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Mechanics Pay??
- Thread starter 30MK
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sbn340mech
Well-known member
- Joined
- Feb 14, 2005
- Posts
- 86
When your young and single 35K a year might be just fine. But if your like most other people out there, you have hopes and dreams, and 35K a year isn't going to work very well.
Last year I made just over 33K going off my W2, and between the house pmt, insurance, car pmt, utilites, taxes, well you get the idea. 33K dosen't go very far.
Last year I made just over 33K going off my W2, and between the house pmt, insurance, car pmt, utilites, taxes, well you get the idea. 33K dosen't go very far.
Weasel Keeper
Phantom (Falcon) Phixer
- Joined
- Sep 18, 2003
- Posts
- 249
If you're planning on making beacoup cash from the get-go then you may need to worry. Some people do the job because they have a love for aviation, and it's nice to be able to do a job you like.
I was raised as an Air Force "brat" in the late 60s and then joined the Air Force myself, so i've been around aircraft all my life. I like planes and I like working on them. I've been with our little regional for three years and still haven't broken the $16.00hr mark, but I still enjoy my work. I could go back to work for warehouses making around $20.00hr but it's just not a "fun" job to me. Of course I'm in a position where I own my vehicles, have a small house payment, live where the cost of living isn't so bad, and have a wife who works.
There are a lot of laid off technicians, but there are also tons of A&P jobs at Climbto350.com and Planemechs.com. It all depends on your priorities I guess. I'm using my current job to build experience (since my employer doesn't count military time ) to eventually move on to bigger brighter things.
Best of luck to you.
I was raised as an Air Force "brat" in the late 60s and then joined the Air Force myself, so i've been around aircraft all my life. I like planes and I like working on them. I've been with our little regional for three years and still haven't broken the $16.00hr mark, but I still enjoy my work. I could go back to work for warehouses making around $20.00hr but it's just not a "fun" job to me. Of course I'm in a position where I own my vehicles, have a small house payment, live where the cost of living isn't so bad, and have a wife who works.
There are a lot of laid off technicians, but there are also tons of A&P jobs at Climbto350.com and Planemechs.com. It all depends on your priorities I guess. I'm using my current job to build experience (since my employer doesn't count military time
) to eventually move on to bigger brighter things.Best of luck to you.
IndyGTP
Well-known member
- Joined
- May 21, 2004
- Posts
- 68
Painkiller:
You are correct with the industry has made a turn for the bad. High paying jobs are a thing of the past. If you have indeed been doing this 17 years, consider yourself lucky. You have been with the rest of the airlines in leading the industry in wages at Delta. Like I said before, there are plenty of jobs, and there are plenty of techs (newbies) willing to take one for $10/hr just to get the experience.
Five years ago when I started school it wasn't bad. United had an agreement included in the loan the city gave them to hire 200 mechanics a year. By 2006 they were to have 2,500 aviation professionals. Not to mention ATA had/has line and hanger maintenance in Indy. ATA was on a hiring spree as well. Chautauqua the number one regional airline also operated out of Indy.
When I started this wonderful career, things were looking good. I had some insides at ATA (who are now laid off) that guranteed me, they could get me a job. Kinda sucks to see all your dreams crumble in one year. (9/11).
But hey I can't really complain. I'm living the American dream. Got a house, car, wife, and enough money to put food on the table. It could have been better but I'm satisfied with what I got and love what I do.
You are correct with the industry has made a turn for the bad. High paying jobs are a thing of the past. If you have indeed been doing this 17 years, consider yourself lucky. You have been with the rest of the airlines in leading the industry in wages at Delta. Like I said before, there are plenty of jobs, and there are plenty of techs (newbies) willing to take one for $10/hr just to get the experience.
Five years ago when I started school it wasn't bad. United had an agreement included in the loan the city gave them to hire 200 mechanics a year. By 2006 they were to have 2,500 aviation professionals. Not to mention ATA had/has line and hanger maintenance in Indy. ATA was on a hiring spree as well. Chautauqua the number one regional airline also operated out of Indy.
When I started this wonderful career, things were looking good. I had some insides at ATA (who are now laid off) that guranteed me, they could get me a job. Kinda sucks to see all your dreams crumble in one year. (9/11).
But hey I can't really complain. I'm living the American dream. Got a house, car, wife, and enough money to put food on the table. It could have been better but I'm satisfied with what I got and love what I do.
IndyGTP
Well-known member
- Joined
- May 21, 2004
- Posts
- 68
sbn340mech said:
Your right SBN340! I made right around 35k this year, but my wife was working and still is, which helps out alot! But now that I got a little one on the way the wife won't be able to work and I'll have to adjust my finances to what already is low to even lower.
30MK, they don't tell you in school about how stressful, unstable, and how the pay really is in this industry. They will sugar-coat everything to make it sound like the industry is the place to be. The reason I know this is because I went to visit my instructor last year. His attendance was down to 10 students. He printed up this brand new (hot off the press) information pamphlet about the AMT profession and I kid you not... Had a story from a former student employed at Delta. The only thing was, the story was written back in 2000. In no way did his pamphlet reflect how the industry really is.
I've never understood how folks in maintenance can believe that it's hard to find work turning wrenches. It isn't. Not too long ago, I found myself unexpectedly out of work, and within a day had an offer to come aboard a growing ag operation as a director of maintenance.
I fly and turn wrenches, and responded to an add for learjet pilots. As soon as they saw my resume, they told me the pilot position was filled, but they needed a DOM right away. I told them I'd rather fly, they said take it or leave it. Lear qualified pilots a dime a dozen, but folks to fill that DOM position...hard to get. And so on.
Even for a small department as DOM, typically a salary of about 50,000 is a starting point...that was my first DOM corporate salary, which also included some flying duties. Another such position was slightly less to start, at 47,500. That's equivilent to about twenty three bucks an hour based on a 40 hour work week, but I didn't see very many weeks that were less than eighty hours...often more. The pay isn't great, never has been.
But then a lot of professions are entered knowing that the cap isn't high. Aviation maintenance is no different. If it makes you feel any better, I've worked at quite a few companies where mechanics made more than the pilots. That only makes you feel better if you're a mechanic, not a pilot. Most places I've worked, I've flown and turned wrenches.
A lot of folks seem to think that the airlines should be the be-all and end-all of the job, and that ain't so. Get into restoration or repair station work, and you may find, especially if it's your own shop, that you're doing much better. How much better is up to you and the type of work you elect to do...but I certainly wouldn't discourage anyone who wants to get into aircraft maintenance. Look at it seriously and consider it in the light of day, but it's an enjoyable, honorable profession.
I do auto maintenance though I'm no auto mechanic...and I don't like doing it. I enjoy working on airplanes. I know a lot of folks that don't enjoy their work, but make more money. It's a personal decision, but I've been working on airplanes and flying them since I was a kid, and it's what I know. Working outside the industry, the money can certainly be better, but I feel as though I'm wasting talent and time, and making a big mistake. I've worked outside the industry many times when downturns left me jobless or I needed outside work to supplement my income...every time I felt strongly that I was in the wrong place, that I belonged in a hangar or a cockpit.
I still do. You must go where you're called.
I fly and turn wrenches, and responded to an add for learjet pilots. As soon as they saw my resume, they told me the pilot position was filled, but they needed a DOM right away. I told them I'd rather fly, they said take it or leave it. Lear qualified pilots a dime a dozen, but folks to fill that DOM position...hard to get. And so on.
Even for a small department as DOM, typically a salary of about 50,000 is a starting point...that was my first DOM corporate salary, which also included some flying duties. Another such position was slightly less to start, at 47,500. That's equivilent to about twenty three bucks an hour based on a 40 hour work week, but I didn't see very many weeks that were less than eighty hours...often more. The pay isn't great, never has been.
But then a lot of professions are entered knowing that the cap isn't high. Aviation maintenance is no different. If it makes you feel any better, I've worked at quite a few companies where mechanics made more than the pilots. That only makes you feel better if you're a mechanic, not a pilot. Most places I've worked, I've flown and turned wrenches.
A lot of folks seem to think that the airlines should be the be-all and end-all of the job, and that ain't so. Get into restoration or repair station work, and you may find, especially if it's your own shop, that you're doing much better. How much better is up to you and the type of work you elect to do...but I certainly wouldn't discourage anyone who wants to get into aircraft maintenance. Look at it seriously and consider it in the light of day, but it's an enjoyable, honorable profession.
I do auto maintenance though I'm no auto mechanic...and I don't like doing it. I enjoy working on airplanes. I know a lot of folks that don't enjoy their work, but make more money. It's a personal decision, but I've been working on airplanes and flying them since I was a kid, and it's what I know. Working outside the industry, the money can certainly be better, but I feel as though I'm wasting talent and time, and making a big mistake. I've worked outside the industry many times when downturns left me jobless or I needed outside work to supplement my income...every time I felt strongly that I was in the wrong place, that I belonged in a hangar or a cockpit.
I still do. You must go where you're called.
mattfish42
missed the ground
- Joined
- Apr 3, 2003
- Posts
- 90
I don't thing it's quite as bleak as some make it out to be. Yes, you can still find jobs in the airlines. Albiet it will most likely be with a regional (as if that is the end of the world). In fact, more regionals than not are hiring from their websites. I had 5 offers within two weeks of getting notice that ATA was giving ChiEx a dry ramming. I kept with it because I personally love knowing that when I walk off that airplane, it's going to make it to point B. If money is the only reason for becoming a A/P then good luck you'll need it. For me when it's time to call it a career, I'll be going back to school and not for some auto mechanics or construction job but rather some high end white collar profession. For now though I still enjoy my job and it pays the bills. If it's money your after, try financial planner it pays a whole lot more than an auto dealership.
sbn340mech
Well-known member
- Joined
- Feb 14, 2005
- Posts
- 86
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