av8er23 said:
Dude, the guy is a five year F/O and makes just under 100,000. I think he has issues with money managment. Does he think he is going to get pay cuts soon? His pay will continue to go up and top 200,000 one day. Or hopefully he will get so fed up, quit and let me take his place. I will be very thankfull if i were working with one of the top three majors in the industry.
First and foremost, I too am a 5th year f/o, and my YTD earnings with international override is around $104,000.00
Good money? You bet, I am not going to say it is poverty wages. Would I be happy with more money? Absolutely, who is going to turn down more compensation, especially when your employer has the ability to pay you more.
av8er23,
Not unlike anyone else, I paid my dues. I'm not going to write an autobiography, but I carried school loans for almost 10 years before paying them off (finally) and what I make in 1 year is roughly equivalent to what I made in the 5 years between college and date of hire.
As I have said in the past, you don't make what you are worth, but you make what you can negotiate for. $100K is a lot of money compared to $40K I made as a DA-20 captain, but overall it isn't hitting the jackpot. After taxes, you are lucky to keep $70K of it. Factor in cost of living expenses, and that does not equate to whole lot of money. Maybe it did in 1984, but not in today's dollars. And before you ask, I will tell you that I too live below my means, carry a mortgage, and pay cash for everything else, so I am not your "typical" ferrari-driving yacht-sailing guys.
I made the decision to come here, so I am not going to give you a bleeding-heart story of how hard the night-freight scene is, how multiple time-zone changes around the world affect you, or what a 14-day trip is like. I will say this much: I like what I do, but I would not do it for any less than what I am currently doing it for now. We are profitable, the company is willing to give us a raise, and we are setting our goals and expectations higher, not lower.
If you think we make too much money right now, then stay away. I wouldn't want you to be unhappy, and I definitely would not want you negotiating on my behalf.