Mason32

Max flight time for the year is 1,000 hours. typically scheduled around 80 a month. That lets you work 15-20 overtime for most of the year before you time out. It still will require a base of around 42+ an hour. What regional are you at?.... or, where did you learn to do math?

MR Thundercleze

I really hope he makes $56K like he says. that is what all of us on the regional level should be making on second year pay with good work rules and all. The jacked up thing is here he is making good money as people in his shoes deserve to be, but their company now is going to have to lay off hundreds! You really cant win right now!

Mason32

I hope he is making it too... that being said, he shouldnt' have to do it by spending every waking moment planning 30/7 conflicts, swapping to create conflicts, and bidding to create conflicts. The job should, as you said, pay at that level to begin with.

IndyAir Guy

3 years ago I was a RJ Capt. bringing home $65,000 working about 16 days a month. I lived in my base and it was great, I was around the top 25% of my bases seniority so I could hold any type of trip I wanted. I could be home every night, or party on the layovers with my awesome crews. I was very happy and content to stay there. I was very lucky because when I was hirred the Regionals had sustained 30% growth of over 4 years. We where getting 2 plans a month a very long time. However there where a lot of guys that got stuck in the right seat which paid below livable wages. Those guys had it really tough, I dont know they did it. I guess the answer to your question is it depends on your seniority.

Stud7094

no way...u would have to average 135 hours per month of pay at 34.45 an hour...and per diem doesn't count towards money made...its a compensation

exwaterski

To give an unsarcastic response to the original question, yes I imagine the gypsy lifestyle can be fun and a lot better than flipping burgers if you're 23 and single. The problem is you don't get to stay 23 and single ("I'm not getting married for a long time!" LOL yeah right.. translation: I'm going to get hitched to the first hot F/A that bats her eyelashes at me.) The things that seem cool and fun now will be a drag later. If the best part of this job is flying around to see your college buddies on your days off it's going to get old really fast. I was halfway serious when I said become an F/A, if you don't care about money and are just looking to travel and live out of a suitcase for a while a mainline F/A has a lot better lifestyle than a regional F/O with the same benefits. Heck go work on a cruise ship for a few years and get laid every night. I can think of lots of jobs with great perks that would be way more fun for a single guy than the daily grind of airline flying.

HoursHore

Exactly.

You can if you try, but then you end up being that old guy in the club. (with apologies to Chris Rock)

pokey9554

First year pay does suck. After that, I don't think it's that bad. The worst part about the job is lack of time spent at home. Exwaterski nailed it on the head as far as the 23 and single part. Eventually, you're going to settle down. Having worked many many less pleasurable jobs, I've got to say the money is decent. Put yourself in the shoes of the minimum wage septic tank digger outer guy, or the guy who harvests agriculture in Yuma, AZ in 120 degree heat, and you realize airline flying isn't that bad. After time though, many forget where they came from. Do I think the pay should be better, absolutely. But so do doctors, lawyers, Dick Cheney, Bill Gates, and so on. Unfortunately, it's human nature to always want more, unless you're a bushman from the Calahari. Maybe I need to move there.

Having said all that, watching your career go down the toilet courtesy of an incompetent management team is pretty frustrating.

freezingflyboy

I'm single at least as far as the IRS is concerned so I figure I might as well chime in...

I have a long-term girlfriend I live with, both in our mid 20s, she is a high school teacher, we have no kids, own a house together, both own our cars and have no other debt except the house. I for one, couldn't be happier. We travel the world, go out where we want when we want, bum around town, never really worry about money. Between the two of us we are pulling in about $100K/year. Not bad for a couple of goofballs in our 20s. Having done the restaurant (all the way up to management) and the IT thing (networking) I can honestly say that I consistently enjoy this job more than the others. Yes, there is BS you put up with but you will find that in any job.

Now, somehow I lucked out and found a girl who is independent and self-confident enough to handle the airline lifestyle and actually enjoys being bowled over and thrown on the bed after not being together for 4 days. If you've got a girl who is the jealous or clingy type or who needs you around all day every day, then you might want to save yourself some grief and get out now (of this job or the relationship). Or if YOU are the clingy or jealous one, you may want to also consider getting out now.

And for those of you doubting SAAB, on my second year at XJT, if you want to talk GROSS pay MINUS per diem I made just over $53K. I'm sure I don't work the system as hard as SAAB but it's not hard to make money when you have good workrules. It's not just hourly rate x hours worked = yearly pay. For those of you interested, it says I worked 988.7 hours last year or about 82 hours/month.

Nightsky

Dude, you must be working your @$$ off! I'm going to make about $36K on third year pay at XJT. Just think, in a normal job you could make 56K and be home a hell of a lot more and you'd be working a hell of a lot less to make it.

Edited to say: Yes I know I could work harder, but life is too short, and I'm already gone from home too much. My whole goal is to work as little as possible to maximize my time off to enjoy what really matters in life.