fitflyer,

If you're interested in AE, I highly advise you sit in front of your desktop/laptop with a six pack and read this entire thread (yes, all 2,919 posts)...the info here is extremely informative, will answer the question you asked, and prep you for a potential interview.

That said, here's what someone posted a long time ago:

"Here is my 1st few paychecks at AE. This was off 2008 wages.

1st 1138 gross 1038 paycheck
2nd 1185 gross 1041 paycheck
3rd 1186 gross 1041 paycheck

Then I went to the line to fly and you get paid less and I broke guarantee [flew more than 75 hours in month] first 2 months on the line!

6th 870 gross 682 paycheck
7th 1047 gross 869 paycheck


Take note your paid twice monthly. 15th day and 30th day. ~$2000 per month in training take home pay.
he check on (or near if the 15th is a weekend) the 15th is always the same. It will be 36 hours at your pay rate.

The Check on the last business day of the month is 36 hours plus per diem and any additional hours from the previous month.

If you credit 92 Hours in October, your November 30 check will be:

36 Hours Base Pay
20 Hours Retro Pay (92 hours minus 72 hours paid out in October as base pay)

If you are on reserve and do not break guarantee, the extra 3 hours (rsv guarantee is 75) will be on the end of the month check.

Income during training is pretty good compared to the first few checks on reserve. 24/7 per diem at 1.80 an hour really adds up. It'll be a few pay checks at only base pay before per diem and overages catch up with you once you make it to the line.

I wrote my budget (and still do) to reflect 75 hours of pay each month plus 200 per diem. If you are going to a base where you may not fly a lot on reserve then you may want to adjust that per diem figure. I have been at Eagle about 3.5 years and have averaged 92 hours of pay each month since completing training. This includes one worked vacation and one part-time line month.

You can figure your gross pay by multiplying first year pay (25.08) times your budget number, then add per diem 1.80 times your budget number.

After Jan. 1 the new numbers should be 25.45 and 1.85

Takehome pay is a bit trickier to estimate as per diem is not taxed for any sequences where you overnight. Daytrips and ready reserve where you go home that night are taxable.

I put first year numbers into my spreadsheet and came up with the following. Estimating 75 Hours of Pay and 200 Hours per diem.

Tax/Income/Budget TAFB 200 Per Diem Hr Rate
Stnd Deduct 10,900.00 GRTR 75 $1.80 $25.08
Taxable Mo Gross Mo Gross Yr
$902.88
$978.12 $2,241.00 $26,892.00

$26,892.00
Taxable Yr
$1,881.00 $22,572.00
Taxes
IL State $647.16
Soc Sec $1,399.46
Medicare $327.29
Fed 10% $2,257.20
Fed 15% $0.00 FALSE
Fed 25% $0.00 FALSE
Total Taxes $4,631.12
After Tax $22,260.88 $1,855.07

Monthly Annually
Union Dues $34.11 $409.34 I think it's 1.95%
Roth 401K $131.67 $1,580.04 Contribute 7% to maximize the company match
Medical 1 $109.18 $1,310.16 Half of Emp +1 Rate for 2011
Medical 2 $109.18 $1,310.16 other plans from ~50~130 per person
Dental $15.76 $189.12 Dental for Emp +1
Total $529.00 $6,348.05

Final Takehome Pay Estimate
Monthly First Year
$1,326.07 $15,912.83

This should be pretty close. My tax numbers may not have been updated since the previous tax year but I think everything is fairly close. Remember that we may have a large income tax increase for 2011 also.'