Go Back  Airline Pilot Central Forums > Career Builder > Engineers & Technicians
Why do mechanics make less than pilots? >

Why do mechanics make less than pilots?

Notices
Engineers & Technicians Aeronautical engineering and aircraft MX

Why do mechanics make less than pilots?

Old 04-24-2019, 03:03 AM
  #51  
Gets Weekends Off
 
Stratosphere's Avatar
 
Joined APC: Feb 2010
Position: Bent Over
Posts: 225
Default

Originally Posted by JohnBurke View Post
Haunt you for years?

None of those flight crews made it home to their beds, and in some cases, there was barely enough to scrape up to put in a matchbox.

There's a hell of a difference there.

You might pay with your certificate. The crew pays with their life. And the lives of everyone else on board.

You understand the difference?



How nice of you. And helpful, too.

Yeah I understand the difference exactly what I told a pilot who would not get out of my way one time when I was trying to work I said to him when you make a mistake you die and when I make a mistake you still die. Think he finally figured it out...Oh and as far as paying with your life the lead mechanic over the crew that hung the engine on the ill fated AA 191 committed suicide over it.. I also know of one air force mechanic that crossed control cables on I believe an F15 (apparently it's easy to do) also commited suicide after a pilot crashed and died cuz of it. So just because we are not riding in the airplane doesn't mean that we don't care and there is no consequence for us.....I will wait patiently for your anticipated usual smart ass remark John Burke.
Stratosphere is offline  
Old 04-24-2019, 03:27 AM
  #52  
Disinterested Third Party
 
Joined APC: Jun 2012
Posts: 5,926
Default

Originally Posted by Stratosphere View Post
Oh and as far as paying with your life the lead mechanic over the crew that hung the engine on the ill fated AA 191 committed suicide over it.. I also know of one air force mechanic that crossed control cables on I believe an F15 (apparently it's easy to do) also commited suicide after a pilot crashed and died cuz of it. So just because we are not riding in the airplane doesn't mean that we don't care and there is no consequence for us.
Do you feel like you should get paid more because you might commit suicide for failing to do your job?

Is that your argument?

Did you think that through, brightspark? How much do you need to get paid to prevent you from tossing yourself off a B4 stand onto a field of upturned 10-32 screws?

Do we need to give you a rubber hammer for a while, so you don't harm yourself?
JohnBurke is offline  
Old 04-25-2019, 08:10 AM
  #53  
Line Holder
Thread Starter
 
Joined APC: Feb 2019
Position: Manager of flight operations
Posts: 64
Default

I think the point is its far more responsibility to pack someone else's parachute than your own.
cfimechanic is offline  
Old 04-25-2019, 09:44 AM
  #54  
Disinterested Third Party
 
Joined APC: Jun 2012
Posts: 5,926
Default

This conversation is not about parachute rigging, and the analogy is irrelevant.

If you insist, however, most jumpers pay for their own jump, and for the pack job, eliminating the analogy to mechanics or pilot making the higher wage. In that case, the pilot (jumper) pays, doesn't get paid, and the only one to get paid is the rigger. The actual pilot who flies the jump aircraft, of course, gets paid peanuts.

If you're referring to the rigger as the mechanic and the jumper as the professional, then you might be referring to an accelerated freefall instructor, or freefall photographer, as most jumpers and most jump professionals pack their own rigs. In this case, the professional jumper makes considerably more money for a given jump, than the packer.

You'll also need to qualify the packer. There's no certification needed to pack the main rig: only the reserve needs a rigger certification. Many who pack, especially at busy drop zones, are not qualified riggers.

If you're talking about a rigger packing the reserve, the same is true of above, except that a rigger certificate is required, but the pack job lasts through many jumps without use, reducing the cost of the pack job per jump as a simple matter of division.

You'll also need to consider that it's extremely rare to find a rigger that is not a jumper; nearly always an experienced jumper, if indeed a rigger can be found anywhere that is not a jumper. I've never met nor heard of one. By comparison, mechanics who are pilots are not common (I am one). Most jumpers are not riggers. If you intend to use the jumper as the pilot in your analogy, it would correspond to more pilots not being mechanics, which is also true (I'm both).

The professional jumper still makes more money, and to follow your analogy to conclusion, also takes the far greater risk. Just as the case with the mechanic-pilot subject of the thread, the rigger-jumper equation sees the same relationship in a mishap. The rigger, like the aircraft mechanic, goes home to his or her bed. The pilot-jumper does not.

Most jumpers have considerable respect for riggers, particularly given that riggers are jumpers. Most pilots have little respect for mechanics, and most mechanics have little respect for pilots. Pilots will continue to out-earn aircraft mechanics in the long run. The two are apples and oranges, however, and different directions and career tracks. The pilot does not enjoy a 9-5 existence with free evenings and a schedule that's predictable well into the future. The mechanic does. The pilot often does not sleep in his own bed, while the mechanic has that luxury.

There are many jobs as a pilot that do not pay nearly as well as others. Pilots accepting those jobs know that they will not make as much as other pilots. So be it. Maintenance jobs make more than some pilot jobs, but considerably less than the upper rung jobs, and mechanics undertaking that career know this, too. If a mechanic wishes to make pilot jobs, then the mechanic's best course of action is to undertake pilot training and fulfill the sacrifices and effort necessary to be a pilot.

If a man wants to earn what an attorney earns, then become an lawyer. If a man wants to earn the same as a physician, then go become a doctor. To compare the wages of pilot and mechanic is incongruous simply because they both work in aviation; they're two different jobs. One might demand that the kid driving the fuel truck make the same, or the secretary at the FBO, or the ground school instructor, or the man painting the stripes on the runway. One airport manager earns more than another. One pilot earns more than another.

At the largest, most active drop zone in the world, the mechanics live in near poverty, on the drop zone, in a trailer park owned by the drop zone, like nearly everyone else. One of the most famous freefall photographers in the world, a man who has filmed countless movies and jumpers, lives in a trailer in the same location. The pilots, who make roughly what the mechanics make, commute, but know they'll be making far more in the not too distant future; they do their time and move on with hours in their logbook, and the option to progress in salary, condition and equipment, throughout their career. At the end of the day on that drop zone, however, if a jumper bounces, the pilot goes home to his bed, the mechanic to his, and the pilot dies. The rigger sleeps. If the pilot makes a mistake; an entirely load of 22 jumpers may die, and the riggers will still go home to their beds, as will the mechanic. The pilot will not.
JohnBurke is offline  
Old 04-25-2019, 06:03 PM
  #55  
Line Holder
 
Joined APC: Jan 2018
Posts: 62
Default

pilots get paid what their employer thinks it will cost to replace them with a new employee with similar skills and mechanics get paid what their employer thinks it will cost to replace them with a new employee with similar skills. Therefore pilots and mechanics are both paid in the same manner. Everything else is just mumbo jumbo better suited for a useless economics class paper.

If you're going to spend a bunch of your life lamenting about what you think you "deserve to be paid" because of a,b, or c reasons, you might as well be a public school teacher and at least enjoy your summer off. It will always be easier to switch careers than to attempt to change the market forces if you're not happy with your pay.
dbflyer is offline  
Old 04-26-2019, 08:08 AM
  #56  
Banned
 
Joined APC: Jan 2015
Posts: 516
Default

This is why we need to discourage entry and participation until compensation is the only reason anyone is here. Pilots have a cornucopia of choices in life so money talks. Mechanics would otherwise be digging ditches, their treatment and pay is all the confirmation one needs. Never use "Pilot" and "Mechanic" in the same paragraph. Your superiors may start seeing you as superfluous help.
kevbo is offline  
Old 07-01-2019, 12:52 PM
  #57  
Gets Weekends Off
 
Joachim's Avatar
 
Joined APC: Jan 2007
Posts: 745
Default

The real answer in my opinion is that is just the way it is. Lots of pilots will give you arrogant self aggrandizing answers. Just look at the the above saying Pilots can do whatever they wish for a living and Mechanics alternatives are limited to digging ditches. I can tell you i’d be hard pressed to find an equally lucrative career with my current significant but highly specialized qualifications. It is what it is. Choose accordingly.
Joachim is offline  
Old 07-03-2019, 10:04 AM
  #58  
Banned
 
Joined APC: Jan 2015
Posts: 516
Default

Pilots can do whatever they wish and still make a living. Mechanics pay and social class allow them to make lateral moves into jobs like ditch digging. For these people, the work location and schedule is much better outside of aviation. Compensation tends to be a little better as well. People unknowingly go backwards in life when they spend their own time and money toward getting an A&P. The only way it may be advantagious is if you were a dropout with a record and daddy was able to sign your 8610 and buy your certificate. The other most common scenario is the same type of kid having to enlist in the army or marines for lack of better opportunity. By my observation, this is the story of most career mechanics. Most A&Ps that can go to school usually do and move on. The wasted time and money aspect apply equally to pilots if they can't get to a major quickly enough. Flying at its worst is still a standard deviation higher in all aspects compared to maintenance.

Last edited by kevbo; 07-03-2019 at 10:19 AM.
kevbo is offline  
Old 07-06-2019, 09:43 AM
  #59  
Gets Weekends Off
 
Joachim's Avatar
 
Joined APC: Jan 2007
Posts: 745
Default

Originally Posted by kevbo View Post
Pilots can do whatever they wish and still make a living. Mechanics pay and social class allow them to make lateral moves into jobs like ditch digging. For these people, the work location and schedule is much better outside of aviation. Compensation tends to be a little better as well. People unknowingly go backwards in life when they spend their own time and money toward getting an A&P. The only way it may be advantagious is if you were a dropout with a record and daddy was able to sign your 8610 and buy your certificate. The other most common scenario is the same type of kid having to enlist in the army or marines for lack of better opportunity. By my observation, this is the story of most career mechanics. Most A&Ps that can go to school usually do and move on. The wasted time and money aspect apply equally to pilots if they can't get to a major quickly enough. Flying at its worst is still a standard deviation higher in all aspects compared to maintenance.
I see. You’re saying that the social caste associated with being an A&P restricts their options outside of being a mechanic without further education. I took it as mechanics being inherently less capable. But your point was the ones that remain mechanics for long usually don’t have options for other reasons. If that’s the case I apologize for calling your post arrogant.
Joachim is offline  
Old 07-06-2019, 11:07 AM
  #60  
Banned
 
Joined APC: Jan 2015
Posts: 516
Default

Originally Posted by Joachim View Post
I see. You’re saying that the social caste associated with being an A&P restricts their options outside of being a mechanic without further education. I took it as mechanics being inherently less capable. But your point was the ones that remain mechanics for long usually don’t have options for other reasons. If that’s the case I apologize for calling your post arrogant.
Yes, I'm saying that aviation maintenance is generally a lower form of work than any other blue collar trade. On average the location, scedule, and pay is below other trades. I think this happens because of the complex system that dictates and limit exactly what an aircraft mechanic can do. This system of strict control and oversight destroys a persons ability to learn and grow. It removes all dignity from the job and keeps it at an extremely low level of skill. The knowledge requirements for an A&P are extremely low and the experience requirement is basically a free way for insiders to get the cert. I've experienced aviation maintenance first hand and want everyone to know that it's NOT what you think it is. Aviation maintenance could be the top tier blue collar trade if standards for entry were high. Unfortunately it has been over controlled and dumbed down to a level below fast food. I tend to sound negative on maintenance because the effects of easy entry are extremely negative. The situation has been grim for a long time and it's not difficult to move on. The cream doesn't rise, it leaves the industry leaving a cesspool behind. I'll never say all mechanics are dumb or in any way lesser people. I Just can't understand why anyone would stay knowing how easy it is to simply leave for greener grass. There must be a reason.

Last edited by kevbo; 07-06-2019 at 11:33 AM.
kevbo is offline  
Related Topics
Thread
Thread Starter
Forum
Replies
Last Post
Guard Dude
Delta
201720
04-06-2022 06:59 AM
samballs
Regional
340
09-26-2012 09:23 PM
RPC Unity
Union Talk
149
06-30-2011 08:39 PM
SF340guy
Union Talk
92
06-12-2011 06:30 PM

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off
Trackbacks are On
Pingbacks are On
Refbacks are On


Thread Tools
Search this Thread
Your Privacy Choices