Virgin America is here

[Andy]

In documents that Virgin America filed with the state of California, the hourly wage of pilots after being fully qualified will fall in the range of:

$41.00 per hour starting to $126.00 per hour maximum. (With a note that says most employees (i.e. pilots) will start at the minimum wage).

Let the downward wage spiral continue! This will reverberate throughout the profession.
It's only a matter of time before a well paid A380/787 Captain is pulling down a very low 6 figure income. That is, until a six figure salary for an airline pilot becomes extinct.

 

[Dumb Pilot]

Check airmen with a checkered past, I'd say. You get what you pay for.

You know this for a fact Andy? Don't know bro! It is hard to say what you are going to do if you suddenly find yourself without a job and with very few options as this career has. In the late 80's I went from the panel on the 27 on the national flag carrier to a Navajo after the carrier closed. It seems a little harsh to call these guys "Checkered" unless you have first knowledge. This career has a heavy handed way of humbling Dude.

 

[Coool Hand Luke]

Dumb Pilot. Good point Sir.

I would like to expand on my comment(s) earlier saying that I think it is unbelievable that some airlines only want to pay Check Airmen 80+K/year.

While I think that Check Airmen pilots are worth quite a bit more than 80+k/year, I do not blame anyone for taking such a position. 80+/K a year is obvioiusly a lot more money as compared to being unemployed. Where I in the same shoes, I could not come home (not that I would be anywhere if I were unemployed) to my wife and kids and look them in the eye having turned down a job that puts food on the table and a roof over their heads.

Bottom line, you do what you have to do to survive. If that means taking a job for 80K a year as a Check Airman, so be it.

Good luck to all of you that are out there everyday looking for that next flying job. I've been there.

 

[720persecond]

Dumb Pilot. Good point Sir.

I would like to expand on my comment(s) earlier saying that I think it is unbelievable that some airlines only want to pay Check Airmen 80+K/year.

While I think that Check Airmen pilots are worth quite a bit more than 80+k/year, I do not blame anyone for taking such a position. 80+/K a year is obvioiusly a lot more money as compared to being unemployed. Where I in the same shoes, I could not come home (not that I would be anywhere if I were unemployed) to my wife and kids and look them in the eye having turned down a job that puts food on the table and a roof over their heads.

Bottom line, you do what you have to do to survive. If that means taking a job for 80K a year as a Check Airman, so be it.

Good luck to all of you that are out there everyday looking for that next flying job. I've been there.

So true.

 

[Andy]

You know this for a fact Andy? Don't know bro! It is hard to say what you are going to do if you suddenly find yourself without a job and with very few options as this career has. In the late 80's I went from the panel on the 27 on the national flag carrier to a Navajo after the carrier closed. It seems a little harsh to call these guys "Checkered" unless you have first knowledge. This career has a heavy handed way of humbling Dude.

Of course I don't know it for a fact. However, if flying airplanes is the ONLY thing that a laid off pilot can do, s/he is quite stupid. This business has it's ups and downs, and if you aren't prepared to walk away from aviation to make sure that you can get a decent paycheck, you are fueling the downward spiral in wages.

I've been furloughed since Mar '02 and haven't turned a wheel since Sep '02 (with my Guard unit). I could've taken a job with a regional paying dirt wages, but chose work outside of aviation to get a decent paycheck.

Those that fail to plan plan to fail.

 

[BOOZENEWS]

Of course I don't know it for a fact. However, if flying airplanes is the ONLY thing that a laid off pilot can do, s/he is quite stupid. This business has it's ups and downs, and if you aren't prepared to walk away from aviation to make sure that you can get a decent paycheck, you are fueling the downward spiral in wages.

I've been furloughed since Mar '02 and haven't turned a wheel since Sep '02 (with my Guard unit). I could've taken a job with a regional paying dirt wages, but chose work outside of aviation to get a decent paycheck.

Those that fail to plan plan to fail.

Exactly. Why doesn't every pilot have a plan B to have a stable, well paying job outside of aviation when you are put in this situation rather than lowering the bar at everyone else's expense. You'd think because pilots plan so carefully on an alternative course of action when the weather deteriorates or an in flight emergency occurs that they would have the smarts to have a well paying backup job outside of aviation and not contribute to the spiral down in aviation. Every pilot needs a solid, useful plan B to aviod the perdiciment that Coool Hand Luke refers to.

The bigger issue I see here is our society in this day and age has conditioned many of us to accept mediocrity and be satisfied with less than we deserve. Thank God for the most part those types of people are not in out military fighting Islamic facist's who would kill all of us in a heartbeat if they could.

 

[shindler]

I couldn' t agree more,
that' s why I am heading on the other side of the Atlantic so I don't have to get 2 weeks notice about my salary ( and my life) been cut in half and/or have a side business "just in case".

 

[Whine Lover]

- "I could've taken a job with a regional paying dirt wages, but chose work outside of aviation to get a decent paycheck."

- " many of us.. accept mediocrity and (are) satisfied with less than we deserve."

A(fargin' )MEN.


I am NOT alone...(?)


YKW

 

[Dumb Pilot]

Time will tell if your decision or those that chose to work for SkyBus or Virgin proved to be the correct one. Almost three decades ago a bunch of guys went with this crazy Idea that some business man had down in Memphis, and started flying this raggedy falcon 20's around the Midwest attempting to start an overnight package delivery service. Back in the day people used to say "Only a whole bunch of crazy rednecks would come up with a crazy idea like that." Well, It turned out OK for them, now just about everybody is Purple with envy. Some other folks decided to go work for another startup in one of the most competitive markets (If not "The Most") out of New York and compete head to head with the majors. Just plain crazy, everyone said that they would be closed within a couple of years. I don't hear them singing the Blues. Some others saw a well financed, well though out business plan in another startup operating out of Vegas flying brand new 757's and found themselves looking for jobs a couple of years later, nobody saw that coming that fast. I mean one day the buzz was so strong that it was the only thing you could hear in the aviation circles and the next day they where gone. Now half of the generation "X" that visit FlightInfo probably haven't even heard of National Airlines.

For those that decided to get out of aviation all together because you didn't agree with the direction that the industry is taking. Your decision is not unique, a lot of folks back in the last down turn of the industry that saw PanAm, Eastern and Braniff close their doors forever took your path and got out (Including me) after Eastern closed. I wanted nothing to do with this business because I didn't want to be an Airline pilot, I wanted to be an Eastern Airlines pilot. I was on the hiring pool when everything came tumbling down. I returned a couple of years later after my heartache subsided a bit and flew corporate for many years.

Later I accepted the meager wages as an F/O in the regionals thinking that it would be a stepping stone for me. And for a brief period, it looked to be just that way when I started to get interviews left and right from AA ,UA, CAL. It wasn't Eastern, but I was starting to feel good about returning to flying after all. And then one September morning the world changed forever. And here I am, still at a regional. But you know what? I'm happy.
People chose in different ways but is up to each individual to feel good about their choices and there will always be others who will disagree with the path you chose.

Good luck to all that decided to quit aviation for good. But one recommendation for you, If you stop smoking don't seat in the smoking section. So go lurk in the sites that theme your current trade.

 

[oldxfr8dog]

I've been furloughed since Mar '02 and haven't turned a wheel since Sep '02 (with my Guard unit). I could've taken a job with a regional paying dirt wages, but chose work outside of aviation to get a decent paycheck.
Those that fail to plan plan to fail.

You haven't flown for almost four and a-half years, you disdain the industry and lament that the big-dollar days are gone(me, too). Yet, you've posted over 640 times on an major airline board.
Back when you first got your commercial, was a quarter mil a year as a UA capt your only motivation? Maybe you should have invested all that money into something a little more solid. I mean the industry could be rakin' in the dough, but we all are just a physical away from unemployment.
Money isn't my only motivation.