Flying for the airlines in the 1970's & 80's

[country]

I changed careers several years ago and have a good Corp gig that I'm very happy with....lucky. Born in the early 60's so I'm old enough to know that I don't know that much. Just curious about how the airline industry was (Regional and National) in the 70's and early 80's regarding pay, training, ugrades, benefits etc. Was the entry level pay always terrible? If things have changed then how and what caused the change? I had a young pilot getting ready to go interview with some of the regionals ask me these questions the other day and honestly could not begin to answer them.

A little history from the folks who began there careers in that time period would be appreciated. Please don't respond unless you flew during these times and and currently flying today or have recently retired. I really would like to know for myself and the upcoming group. thx.

 

[AA717driver]

I started at a small commuter in 1986. Not many commuters before the early '80's. PBA, Britt, Comair... I started at $800/mo. for the first couple of months then it "jumped" up to $1,000/mo.

Second commuter flying SD360's paid $1250/mo. I upgraded 6 months into that and made $2050/mo. Stayed there a year and things started getting weird so I jumped to Air Wisconsin (11/87-12/88) and made $1800/mo. Second year FO pay on the F-27 was $33/hr. Not bad.

Went to TWA after that and made $20k my first year as an L1011 FE.

Hope that helps.TC

 

[WhiteCloud]

AA717driver's bio sounds pretty typical. A general reasonable expectation in the late 70's early 80's was that you could get a Commercial ME and CFI (not necessarily CFII/MEI)and teach for a couple hundred hours and then be well qualified to work at a "commuter" or King Air or piston twin job. Do that for another 6 months or so and you were qualified for a "major". That all changed around 1986-7 with Pan Am and Eastern dumping lots of really qualifed jet pilots on the market. During that period I worked for 5 separate "commuter" airlines while remaining under the same roof. They didn't even bother changing paint jobs then. Pay was low for even then. I recall my first tax filing was around $7500/year in 1981. I mowed a lot of lawns on the side to make ends meet.

 

[Rez O. Lewshun]

So....nothing has really changed. The entry aircraft are now RJ's and not Shorts and Merlins

 

[SSDD]

I hope more people pay attention to this thread. One of the things that I see now days if that pilots are trying to recreate an era that really never existed. They want to be jet captains and make $100,000 in two or three years.

That never happened at the regionals, not even at the "nationals." The majors had their glory days from the late 60's to the early 80's, but other than that the going was tough.

Nor sure where this nostagia for a time that never was has come from.

 

[satpak77]

Nor sure where this nostagia for a time that never was has come from.

That would be the Kit Darby propaganda machine

 

[xdays]

In the late 60's, early 70's there were a few commuters around, with the best equipment being the B-99 or Twin Otter. Starting pay was $350 per month at Executive Airlines in Florida, and about the same at Altair Airlines in PHL. In 1970 I flew a Beech 18 out of TPA for $15/ flight hour and usually flew 100 - 120 each month doing government contract work. I was hired at DAL in 1977 where we were paid $650/mo while in training ( you pay for your own living expenses). After training you received the princely sum of $800/mo for the first 6 months, and $900/mo for the next 6 months. At the time, we were also FE's for 4 to 6 years, depending on where you were based. The trips were mostly 2 on 3 off or 3 on 4 off, with quite a few turnarounds. On the downside, it was the era of the Early Birds and Owly Birds, so we did do a lot of back side of the clock flying. All in all, it was the best job in the world, and it disgusts me to see where we have gone.

 

[country]

Thx for your replies. I just feel it is very important for the current crop of pilots and the up and coming group to have a clear understanding of what the industry was like as compared to now. Given the knowledge of how things were in the past will hopefully help shape things for the future in a positive way. I'm curious is there any one common denominator that stands out from then to now on how things got to were they are today?(deregulation,union,management,economy,pilots,etc.)

The perspective from pilots that have been in this business for a while is a valuble tool and should be used for all its worth to help change the current condition. I have to many good freinds struggling at 121 flying. Would be nice to see a change.

thx for your response.

 

[3BCat]

Starting pay at my first commuter airline in 1984; $1250/mo. flying the right seat of a Navajo Chieftain. The Bandeirante paid $1400/mo. No Per Diem. This was better than some of the other operators.

The airplanes were unpressurized, had no autopilot, and no sophisticated radio equipment. We didn't have HSI's. Just peanut gyros, windshield wiper VOR/ILS, and a coffee grinder ADF. No commonality between aircraft of the same type. Some aircraft didn't have radar, only a stormscope.

We'd haul people to ORD, and MSP, DTW, CLE, CVG, MCI... The company used ground handlers from several of the major airlines at the large cities. The Pilots that worked for these carriers were great. They would offer us coffee, encouragement, and advice. I actually kind of liked getting fogged in just to "rub elbows" with the guys I more or less idolized.


One of my favorite memories is of the Ozark Captain who told me to follow him out to the runway one foggy day. We did, and after a lengthy runup of his DC-9-10, he blasted off. The RVR broke just enough for us to get on our way.

 

[inline]

Flying was less complicated, and in some aspects, less safe. Didn't have TCAS, didn't have GPS ( although some airlines still use the vor system exclusively, but that's not unsafe) some had Loran. Deicing was simple, no 2 inch thick manuals to consult, no holdover times, etc. you just deiced ( you didn't have a clue what type it was or what it did) and flew. And the best part, you usually had HOT meals.