[Image]Patience and motivation.Submitted by Ok_Chocolate_3480 t3_xv9a15 in GetMotivated
GoMoriartyOnPlanets t1_ir0j7a5 wrote
From Google:
Pilots made a median salary of $130,440 in 2020. The best-paid 25 percent made $208,000 that year, while the lowest-paid 25 percent made $90,470.
That's pretty awesome, consideting that baggage handlers make minimum wage. ~$11/hr
Edit: Others have mentioned these numbers are really high. Pilots get these salaries 20+ year later. Starting numbers are im $30k/year. Welders make more than pilots when they're starting. I just don't want anyone to get their hopes high.
Edit2: Also per Google: "Pilot pay at jetBlue ranges from $44,956.80 per year for a new first officer up to $183,691.20 per year for a senior captain." I don't know how long it takes to become a senior captain. I also found out that pilot vacation is not that great. Starts from 2 weeks, and goes up to 4 weeks after 20 year service. I don't really understand how many hours pilots work in a month. I wanna say they get some time off from flying during the month, but I'm not sure.
AnomalousApiary t1_ir1dke1 wrote
That number is grossly averaged out. That’s lumping together captains and FO’s, regional and legacy airlines and cargo companies.
GoMoriartyOnPlanets t1_ir28n48 wrote
Well I'd like to think ma man here is making top dollar.
Seralth t1_ir2tnzt wrote
Doubt it your man over there is green. Give him 20 years and hopefully the crazy shit that is the airline industry hopefully hasn't driven him insane given him mental issues and stress to bring on early heart attacks. And maybe he will be making top dollar.
Gotta be realistic.
ObjectiveJackfruit35 t1_ir3e3b0 wrote
Truth.
DiogenesStudent t1_ir1tk70 wrote
Those numbers must be at a pro-airline/anti-union website…starting salary for an airline pilot is less than 30k/year. It takes decades to get to 6 figures and that’s only if you make it that long through all the BS. Welders make more out of the gate, than a pilot.
AMasonJar t1_ir241yn wrote
Why the hell do they get paid so low? I thought it was a fairly high skill job? Not to mention the responsibility..
[deleted] t1_ir2irvg wrote
[deleted]
Seralth t1_ir2tyh9 wrote
Barely and only after a decade plus. Plus the industry is cancer and you basically have to give up having a normal life.
TongueTwistingTiger t1_ir35re7 wrote
Wtaf is the point in trying to achieve anything? Even “elite” jobs pay so terrible you can’t afford to sit in them for more than a few years. I make more than that for my shitty collections job, never mind having actually human fucking lives hang in the balance.
Fuck this world and everyone in it. If I found out my years of work were going to amount to 30k, I’d nosedive after my first ascent.
88cowboy t1_ir4gktb wrote
Like everything Depends where you work and what you're qualified to fly things are different . A small regional airline with 10 small planes will pay less than Delta.
Year one salaries major airlines can be low but they have significant jumps year 2 then annual raises after that. By year 6 making 140+ on low end for major airlines.
For a first officer:
Spirit you go from 33k to 61k after one year.
Southwest go from 55k to 90k after one year.
Fedex starts 84k and year 6 200k
If you become captain you can really make some money especially if you want overtime. It's not a bad life if you're single. Lot less stressful than being a truck driver.
HFY_HFY t1_ir3u6fe wrote
Jetblue pays starting a FO $89/hour per google
GoMoriartyOnPlanets t1_ir5iwpz wrote
Also per Google:
Pilot pay at jetBlue ranges from $44,956.80 per year for a new first officer up to $183,691.20 per year for a senior captain.
Devil_Demize t1_ir34tks wrote
The problem with becoming a pilot is you need a lot of certification hours and even after you get your hours there is tiers to even the top pilots hours of what they can and can't fly.
Cargo pilots, airline pilots these have different requirements. And these are people who already put in the time to the worst aspects of getting there.
If you want to be a pilot, it is very expensive. You need to get your hours by first paying someone to teach you. Then.. Once you're certified to fly on your own. You need to teach other people to get the rest of your hours for any company to hire you. All while renting a plane for your training sessions and making close to nothing while doing it.
Most people who become successful pilots are either from a family who can fully support them, from the military where they don't have to pay to get the requirements, or are willing to live in poverty until they succeed.
Total-Khaos t1_ir4bvu9 wrote
> from the military where they don't have to pay to get the requirements
This right here is your meal ticket if funds are a problem.
Wooden_Increase5184 t1_ir35pq4 wrote
You don't just start as an airline pilot, you spend years and years getting all of your certifications, and then flying planes for non airline commercial reasons to build the hours you need for the required rating to work as an airline transport pilot. After you've hit the minimum requirements to get hired you'll be most likely stuck working at some regional airliner not making a ton, but those guys make a decent amount more than someone who does aerial surveys or instructs.
By the time you make it to a major airline you're making pretty decent money, even as "just" an FO.
Claiming that airline pilots start off making nothing is about the same as claiming that doctors don't make shit because they start off as students, and we all know students don't make shit for money. It's true if you stretch the meanings of words.
gljivicad t1_ir49ogi wrote
What responsibility? As far as I remember, you're not allowed to fly a full passenger plane after you have a decent amount of flight hours?
thebetterman88 t1_ir3br6b wrote
Hey! Current regional first officer here.
While working as a flight instructor in small planes might average you $30-40k a year, the jump to a regional airline has changed significantly in the last 6 months. You need at least 1000 hours of time flying before going to the regionals, and you usually instruct or time build from 250 hours onward to the 1000 - 1500 that’s required.
As a first officer at most of the regionals, you are making 75-100 a a flight hour at a 75 hour a month guarantee. This jump almost overnight, is due to an extreme captain shortage from the regionals, as those pilots left jobs for the major airlines. It’s there that can make more money and enjoy a higher quality of life.
So thankfully it’s getting a lot better! But yes, it wasn’t that long ago that wages were atrocious for the work we did.
iama_bad_person t1_ir1t5ir wrote
As someone who was going into Aviation, those numbers are laughably skewed.
GoMoriartyOnPlanets t1_ir28te7 wrote
Like they're low or high?
iama_bad_person t1_ir2ha5o wrote
High.
High ranking Captains and First Officers with 20+ years experience will be pulling those averages sky high. To even be considered for a regional airline flying turboprops or small jets you will need to work as an instructor for a number of years to get your hours up. A friend who actually completed flight school (I dropped out) has just made captain at a regional airline and it took him 10 years and that is fast, and he is still just flying turboprops but is looking at a internal promotion to fly trans-pacific flights soon. AFAIK he is on at least 100k which isn't low in any sense of the word and is obviously better than a baggage handler, but he's had to put off family life and social events for a lot of those 10 years. I just couldn't do that.
EnigmaticSorceries t1_ir4fv8c wrote
Pretty sure not everything is about money. I would choose to be a pilot even if it paid less than dumpster waste collector.
ChessieJackson t1_isfb16o wrote
That's how you used to get suckered into that job.
25 years ago you'd get paid about 25k to fly commuters so you could build hours to go to a real airline. You'd live like shit, have crash pads shared with 10 people.
That changed after Colgan 3407 crashed. That crew was a mess.
Sadly from what I see another incident is going to happen. In the past year or so the industry has been flooded with inexperience and incompetence due to replacing a slew who left.
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