never expereince that.
Now if you do not like flying this is a terrible job.

Finally, we've identified the problem. Look in the mirror dude.

 

[pilotyip]

I was never referring to average wages at the airlines; I was referring to the senior position at your airline. From what I have seen on airline pay, almost every regional has the 82K mark on their pay scale. It can be done.

 

[Quack]

Hey aren't there starving babies in Africa somewhere?

 

[800Dog]

I was never referring to average wages at the airlines; I was referring to the senior position at your airline. From what I have seen on airline pay, almost every regional has the 82K mark on their pay scale. It can be done.

Which puts them in the top 20%, not the top 5%. Very few pilots in the US will ever see the wages that will put them in the top 5% of wage earners.

 

[svcta]

It CAN be done at some regionals. 20 year CA, maybe. Is that where you want to end up?

Also, I am, like some others here, really tired of this "white liberal guilt" thing that some pilots on this board seem to have regarding salaries and having a job that you enjoy. "Well, you like your job.....so you must pay back a 47% 'I like my job tax'. " That's like saying that since I love my lady she shouldn't be as good looking as she is. "Sir, since you love your wife we are going to have to cut up her face and remove a breast."

 

[pilotyip]

Not bad pay

800 dog, again you do not have to stay in the job at the regional, you can move if you are lucky into LLC level or the major level and be in the upper 10% or 5%. The job may not be paying what it did in the past, but it is still a good paying job. All those who feel they have the answer to pay higher salaries to pilots, should put their plan together and present it to Wallstreet to get the funding and create the dream airline job.

 

[Big Beer Belly]

Very few pilots in the US will ever see the wages that will put them in the top 5% of wage earners.

Dude... you're a crack baby. Ain't no other way to explain your irrationality. :smash:

There's probably 20,000 major airline pilots making $150k+ and the rest (30,000 or so) will eventually upgrade and also make it.

If that's "very few"... then you nailed it pal! :laugh:

BBB

 

[svcta]

Dude... you're a crack baby. Ain't no other way to explain your irrationality. :smash:

There's probably 20,000 major airline pilots making $150k+ and the rest (30,000 or so) will eventually upgrade and also make it.

:laugh:

BBB

But not all at the same time.....plus you've got an equal amount or more at other carriers flying jets that are bringing the average down dramatically. Say what you will, the "regionals" are here to stay...and they're flying 90 seat jets now. So how long does that put off a job at a major making those oh-so-big bucks?

By the way, gang...those little smiley face guys with the hammers and grins are just precious. But then arguing on the internet is like running in the special olympics.

 

[Big Beer Belly]

By the way, gang...those little smiley face guys with the hammers and grins are just precious.

Sort of like those moving avatars...

BBB

 

[800Dog]

There are many hundreds, if not thousands, of pilots making 300k at the major level. Most WILL see it [eventually]... it's all seniority. (This info has been posted MANY times before.)

BBB

You are truly delusional! Most will see 300k? The average guy hired at a major is 35. He will never have the seniority to hold the 777/747/A380 etc. and will never see the highest pay rates, which, by the way are no where near high enough to make 300k. Show me one airline with a payrate near $300hr. Sure there are exceptions. Some fly overtime etc and make big $$. Delta had some over 500k before the paycuts. Most will retire as a captain making anywhere from 75k at a regional to 160k at a major. The minority will retire from the heavy iron at FedEx/UPS or LUV making 250k. Look at the rates for the 777/747/A330 at the majors on airlinepilotcentral.com. Nowhere near 250k let alone 300k. Stick to the facts!

 

[Big Beer Belly]

Most will retire as a captain making anywhere from 75k at a regional to 160k at a major. The minority will retire from the heavy iron at FedEx/UPS or LUV making 250k. Look at the rates for the 777/747/A330 at the majors on airlinepilotcentral.com. Nowhere near 250k let alone 300k. Stick to the facts!

You are so far out of touch it's comical. Every union has full access to its pilots' payroll data... among other reasons this provides a check that union dues have been withheld correctly. Final W-2 numbers encompass much more than minimum annual guarantee pay (which is what you are viewing on airlinepilotcentral.com). This is Basic Indoc 101 stuff and leads me to question your claim of being a pilot. Vacation buyoff, sick buyoff, bonus payments, per diem, opentime flying, junior manning, premium payments, late arrival pay, grievance awards are just some off the top of my head.

In a few years our minimum annual guarantee (base pay) exceeds your magical retirement figure. Now I'm really confused. You said nowhere near 250, let alone 300 and our base will exceed your "nowhere near" number.

You can play the pity party card all you like my friend but this industry is alive and well for many. Every airline that's hiring has thousands of pilot applications on file from guys wanting to work for there. If you're unhappy (obviously) I suggest you apply a fraction of the time you spend bitching on this board toward improving your qualifications and seek out a better paying job.

BBB

 

[PHXFLYR]

BTW I have never said Doc's are low pay, or pilots are high pay, if you want to be rich you should propably not become a pilot. I you like flyingairplanes, you can make a decent income doing something you like.

oh......never mind......why bother......?????

 

[Morning Wood]

I am sick of hearing about economics. The argument has very little basis as long as the Railway Labor Act exists, and government regulation exists. There is a small amount of economic forces at work, but do not lose sight of the other issues.

Do you really think we would be paid the same if management couldn't keep us tied up in negotiations for years on end, and then when we want to strike the President simply says we can't. Take those out of the equation and tell me how much you think we would be paid. That my friends would be a free market at work.

That last thing we need is more government oversight or intervention.

 

[YourPilotFriend]

Wait ten years, the pilot profession will be back in the top 5%. Airlines got hit with pay cuts first. The other industries will follow slowly. Take a look at Ford motor company for instance. An engineer hired there 3 years ago started at $60K, last week they just started rehiring engineers at $28K. Ford just laid off anyone that was high pay, and rehired younger people at lower pay. Kids these days will never have it as good as their parents did. The American dream died when the flood gates opened up to foreign competition.