"Why Pilots Should Make $200,000 aYear" essay thing

[pilotyip]

If you like flying airplanes for a job and it is something you have wanted to do your whole life and you understand the limitations of the job, it is a great job! Time away from home, nights in hotels, jobs ending suddenly, this is all part of the job. A 100K for living a child hood dream is something very few people will ever experience in their lives. If you think you should be compared to a doctor or MBA from Harvard, you are out of touch with reality. Fly because you like to.

 

[Fugawe]

Yeah, I remember it very well, and what I remember was that it really wasn't very hard. I also remember getting professional registration in a completely unrelated field. I remember that just to sit for the final registration exam (there was more than one) required a minimum of 4 years of college with a degree in that discipline and 6 years of practice in this field. I remmeber that the exam took 8 hours. I remember that it was a lot harder than my PPL, IR, CPL, FI, FOI, ATP and FE exams all put together. I also remember that you could not buy a book with all the questions and all the answers to that exam.

Becoming a pilot really isn't all that hard.

Guess some tickets are different than others. Becoming just 'a pilot' may not be that hard.

 

[Tyro]

Fly because you like to...

No question that:

1. Piloting an airplane is complex. Machines assist but do not/cannot substitute for the experienced aviator (thinking judgment in particular),

2. Professional pilots are vastly underpaid/under-appreciated,

3. Due to forces distressing not only aviation but every facet of the social order.

Inevitably these get into a “how much is it worth” discussion:
- How hard is flying
- Compared to (profession here) and what “they” make.
Or: how to counter the global forces and correct this state.
Or: who is to blame for the current state.

None of these have any clear solution. Get lot of tail chasing, churn.

Yip’s philosophy is the only way out of this dilemma.

 

[FN FAL]

Oh, yeah!! That'll will win them all over...

What you talkin bout Willis? I was making people into hair, bones and teeth, long before you were a twinkle in your daddy's eye.

Good post A Squared.

 

[$$$4nothin]

I remember being all iced up at night and not being able to do anything but descend with mountains below me. At that exact moment I remember wishing I was doing anything else in the world other than that. Once you experiance a feeling like that you take a different view about this industry. I wonder how bad the pay will have to get for people to say screw it. However I still flew the next night. So what does that say. Who knows.

 

[pilotyip]

$$$ they are already saying "screw it" on the lower end, look at the steps Pinncacle, Commuate Air, etc are going through to fill their cockpits. Redefining competitive minimums (i.e. Lowering Minimums), hiring bonuses, rooms while in training. They having trouble finding piltos who will do the job. Everyone who has been around long enought has a story like yours with the ice or TRW's or something. But, if they like to fly they keep coming back.

 

[BenderGonzales]

I still wanna know who'se getting this $100,000 per year you keep talking about!?

 

[ReverseSensing]

I'm pretty convinced that compensation is not, strictly speaking, a supply and demand issue. Too many examples of well-compensated professions where there's no shortage of supply: lawyers, stockbrokers, professional athletes, etc.

I'm further convinced that the "fly because you love it" attitude is somewhat responsible for the erosion in pilot pay, but only in combination with declining airline profitability and the breed of management that lumps pilot costs in with the cost of paperclips and file folders.

Nothing wrong with loving to fly, but couldn't we just keep it our little secret from management? The worth of a pilot can and will be debated, but lately, collectively, we seem to be showing up to the battle of the wits unarmed.

 

[Ralgha]

Guess some tickets are different than others. Becoming just 'a pilot' may not be that hard.

I didn't find any of the tickets to be hard. Time consuming in some cases, but not hard.

 

[Bumpman]

I don't begrudge anyone a salary commensurate with their experience or seniority, as long as the company/airline that they fly for is financially capable of paying that salary. It is my humble opinion that the reason we have seen so many airline bankruptcies & failures is due to the greed expressed by ALPA. Duane Woerth and Co. just want your pay rates to go up so that your ALPA dues will increase, and therefore increase their ALPA bureaucratic salaries. Since deregulation, the industry has not been able to keep up with the pay scales that were established some 30 years ago. Since deregulation, airlines have charged smaller fares and pilots have demanded higher salaries, in keeping with the demands that ALPA has placed on the carriers. I have been a military pilot, corporate pilot, and for the last 17 years, an airline pilot. I do this job because of my love for flying, not because I want to get rich at it. That ain't gonna happen. You young guys that think you are gonna get rich in this industry had better wake up and smell the coffee. This is a wonderful job with some pretty decent benefits. I get to fly a nice jet airplane from point A to point B with no boss hanging over my shoulder yelling in my ear. I am compensated pretty well for what I do, and I appreciate that. Rich-NO, Happy-YES, VERY.