ChrisH

Airlines have minimum monthly guarantees, which I understand refers to the minimum pay a pilot will receive. Most airlines have a 75 hour guarantee from what it seems.

When calculating pay, I usually take the (hourly rate) x (75) x (12) and add 4,000 to 5,000 for per diem, but I understand most pilots fly over the guarantee. As a line holder, how many hours do you all tend to fly per month, on average?

-Thanks.

SkyWestPilot

I think it's in our policy manual that crew planning will try to make the schedules close to 87 hours. Some are well above, and some well below (but never below the guarantee). The United and Delta schedules are constantly changing so the amount of Skywest flying varies from month to month. This constant flux makes it hard to have consistent trips and pay values. I'm in the top third of my domicile seniority and there have only been a handfull of months in the last year my pay value was below 90.

Looking at the last couple W-2s, I've found my yearly pay is about 1100 x my hourly rate... that includes per diem, holiday pay, bonuses, etc.

Blackhawk

It depends on your seniority, timing and the airline.
1. When you are hired at any airline you will be on reserve. How much you fly depends on how much flying is available at your airline for reserve pilots and the reserve system itself. Most airlines have a seniority based reserve system. If you are senior and on reserve, you can choose to fly or not fly. My airline (ASA), has a graft and corruption reserve system. How much/little you fly depends on your willingness to give shedulers kickbacks and bribes. Sounds as if I am kidding, but I have actually heard pilots brag about paying off schedulers to get good trips or not get called, as well as what kinds of things different schedulers like (this one likes pizza, that one chocolate). I refused to play the game, so I flew about 10 hours/month while on reserve, and got the call on holidays (I remember one memorable 4 July trip- one leg out of 30 minutes, spend the night, one leg back. That was all I flew that month.). Other pilots junior to me flew 80-90 hours.
2. Once you are off reserve, the amount you fly is based upon... you guessed it, seniority. The more senior you get, the more hours you can fly in a month with more days off. The junior schedules at ASA have you fly 75 hours with 10 days off; the senior lines have about 16-17 days off with 80-90 hours of flying.
There is something called "open time" at airlines. It is unassigned flying that can be picked up by pilots on off days. Again, the more senior you are, the better chance you have of picking up open time. You also have more off days in which to plug it in. The airline will not let you bust the FARs (30 hours/week, 100 hours/month, 1000 hours/year, one day off after working 6 days), so that junior pilot with only 10 days off has little chance of picking up open time.
It is very possible to "time out"- to hit your maximum hours for a week, month, or yes, even a year. I have known a few pilots who hit their 1000 hours of flying in late November/ early December. They are off with pay the rest of the year. NOTHING the airline can do. I have done it for a week several times, but never for a month. I prefer to spend time bothering my wife and chasing her around the house than spend time next to some ugly mug such as yourself.
Hope this helps. I think most other airlines are the same, as with the previous Skywest poster.

ChrisH

Thanks for the info.

Do you mean it 'excludes' per diem, bonuses, etc.? You said you rarely fly below 90 hours per month. 1100/12 = 91.7.

Lets say you fly 91.7 hours per month, and are a 5 year CRJ200 CA. That equals; 91.7(12)(62) = $68,224.80

Wouldn't you then add per diem, bonuses, etc., into that? Or is the per diem, etc., included in the hourly rate?

dckozak

Never include per diem when figuring your pay. Per diem is to off set on the job expenses, food, tipping, laundry, etc. If you have some left over and can spend it "off the job" its not because its earned income, its because you spent less than figured on the job. Many of us don't spend ever dollar we get in per diem but never make the mistake (in your own mind) of thinking this part of your pay. It isn't, nor was it ment to be.

nw320driver

Hi Chris: I have been with a number of different airlines and I never ever heard of a pilot getting a bonus. Bonuses are for Management Types. Line Pilots get paid buy the rules as stated in their contract. That is why your work agreement is so important. I hope this helps.

ryane946

Easiest way to calculate pay (Assuming you have a 75 hours a month guarantee) is to take your hourly rate and multiply it by 1000 (I heard 1100 above, that works also). $115 an hour = $115,000 a year more or less.

ChrisH

Sorry for the misunderstanding. I did not realize pilots did not include per diem into their pay. I am not yet an airline pilot, so I was not sure how pay was calculated, etc., and what was included, hence my questions in this thread.

I have not either, but SkyWestPilot mentioned something about bonuses.

SkyWestPilot

We get quartly operational and financial bonuses.

The operational bonus is based on on-time departure and arrival, flight completion, customer satisfaction, and mishandled baggage. It's been around $225-250 each quarter last year.

Financial performance (after two years employment) is your quarterly earnings times the (Skywest Airlines) profit margin. 5-6% last year.

Here's a breakdown of where my pay came from in 2005:

Flight pay: 977.15 hours
Holiday pay: 25.8
Overtime pay (jr. man): 17.42
Training pay (sim, recurrent): 58.35
User/Vacation (paid time off, sick): 105.75

Per Diem: $3893.13 (I flew aout equal months of locals, three days, and two day trips)

As you can see, yearly pay is much more than just hours flown. About 190 hours worth for me.