I can't understand the low pay

[jarhead]

Was someone asking you for your sympathy.........DUDE?

 

[WrightAvia]

hahaha. I guess not.

 

[skootertrash]

Just remember that asking for advice/sympathy on this board AND 1.50$ will get you a cup of coffee. Without the 1.50$ you will just get pi$$ed off and frustrated.

 

[FSB99]

simple answer to the original question of "why?"

give your hubby 6 months in his new job, and he'll understand why.

 

[SkyWstman]

Why the low pay? Partly because every passenger wants to fly for free. Every one wants the cheapest ticket they can find. I have to bite my tongue every time I hear a passenger ask when the planes are going to get bigger again. I want to say "when you are willing to pay for it."

 

[enigma]

My question is... HOW AND WHY did $19,000 ever get passed as an acceptable, liveable salary FOR A PILOT ? Where did this happen, what years and what was the environment that everyone didn't REVOLT and say THIS IS RIDICULOUS! EVEN TAKE IT TO THE MEDIA, YOUR CONGRESSMAN, A LABOR LAW ATTORNEY, THE FEDERAL LABOR DEPARTMENT? ANYBODY ????

Nineteen large (and lower) never got passed as a liveable salary. It did get passed as a wage that pilots are willing to work for. Pilots didn't revolt because doing so might have made them realisticly ineligable for continuing in the career, and the top rung of the ladder was/is considered a goal worthy of sacrifice in order to attain.

My next question is WHAT CAN BE DONE ABOUT IT? There has to be something someone can do to get you guys a more liveable wage? I'm not even talking big money, I mean $35,000.
I can tell you that no one, NO ONE, believes me when I tell them what a F.O. makes flying a regional jet with a big name logo on it.
I don't know ANYONE who makes that low of pay in a full time job!

I wish I knew. Maybe you should take your writing skills and submit articles to periodicals such as ProPilot, Flying, FlightTraining, etc that detail the truth about a flying career. Lord knows, someone needs to tell the truth about the career; most "wanna-be's" never find out how difficult it is until AFTER they spend $100 grand on flight training.

People come into the business with stars in their eyes, willing to do anything in order to fly. We will have to reduce the number of pilots before wages get better. Might as well try and "nip it in the bud" by shutting off some of the new pilots.

First of all, the skill and pay you guys put out for training and schooling. Now the security and terrorism threats looming over you. It's a complete insult.

Absolutely, but we willingly accept the slight.

With little hiring, many of you are facing F.O. positions for a long time to come. What can be done?

Reduce the number of available pilots willing to work for nothing.

I am a member of a union at my full-time job (Non airline) and I can tell you the one advantage is great wages.

How has your union managed to be the sole provider of your product? Until our union manages to become the sole provider of pilots, we're hosed. I'm certainly open to suggestions.

I urge you to become active in your cause! Speak out and demand better pay! THERE IS NOTHING WRONG WITH DEMANDING A LIVEABLE WAGE. I guarantee you NO ONE WOULD DISAGREE WITH YOU! YOU MIGHT BE SURPRISED AT THE SUPPORT YOU GET!

A supportive wife!

If I read you right, this paragraph shows your real intent. I totally agree, but we must recognize that Labor Law is very specific about the things we can do to further our cause. A pilot group working under a legal contract can not just decide to demand more money. This must be done when the contract is open for renegotiation. Any attempt to change the terms before is specifically illegal. Therefore, we must work in a general sense; trying to change hearts and minds so that when the time comes people will not roll over and allow wages to stay low. Even more importantly, we must try and inform the potential pilots of the truth pertaining to the career. Truths like: there is no pilot shortage, zero to 747 Captain takes longer than 18 months, etc.

The pay won't get better until the number of jobs outnumbers the available pilots. Even if each organized group makes gains in their upcoming contract negotiations, we will still lose ground if there are enough pilots available to staff the next Freedom/AirTran/ValueJet, etc. That is why we need a true union, not an association.

regards,
enigma

 

[enigma]

Re: Real Problem

Nevertheless, one thing being lost in this situation is that the individual in this case is well over qualified for the position that they find themselves in. ...............

He is qualified but in what for all intent and purpose is an entry level position in regional airlines. It does not pay much but gives you the opportinity to build experience and move up.

B S Alert,
B S Alert.

This is management spin; an attempt to justify low wages. It is pure Bull Manure.

The right seat of a two pilot, passenger carrying aircraft is NOT entry level. It may be the bottom of the pay scale because of the lack of revenue capability of a 19/30/33/50 seat aircraft, but it is definitely not entry level.

Maybe you should attempt to tell a FAA inspector who is observing FO checkrides that he needs to ease up because the job is entry level. He'd laugh you out of the sim. The FO is an integral part of the modern cockpit and is expected to be every bit as good as the Captain. The only difference in the two seats is in who signs the release. The FO must fly to the same standards as the Captain.

I might agree if we were talking about the right seat of a single pilot Navajo who is only there because of company rules or a jump pilot or a banner tow-er, but the FAA has determined that RJ's (and ever other airliner that I am aware of) requires two pilots.

Once again, just because it's at the bottom of the airline pay scale because of economics, doesn't mean it's entry level.

enigma

 

[wil]

Hey Wright- My pay is based around 75 hour guarantee which works out to be mis 50's without flying over that. Our Instructors get 95 hours min plus for every hour of IOE they get another hour of pay. I am applying this summer to the training department and have only been with the Airline for 3 years. So Jarhead's son is probably in the low 6 figures. I don't know your background but learn the facts before you flame someone-

 

[jarhead]

Thank you, Wil.
Good luck with your pursuit of working in the training department. I am sure you will love it, and the pay IS quite nice

 

[surfnole]

I'm doing my part to make pilot wages higher by refusing to work for such cr*p salaries. ;^)

Several years back I considered the *career change*, but despite my heart telling me what to do, the cold numbers stared me in the face. My jobs OK. pays decent to good, and I'm home every weekend and night.

On the other hand, my company has hired several thousand employees in India and none in the states, and we haven't had a raise in three years. I don't know how much of a future there will be here either.