USA Today -- Airline Employment

[capt. megadeth]

"You must have one fantasic life style, that's all I can say. I may only be single and an Rj Capt in the west burbs of Chicago but I still manage to put some $$ away, new house 18 months ago, new car 2 years ago and fly my own 'spam can' around for fun."

If you call driving a 1998 Avenger and 1995 purple Geo Metro, working half of my airline days off at my 2nd job, living in a 1000 square foot house a fantastic lifestyle....good for you. I do put money away and have 401k and Roth IRA...no toys though. Me treating myself is an occasional $4 Starbucks. Yeah, I have one fantastic lifestyle. My point was not that I am on the verge of bankruptcy....my point was that we all should not settle for $100,000 a year flying around in a TIN CAN RESPONSIBLE FOR HUNDREDS OF LIVES! And if you do....you are a **CENSORED****CENSORED****CENSORED****CENSORED**ing dumba$$!

I am sorry....I had to vent!

 

[SWA/FO]

I don't work for free. I do quite well at SWA. I still like what I do. I am not on the negotiating committee at SWAPA. I do not wish to destroy this profession like so many other pilot groups have - I HAVE NEVER GIVEN MONEY BACK. You guys need to hold the line more save the profession!

 

[turn&pull]

I challenge anyone to find me a Dentist making 500K. Years ago that was possible if a dentist owned a few practices with other dentists working for him. 25 years ago a dentist would clear .50cents/dollar income. Now it is about .05 per dollar.

Same with Physicians...all over the country physicians are quitting and going into other lines of work. We have 2 working for our company who said they just couldn't make any money unless they went to work for Kaiser or something.

 

[Airpiraterob]

turn&pull,
ever considered a cosmetic dentist? the guys who put faces back together or install 'gold grilles' into your mouth..theyre important if you hope to have a good rap career. they cap your teeth and bond them together to give you a perfectly white Tony Robbins smile to hypnotize with. Those are they dentists that make the half mill.

age 60
-i can afford digital cable/Tivo W/HDtv
-an average yet decent house paid off (who needs 7 rooms)
-can go on vacation once a year
-can go visit family when i want to or need to.
-can enjoy a hobby.
-can afford food form the good grocery store...not Aldi's
this is the simple basic goal. (if you want more...ask yourself just why you need more)
how much money will get you this?
how much money are you trying to get at your job? is it more? and why do you desire that?

look at it this way. theres ALOT of people doing better than you are while making less than you do. no matter how frugal you may be (no heat...more sweaters) there WILL be someone doing more with less than you have.

my best friends dad. never made more than 50k a year. retiring next year with a nice house paid off and a Bass boat paid off...he will be able to do whatever he wants when retired and hes still married even........

so ask yourself....just what are you asking for? and what (if anything) iswrong about it? i'm not condonning the low rates and worthless payscales that may be in some of our futures...i'm just saying it's alright to get paid what youre worth, and attempt to be paid what you believe what you're worth, but its another thing entirelly to be asking for more just because its more than what youre getting now. by that reasoning its nothing short of being greedy. and morgan freeman and brad pitt saw what happened to that guy. he had all kinds of super expensive office space.(guess the movie) Sam Walton once said to a friend "nice office, expensive stuff....how much money does this make you?"

 

[SDF2BUF2MCO]

Airrob, I don't think a person should feel "guilty" for wanting to make a decent wage. Especially when it is a unique position that requires unique skills. Granted, flying is becoming more automated and will continue to do so. If $50K is going to be a decent salary for flyers then they need to lower the quals (which companies won't do right now because of an abundance of pilots), drop the college degree requirement, and/or provide for all the training from ground up. Make it like the military in that regard.

Maybe when companies start having a hard time finding pilots the lights will go on. Until then this trend will probably continue.

After a while the costs are what they are. I don't understand this race to be the cheapest. It reminds me of some poor girl in high school where the only way she could get the attention of the boys was to dress provocatively and be known as "easy". Think the business leaders would want people to fly their airline not because "we're the cheapest" but because people want/like to fly your airline. With these simplistic ideas I'm sure I'll never make it to the ivory tower.

 

[Stinkbug]

Riddleman sounds like the 20 something FO I flew with earlier this year who is still living at home sucking off of mom's ta ta's. Making $22,000 a year he says "It's fun!" Dumb $hit! Dude, you are a complete **CENSORED****CENSORED****CENSORED****CENSORED**in g idiot

Why don't you get off your high horse and think about this for a second. At 22, how many of us had any real responsibilities, or life experience for that matter? I mean the kid's probably doing something he's been dreaming about since conception. Why the heck shouldn't he have fun? If you are gonna sit there and tell me you didn't have the same starry-eyed look on your face the first time you strapped into the cockpit of an airliner you are full of crap. Reality will set in for him like it has for the rest of us and perhaps then he'll become a staunch supporter for change. In the meantime, cut him and all the other "500 hour wonders" you people love to bash a little slack.

I also second what turn&pull said about physician's and dentist's wages. My general practitioner told me she has a friend or two in medicine who are having trouble making ends meet. The point is that the downward pressure on wages isn't limited solely to aviation. By all means, do what you can to stem the losses or even reverse the trend, if that's possible, but why pour derision on those who have learned the secret to being content with what they have? I personally admire and aspire to it.

 

[Airpiraterob]

sdf2buf2mco,

oh i agree totally. i'm just pointing out that because some people dont make "the most" then they get all grumpy and hostile when what they have now could be more than enough for whatever their plans are. perhaps thats a mentality for the regional board or something. not so much here although i do see it. there no guilt for making a decent wage.....but should there be for wanting to make decent+a whole boatload more? i dunno. its nice....but i dunno.

the guy who started mcDonalds said: "take care of the customer and they will take care of you" (his company was bought by the mcdonalds brothers and look at it now)

this is absolutely pertinent in all business. this should be enough. but you know what? business never gets enough. the move to mkae the costs cheaper in all walks of business pays off BIGTIME! if your product is cheaper to make....you can score bigger profits. once this 'light' went on there statred the race we have now. now its hit home where the cheapest ticket gets the buyer. i blame the mcdonalds brothers and sam walton. they showed how the cheap product makes bigger money faster than you could believe. the public GOT USED to it! and now they expect the biggest meal for the lowest price. the biggest airplane to ride on for the lowest price. they want a 747 to take them 200 miles with a meal and free everything for $200. they expect it now. and being taken care of is taking a back seat. if they hate your airline cause its uncomfortable and not very friendly, theyll be back cause its the cheapest ticket. i've seen service only matter when the ticket prices are the same. it goes price, free stuff, service. a 'value meal' wrapped up in an airline ticket. the stockholders see you make a profit one year....and if its not a BIGGER one next year, they get unhappy....noone can be happy making hte same profit year after year....it has to be more than last year.

ill take a #3 to boston please.

once this calms down, i really believe well see a stable industry again. one that can operate with profit. and when profits go up, pay will go up with it. i honestly believe in 5 years the future will be brighter and the industry much more stable.....unfortunately survival of the fittest is about to take place. i think im in a good spot now but im still on my guard. we all know its a big cycle industry....but this particular cycle will be a slow big one. and im not going to mention what that could be interpreted as.

 

[captain caveman]

RiddleMan80, you rock!

Check out this cool website I found:


http://www.tabexpress.com/free_training.htm

You'll love it, enjoy!

 

[Anaconda]

enough bickering...let's hear about that pinnacle hottie pictured on page two of the money section of usa today.

 

[Airpiraterob]

ohhh! someone post a link or something?

and about that free training deal at TAB....
nice to give them all that money and they dont have to pay you back interest or anything for letting them hold your money for 4 YEARS!...yes you get free flight training....but they make money off you.