The answer to your question is that there is no answer. While regional airline pay (and major pay should you find yourself there in the first 7 years) is pretty much set by current contracts, and unless a truly labor friendly government administration is installed, airline pay will not change much from what it is today. However, once you get outside the airlines, pay is not governed by a contract, and open to way too many variables. If you are going into corporate or charter flying, a connection with the right company could net you twice or three times the pay, and knowing someone on the inside could get you into a left seat or a large aircraft far quicker than the next guy. Airline pay progression is based on seniority. Same goes for some of the fractionals and larger corporate flight departments. Outside of that, promotion is at the will of the employer, and you could easily find yourself passed over countless times while guys three or four years junior to you make double your pay.
I guess a few generalizations can be made. In just seven years, coming from strictly a flight instructing background, I would say that right now, you can expect to not exceed $100,000 per year. While it is possible, a lot of stars would need to align in your favor. Starting pay can vary from 20k to 50k, but around year 5, I think you will see that all jobs start to catch up with each other and pay in the 60-75k range. Some stop there. Some may not ever get there. Non-union segments of the industry may pay well one day, but that pay can be halved without warning if the employer hits tough times.
One thing will hold true though: you are going to have to make some serious sacrifice along the way to get a high pay after 7 years. If you go through the airlines, you have to deal with pitiful pay for the first 4 or so years at a regional before either making it to a better paying major or getting comfortable at a regional. You will have given up years to reserve, and made a laughable wage during that time. If you go corporate, you will find that higher pay comes with more strings, be it control over where you live, less days off, more hours on call, or flying to more places that you may not feel you or your assigned aircraft are suited to. Larger companies are better, but then you start falling into a pecking order that will limit your fast rise in pay. Small cargo jobs will rarely pay well. Charter can be feast or famine, and the most of the high paying charter jobs are occupied and will not free up in the near future. Odd jobs like firefighting and the like may pay well, but there is a lot more risk involved.
