Ok...gotta put my two cents into this one...
First of all, most pilots have truly "paid their dues" in this industry. Spent Tens or Hundreds of Thousands of dollars to get all their ratings to first get...
1.) A 15 dollar an hour CFI job (maybe) making barely enough to feed themselves (or they are living at home) Average time 2 years.
2.) A regional job making SLIGHT more (often less!!!) than the CFI job and stuck in the right seat for years.
3.) If they are lucky enough to get to the majors (BIG IF) make good money for a while and face a first, second or third furlough or even better the liquidation of their airline.
I wont go in to the whole degree thing. Ive flown with college pilots who were idiots and non degree pilots who were brilliant, so there is NO hard and fast rule.
Lastly, we ARE like Doctors and Lawyers..the public, at least on the exterior, holds us in the same regard. We fly multi-million dollar aircarft with 100s of peoples lives in our hand, can be fired over one mistake that could be deadly and have to know literally THOUSANDS of pages of information and regulations (that change by the day BTW). Yet if you leave one job you have to start at the BOTTOM of the next one.
Doctors spend alot of money to get their degree as well and have a few years residency that obviously is tough, but once they get to that next level the sky is the limit. They have insurance to shield them from liablity (albeit expensive) and they can move ANYWHERE in their profession for the same OR HIGHER pay. Same goes for Lawyers. How we can NOT be thought of in the same compay.
Above all we ARE professionals and should be treated and paid as such!
First of all, most pilots have truly "paid their dues" in this industry. Spent Tens or Hundreds of Thousands of dollars to get all their ratings to first get...
1.) A 15 dollar an hour CFI job (maybe) making barely enough to feed themselves (or they are living at home) Average time 2 years.
2.) A regional job making SLIGHT more (often less!!!) than the CFI job and stuck in the right seat for years.
3.) If they are lucky enough to get to the majors (BIG IF) make good money for a while and face a first, second or third furlough or even better the liquidation of their airline.
I wont go in to the whole degree thing. Ive flown with college pilots who were idiots and non degree pilots who were brilliant, so there is NO hard and fast rule.
Lastly, we ARE like Doctors and Lawyers..the public, at least on the exterior, holds us in the same regard. We fly multi-million dollar aircarft with 100s of peoples lives in our hand, can be fired over one mistake that could be deadly and have to know literally THOUSANDS of pages of information and regulations (that change by the day BTW). Yet if you leave one job you have to start at the BOTTOM of the next one.
Doctors spend alot of money to get their degree as well and have a few years residency that obviously is tough, but once they get to that next level the sky is the limit. They have insurance to shield them from liablity (albeit expensive) and they can move ANYWHERE in their profession for the same OR HIGHER pay. Same goes for Lawyers. How we can NOT be thought of in the same compay.
Above all we ARE professionals and should be treated and paid as such!
uke:
