Salary instead of pay per hour

[shon7]

Is it more beneficial for pilots to be paid by the hour or to be on salary (as is the case with some corporate/fractional outfits). I believe this is one of the problems because when the common man hears a rate of $74 or $150 per hour he feels that is a lot and that pilots are overpaid; but they fail to realize that there is a cap on the number of hours one can fly!

 

[FN FAL]

Is it more beneficial for pilots to be paid by the hour or to be on salary (as is the case with some corporate/fractional outfits).

Airline pilots are on salary and hourly. They negotiate a minimum number of flight hours a month, so if you fly less than that, you still get the minimum. If you fly more than that, you get more money.

I know you are asking on the majors section, but since you mentioned corporate/fractional, I will assume you also meant to include regionals as well. FedEx Feeders are the regional for FedEx, so I am going to comment here.

My before tax salary as a C-208 Captain minus the 27 dollars a day perdiem, is 36,000 a year.

On my run, I fly 120 days a year, am not assigned any other duties and do not need a pager or cell phone, as I am not assigned unscheduled flying. That salary divided out by schedule, comes to 300.00 a scheduled day before taxes.

If you divided it by the 600 hours a year that are flown on the run, that comes out to 60 dollars a flight hour before taxes.

If you figured it out on an 40 hour work week (which is close to what my run winds up being), it comes out to 18.39 an hour before taxes.

If your employer makes you work 70 hours a week, salary is not for you. Hourly is great, but you better have a contract like the airline guys have, so if you work below the minimum hours, you still get at least a known fixed amount in your check.

In salary you are better off if you can work less hours period. With hourly, you are better off if you work more hours. If you are set up like the airlines, you can have your cake and eat it too.

You can bid for trips with more than the minimum hours and make more money, or bid for trips with less hours than the minimums and make at least the minimum pay for your position and longevity and have more time off.