Jobs with day trips?

[YaMama]

One daytrip operator that comes immediately to mind is Cape Air (based on Cape Cod, Mass.) I don't know what their senior pilots make, but I bet it's closer to 60k than 20k. In general, there is greater demand for short-haul flying in areas where surface transportation is difficult - Cape Air's whole raison d'etre is to transport people from places like Boston and Providence to islands that would take several hours to reach in a boat. So think in terms of coastal/island areas like that, the Caribbean, maybe Indonesia if you're feeling adventerous. Alaska of course has many towns that are inaccessable by road, even though they're on the mainland - and there's a correspondingly high demand for short-haul flying there. Also, there are CFIs around who make in excess of 60k by being experienced and knowing how to market themselves.

Good luck, and don't let the naysayers get you down - anybody who pretends they know where this industry is going in 10 or 20 years is full of shellack.

 

[Gulfstream 200]

I agree with the above..

you can make 60k doing a lot in this business..will you be flying a 747 or a shiny GV..no..but still.

If you spend 10+ years as a pro pilot and dont break 60K, something is very wrong.

 

[Timebuilder]

One daytrip operator that comes immediately to mind is Cape Air (based on Cape Cod, Mass.) I don't know what their senior pilots make, but I bet it's closer to 60k than 20k. I

I could be wrong, but I thought Cape was around 35k. Any Cape guys have the year 2003 amount?

Good luck, and don't let the naysayers get you down - anybody who pretends they know where this industry is going in 10 or 20 years is full of shellack.

You might be right, but consider this: anyone who tells you that the careers will be as rosy as they were in 2000 is full of something else. There is a hard road ahead, and there is no question about that.

If you spend 10+ years as a pro pilot and dont break 60K, something is very wrong.

I'm not sure when you become a pro pilot. I'd say that I started seeing myself that way when I stopped instructing and got a full time charter job. Getting hired by a cargo, corporate, fractional, or other operator might be another similar milestone. If you become a full time instructor, the "professional" level might happen when you start making more than 25k a year, or log more than 4 hours a day consistently. I sure didn't feel very professional making less as an instructor than I am right now on unemployment from my charter job. I felt like a highly repalceable part in a machine that was losing speed at an alarming rate.

At any rate, when you DO become a professional pilot, you may very likely make 60k. If you can do that using 2003 dollars as a reference 10 or 12 years from now, that's all the better.

I am one of the most optimistic people around, but I am also paying a lot of attention to what is happening in our world, post 9-11. I caution all young people to go into this well informned and with your eyes wide open. If you are drinking the Kit Darby Koolaid, you will be disappointed.

 

[Pickle]

jes77jes asked: "I'd really like to get into aviation and i have a long way to go. I am wondering if there are very many companies that only fly day trips. How likely is it to get jobs like this, and if so can you make enough money?($60k a year or so) thanks for any help."

I had a job flying 727 freighters for Amerijet that was all day trips, I flew only two days a week, making about 60K per year in the right seat. But of course, that was before AJT had that whole bankruptcy thing, and who knows what the trips are like there now. But while I was there, pretty much all the flying out of MIA was day trips.