List of airlines and pilot salaries. http://www.aviationinterviews.com/pilot/airlinepayrates.html Not a growth industry. In the Frontline video report one pilot said he moved to Captain with less than 700 hours which is amazing. I was having dinner with a pilot friend and I said I always wanted to fly heavy airliners. I have about 1000 hours of military flight time from years ago and he said I could get a job tomorrow. I told him I didn't think it was possible and he pulled out his cell phone and called another friend who is a pilot with a regional carrier and was told, "no problem, if you have a current Commercial, Instrument, Multi and a 1st class medical you can get hired." Amazing. To think that these guys in the Frontline report are flying 100 passengers in heavily loaded planes in bad weather is scary. Another friend who is with a major carrier said his salary was cut 50% and retirement by 40% when the airline went came out of bk. He is not too happy but still loves flying. So if you want to pay $100-150k to get your licenses you too can make less than minimum wage. I would not bet that the big salaries (really not that big) will be there in 10 years from now however..... Probably better in the long run to get a Supervisor job with TSA. You still get to wear a uniform and work at the airport with better pay, benefits, and long term security.... Good flying
ramora that's interesting, but someone else in this thread mentioned the oversupply of pilots and undersupply of pilot jobs, so why would they be so eager to hire your friend? You would think they would have a stack of resumes available for any available opening.
Those pay rates are a bit misleading. It sounds like alot when it says you get paid $100 per hour as most people will figure that pilots fly 40 hours per week, when many of them are lucky to get 50 hours per month of flight time. Correct me if I'm wrong, but isnt there a cap on how many hours a pilot can fly in a given month? Something like 70 hours per month? And on top of that, they only get paid for when they are in the air. All that sitting on the tarmac is working for free.
'Another friend who is with a major carrier said his salary was cut 50% and retirement by 40% when the airline went came out of bk. He is not too happy but still loves flying.' there is still lot more scope in wage cuts in airlines jobs like those of pilots, mechanics, some duties in ground staff etc. i believe the flight attendents sure do work their tails off. it is the unions that have been hurting the airlines for three decades now. there certainly is lots of overcapacity and thus resulting price competition but wages in some airline sectors have been outright impractical. no wonder now most of the major annual checks are being done in asian countries like korea, taiwan etc. i would cap a captain's salary at $75/hour or $150K max a year (not considering overtime if posted). further add to this the yearly bonuses of top management cannot exceed certain dollar figure no matter how many billions in profits have been made. we all know what management bonuses did to the banking sector in the last two years.
Somehow the trainer guy just lost his cool image. I alwasys thought the trainers were lazy do gooders who loved the industry but hated the bureaucracy )
BS BS BS BS Which regional is hiring?! Thousands on pprune and APC would LOVE to know. It's not 2007 anymore. The industry is in such incredibly bad shape I can't find enough words to describe it. Besides, a 50 seat Canadair CL65 IS NOT A HEAVY AIRLINER, unless you're coming from a Beech Bonanza or Cessna 172.
It's right around 100 bucks for a 172 wet right now where I live. Add 25 bucks for an instructor. The second paragraph is right on. My bro is a capt for southwest making around 250k/year. But he's been there for 16 years, and worked for many regionals before that, many of which went under while he was with them. He also did the instructor thing to build hours. He's 48. Other than the costs involved, your post is spot on. It is a grind, but a rewarding one if you can hang.
Is it just me or will the job of airline pilot become obsolete in a decade or two? Surely computers and fly-by-wire will be safer, as well as a hell of a lot cheaper. Am I missing something here...if you are a pilot I recommend you save 50%+ of your gross and start attending night school to get a future career.
As someone wrote before, computers can fly airplanes just fine. Unfortunately, there are still some moments when all hell breaks loose. Then the best computer in the world is useless. So, what are you gonna do?