Sunvox

AA and CA/UAL are in negotiations. What's a pilot worth to the world? My answer $250,000 with a starting salary of $50,000 and no one should accept any flying job for less than that, but obviously that is "Pie in the sky". What say you the "body politic".

Joe Peck
UAL - IADFO-75/76


P.S. Seriously, if I were starting out today and looking for my first job I would look immediately else where if the company wasn't offering $50,000 or more. Obviously, I say that because I want to improve our profession, but I hope some of you folks will take that to heart because I have never met a new pilot that couldn't have gotten themselves a job earning that or more outside of our totally "prostituted" profession.

757upspilot

The top is a little low. Less than base pay for a senior UPS captain

WileyTwo

Are you offering me a job for $50,000/yr? I'll take it. I worked at Mesa for five years and never made over $50,000/yr, and that was after being upgrade for a year. So where should I look for that $50,000/yr pilot job. Now that I have over 5000 hours I am over qualified for the regionals, and the job market wants a current pilot to hire. Can you help me?

tsquare

So why are they new hire pilots then? It is not like the airline ran a bait and switch operation... They got hired knowing all about what the status of the industry is. Not defending the rates or anything like that.. just saying that if they could have gotten that other job making more.. why didn't they. Simple answer really... and whether any of us care to admit it or not.. we love the job. So we put up with less to have it.. Dem's the facts. Your "prostitution" comment is spot on.

Stratapilot

I think we should pay for the privilege to fly for an employer. And get in to a profession with the least amount of professional and life experience possible.

On a less snarky note (mind you I'm assuming regional level. I've never worked for a major so I'm not going to open a can of worms offering an unqualified opinion)

Captain (starting): Set salary of $2000 per seat per year with a performance bonus relating to merit and hours flown. Cost of living adjustment commiserate with metropolitan area. Loss of license insurance. Company pays 100% of high deductible medical insurance. Company pays 100% in to HSA to cover deductible. Company issued card to pay for meals, uniforms, and flight related expenses.

FO(after 6 month probationary period): Set salary of $1000 per seat per year with a performance bonus relating to merit and hours flown. Raise based upon annual check airman review. Housing allowance for living in base while on reserve or (cheap)hotel if commuting. Cost of living adjustment commiserate with metro area. Loss of license insurance. Company pays 100% of high deductible medical insurance. Company pays 75% in to HSA to cover deductible. Company issued card to pay for meals (you're on your own for drinks), uniforms, and flight related expenses

If you work for most other large corporations, like I have in the past. The above is pretty standard. Pipe dream, I know.

chazbird

Get furloughed or try getting out of the profession and this isn't far from you may find at a interview elsewhere:

Interview (if you're lucky): "You were an airline pilot?" "Yes" "Well, I'm sorry we can't afford you, thanks for stopping by". "But, well, this is what it pays nowadays". "Oh really? Well, thanks for stopping by, but we don't hire stupid employees".

Sunvox

Monthly guarantee of 81 hours at $252 per hour is $244,944 I think that is a fair value for my experience and think we should all earn that!

Sunvox

For the record I turned down job offers that paid more than I was making as a Beech 1900 captain because I knew they were damaging to our profession. If you work for a regional flying a jet, or a non ALPA startup I think YOU are the problem, and that includes all Southwest pilots and Jetblue pilots

757upspilot

Try 275k with the other items that bump up pay. By the way the Non ALPA carriers are where the money is these days. ALPA is the low compensation leader.

Sunvox

Absolutely, but as long as there are young that are willing to eat the old or laws that allow that to happen then the rotation will continue. In the railroad industry workers hit their stride and forced the creation of laws which allowed for pension mobility so whether your railroad survives or goes bankrupt all railroad pensions are paid from the same pool so you can no longer eat the old purely on the basis of older working pools.