Pilot job #1 pay for starters?

[list2002]

http://msn.careerbuilder.com/Articl...rsionCnt=2&SiteId=cbmsnjm42235&ArticleID=2235

 

[spudskier]

Said it before and saying it again... I HATE the media...

 

[propjob27]

1. Airline pilots, co-pilots and flight engineers
Starting wage: $55,330
Median wage: $111,680

Wow, I guess they don't start counting until your 2nd year at a major.

Whatever ****************************** nozzle wrote the article must not count:

The 18K I made my first year at Lakes
22K I made my 1st year at SkyWest
45K I made my 2nd year at SkyWest
35K I made my first year at ATA
30K I made my first year at CAL.

Nice to read the good news that most everyone else starts at 55K a year.

 

[EMBpilot]

At Delta at $54/hour in the first year one can actually make "starting $55.330". Maybe the author only talked to Delta pilots? They are a big chunk of the industry afterall.

 

[cale42]

Ok, so I have way too much time on reserve, but how about instead of just biatching on flightinfo we make this guy a little bit more aware.

The blog post was based on statistics from the book "250 Best Paying Jobs" by Laurence Shatkin PhD. According to his website his email is [email protected]

Below is the email I sent him. Feel free to copy and paste any and all of it, maybe if he gets a couple hundred emails it will at least make him think.

cale


Dear Dr. Shatkin,

I am writing today to address what I find to be a disturbing trend in the job market today that I find unfortunately your series of books perpetuates. This is using Bureau of Labor statistical data to advise of the best paying jobs when the data is clearly flawed and not accurately analysed. I find myself acutely aware of it because I work in one of the most erroneously reported industries there is, professional aviation. As an airline pilot I find myself consistently stunned to learn that I work in one of the top paying professions both overall and for beginners when I know this to simply be not true. This blog post, http://msn.careerbuilder.com/Article/MSN-2235-Salaries-and-Promotions-10-Jobs-That-Pay-Beginners-Well/?cbsid=5ea27af86a01443ca7c5cc625578aac2-326965920-VN-4&sc_extcmp=JS_2235_jobmod&cbRecursionCnt=2&SiteId=cbmsnjm42235&ArticleID=2235, was brought to my attention as it cites data entirely from your book, "250 Best-Paying Jobs". It states that the 10th percentile of airline pilots earn $55,330 per year. This stunned me as I have been an airline pilot for 4 years and have never made nearly that much money. In fact I don't know more than 1 or 2 people in the profession at my level that earn that much money.

Understanding that you simply cite the Bureau of Labor statistics, I opted to dig into those statistics to see why there is such an error. Imagine my surprise to learn that according to the Bureau of Labor only 62,680 people are employed as airline pilots, co-pilots, and flight engineers in scheduled transportation. A quick review of airline rosters would reveal that the number barely even encompasses the pilots at the 10 largest US airlines. However there are roughly 40 airlines that engage in scheduled transportation. By taking the top 10 you of course will get the highest pay scales, but that means 30 companies pay scales were not even taken into consideration.

So while the Bureau of Labor statistics are in fact incorrect I feel that if you are going to publish a book called "250 Best-Paying Jobs" and you are a PhD that claims to be a "Career Information Expert" that more research would be required than simply copying and pasting government produced data. A review of that data would show it's inaccuracies and a knowledge of the industry itself would allow you to know that it is logistically impossible to start an aviation career at one of the ten best carriers. In order to get hired at one of those top companies they require years of experience at smaller carriers with dramatically reduced wages.

While you are certainly not alone in publishing and promoting these statistics I feel it is important to speak out and try to get the truth to more people. Airline pilots on the whole are one of the most underpaid professions that currently exist. However books like yours that lead to blog posts like the one that prompted this email paint an entirely unrealistic picture of my job and allow the general public to see me as overpaid and spoiled, which I most certainly am not. They also entice people into a profession only for them to be sorely disappointed. I sincerely hope you will take this into consideration the next time airline pilot makes one of your statistical lists.

Thank your for your time.

xxxx xxxxxxxx

 

[jonjuan]

Paging Dr. Shatkin. Your 9am colon cleansing patient is here.

 

[Mr Hat]

Do you ever wonder if Chemical Engineers read that stuff and say the same things we do?

 

[bluefin]

They don't sit reserve.

 

[bluefin]

They also forget to point some like myself, one who has been in the "industry"...for over 15 yrs furloughed twice...started at 13.25 an hr and now if you spread out all the time away from home I make about 10.00. Kind of funny thats missing from the books. Also whats funny is the, "BEGINNER" part.

 

[cale42]

I have an engineering degree.. when I graduated in 01 I had three job offers, the lowest of which was for $46K, so I'm thinking no the engineers don't say that.

It was a goofy list though since it had lawyers and several fields of medicine on there.. those guys are even deeper in debt than pilots and have years of post grad experience, kind of odd to even think of it in terms of entry level pay.