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Base pay + Per Diem + picking up every possible open trip + Selling Vacation + Bidding every miserable line that offers maximum credit hours + Crew meals + Bidding for base away from home for early upgrade + Trip trading so that every possible spare minute can be filled up with trips = $62,000 YEA !! I'm Rich !!!
Pilot Logic when applied to other jobs.
Convenience store Clerk.
Work double shifts most days + 2nd Job on weekends + free burrito every shift + Free magazines + free uniforms + occasional petty theft = $42,000/year. Wow what a great job !!
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Earn a living as a pilot but have no life. Have a life but earn no living.
Or working as little as possible, using vacation/sick time and making 6 figures...it's not all doom and gloom sky. I had 3 weeks off prior to ground school.
Base pay + Per Diem + picking up every possible open trip + Selling Vacation + Bidding every miserable line that offers maximum credit hours + Crew meals + Bidding for base away from home for early upgrade + Trip trading so that every possible spare minute can be filled up with trips = $62,000 YEA !! I'm Rich !!!
Sounds like the military. Guess there won't be much difference. Oh - and let's not forget that I don't get any extra pay for those weekends worked, holidays worked, every hour over 8 hour spent on the job (daily), TAD trips over birthdays and anniversaries, selling back leave or losing it altogether - - - and all of this for sometimes LESS than what you mention above.
And yet I still don't want to leave my present job. Even today I am not schedule except for maintenance flights - of which right now we don't have any so that is a good thing. Yet - I'm still going to work in hopes of picking up a backseat ride for the CAS flights going out today. Guess this would be the same as the picking up the extra trips that you are talking about above.
In the end - I guess it is just a glass half full/glass half empty mentality of your post above.
I was pointing out that pilots will bend over backwards and work themselves to the bone to scrounge up as much pay as possible and then try to pass it off as a great paying career. The wages that they come up with are not a fair comparison to other jobs. When addressing other lines of work usually only the stated base pay is used.
If we were to use that same approach when comparing other professions and add in overtime and other benefits it can be quite surprising. Another way is to merely use base pay divided by time away from base as a true hourly wage.
Skyhigh
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Earn a living as a pilot but have no life. Have a life but earn no living.
Another way is to merely use base pay divided by time away from base as a true hourly wage.
Skyhigh
I preached that for a-while it fell mostly on deaf ears folks started talking rigs blah blah blah. My point was you should not even have to bargain for the rigs. Most jobs pay while at work not just when typing on the keyboard. Anyhow the masses (myself included) at some point in time looked at the hourly rates and said wow pilots are paid xx/hour sign me up. The reality does not set in until later in life at which point most of us are too commited to leave.
Yeah - pay/hours work doesn't work in a lot of professions. I know that I would rather be paid an hourly wage and one that pays for overtime, weekend and holiday time!
Unpaid time at work is not particular to aviation. Take a surgeon for example, who spends lots of time outside of the operating room checking up on patients, reading charts etc. He doesn't get paid for that either.
I'm not saying that pilots should only be paid while the engines are turning, but we (or you) are not alone.
Unpaid time at work is not particular to aviation. Take a surgeon for example, who spends lots of time outside of the operating room checking up on patients, reading charts etc. He doesn't get paid for that either.
I'm not saying that pilots should only be paid while the engines are turning, but we (or you) are not alone.
True but the surgeon makes some serious $$ and sleeps for the most part in his or her own bed. Sees the fam on most holiday's etc even if only for a few hours. I know someone is going to chime in about UPS or FedEX on this so..... how about some #'s. How many pilots in the country making 300K vs how many surgeons. Would make for an interesting comparison I think.
Fair that a surgeon may sleep in his own bed, but how often does he/she get to sleep?
During residency (which lasts 3-7 years) many will work over 80 hours PER WEEK. Only recently (within the last 5 or so years) was that 80 hour limit imposed. Previously there was no limit. Many times, you go home after a 24-30 hour shift, sleep for a few hours then go right back to the hospital.
You see, while we want to be home every night, they want to sleep every night. In addition, you will find that many doctors will work ~50-70 hours a week even after residency.
Is one situation better or worse? No, just different. I'm not saying that pilots houldn't be striving fro better pay and QOL, just trying to let folks see that other professionals have similar complaints.
oh...and another thing- the number of docs making $300k is much less than you'd imagine. Just like pilots, they aren't as rich as they used to be either.
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