Overrated Job Article - Pilot?
11-13-2011, 07:27 AM
#11
On Reserve
Joined APC: Jul 2008
Position: MSP7ERB
Posts: 1,886
I'll agree with this in much of the content as far as an *airline* career goes and which is how the article is slanted though "commercial pilot" could mean many things when used in the correct context.
Out of all of those other jobs listed though, only the medical ones held any possible interest for me outside of aviation. I don't know if they are overrated or not, but I know that none of them were right for me.
USMCFLYR
Out of all of those other jobs listed though, only the medical ones held any possible interest for me outside of aviation. I don't know if they are overrated or not, but I know that none of them were right for me.
USMCFLYR
http://www.ehow.com/about_5514154_average-cost-medical-malpractice-insurance.html
11-13-2011, 09:37 AM
#12
Gets Weekends Off
Joined APC: Jan 2008
Position: 319/320/321...whatever it takes.
Posts: 492
It's funny how TV anchor person never makes these lists. I'm sure they get paid a pretty penny, and have virtually no responsibility to get facts right (I know they are supposed to, it just seems they never get it right). It would be nice to see the media put the microscope on themselves for once.
11-13-2011, 02:10 PM
#13
Flying Farmer
Joined APC: Jul 2006
Position: Turbo-props' and John Deere's
Posts: 3,160
Most normal people work 160 hours a month and get paid 160 hours a month. Pilots work 160+ or at least their on the job that long but only get paid 80-100 hours a month. I wish they would point that fact out to the student pilots at the puppy mills. Maybe some would reconsider.
Also with only getting paid half the hours your on the job. A $30/hour pilot job is effectively the same as a $15/hour normal non-pilot job.
Also with only getting paid half the hours your on the job. A $30/hour pilot job is effectively the same as a $15/hour normal non-pilot job.
You should try farming. I wouldn't even know where to start on how many hours I've worked since january, but I can guarantee it's more than 40hrs/wk avg.
My example is strictly that you should do "work" that you enjoy. There is a certain point of making sure you can making a living off of that, but I'd rather have a job I love and make less, than have a job I despise to just make more money.
11-13-2011, 08:54 PM
#14
Self Employed.
Joined APC: May 2005
Position: Corporate Pilot
Posts: 7,119
Average
I think that the statistics forget that half of the pilot group are first officers. As such we spend half our careers earning FO wages and the other half (on average) earning captains wages. Add to that that a modern pilot might spend half their careers as a flight instructor and at a regional.
In the end after the entirety of a career is taken into consideration most careers average far less than the stated 100K. The average pilot might earn that in their 50's.
Skyhigh
In the end after the entirety of a career is taken into consideration most careers average far less than the stated 100K. The average pilot might earn that in their 50's.
Skyhigh
11-14-2011, 04:52 AM
#15
Gets Weekends Off
Joined APC: Jul 2007
Position: 767 Captain
Posts: 3,989
Most normal people work 160 hours a month and get paid 160 hours a month. Pilots work 160+ or at least their on the job that long but only get paid 80-100 hours a month. I wish they would point that fact out to the student pilots at the puppy mills. Maybe some would reconsider.
Also with only getting paid half the hours your on the job. A $30/hour pilot job is effectively the same as a $15/hour normal non-pilot job.
Also with only getting paid half the hours your on the job. A $30/hour pilot job is effectively the same as a $15/hour normal non-pilot job.
Typically, the “normal people” vs. pilot work schedule comparison comes up when some idiot reporter throws out the “pilots only work 80 hours per month”. Obviously we don’t and it’s likely we will spend 3-4 times that number of hours away from home on trips.
However, trying to claim every hour you’re away from home on a trip is work you should be compensated for at your hourly flight pay is pretty unrealistic. If we were paid on time away from base (TAFB), then our hourly rates would be lower. The end result would be the same pay and I don’t think you’d be any happier knowing you were paid for all your hours of “work”.
On average, I make about $1000 per day for the trips I fly each month. One day I might fly 12 hours and the next do nothing at all on a layover. The details of my pay on the 12 hour flight versus my non-flying layover are irrelevant. The end result is, at the end of the month I get $13-15 grand. I don’t care if you divide my total pay by actual TAFB and get some hourly pay rate that’s half or a third my advertised flight pay. I took the job knowing that I’d spend an average of 300 hours away on trips in exchange for that pay (or better when I upgrade). There’s not a pilot out there who took their job expecting to be paid their hourly flight pay for TAFB so it’s pretty pointless to whine about it.
McDonald’s doesn’t pay their hourly employees to drive to work but they’re away from home. They don’t start getting paid until they punch in. A salaried military member gets the same pay each month no matter what happens. Some months they get federal holidays off and get paid for staying home those days. Others months they have to deploy and work 7 days a week.
So, the bottom line is – no matter where you work or how your pay is computed – you need to decide if what ends up in your wallet at the end of the month is worth what you sacrifice to earn it.
11-14-2011, 09:03 AM
#16
Line Holder
Joined APC: Feb 2011
Posts: 26
I didn't read through all the replies so I'm sorry if this has been said but am I reading this article correctly? Are they saying it is overrated because you get paid 6 figures but you have to be responsible and have to deal with stress? The last time I checked, responsibility and stress comes with every job.
11-14-2011, 10:23 AM
#17
Gets Weekends Off
Joined APC: Mar 2008
Position: FAA 'Flight Check'
Posts: 13,839
I didn't read through all the replies so I'm sorry if this has been said but am I reading this article correctly? Are they saying it is overrated because you get paid 6 figures but you have to be responsible and have to deal with stress? The last time I checked, responsibility and stress comes with every job.
USMCFLYR
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