Originally Posted by
OCCP
$40k is still underpaid. I'm actually on 6th year rj fo pay...and it is still less than 40k, not by much but still less. I find it stupid how all the mainline pilots come on the regional threads and say things like "quit crying, leave of you don't like it". You're not the one having to do these jobs. If you big bad mainline pilots would stop giving away your scope, and flying till 65, we would not be having this conversation.
Wow. We have forced labor here in the land of the free? The only reason why regional pay is so low is because people continue to sign up for these jobs. These pay scales are public. This is not a surprise for a new-hire opening their first pay stub.
I used to fly for a night freight company that could always attract pilots, because of decent pay and lifestyle (if you don't mind red-eyes) and eventual upgrade to the jets. Then came the dawn of the RJ, and suddenly box-hauling wasn't as glamorous as going straight into the right seat of that shiny new RJ, even though that 50-seat RJ didn't pay a dime more than the smaller turboprop commuters that were being replaced. My company suddenly had a hard time filling new-hire classes. What happened? Did the mail stop moving? No, just as suddenly new-hire pay increased by 25%, plus a signing bonus and another bonus at your first anniversery. I'd already been there a few years, but my pay went up too, thanks to the sudden shortage of qualified applicants (Part 135, so 1200 hour minimum).
The young guys like to blame the boomer generation's selfishness for their misery (I'm not in either generation, I guess?), but what are the chances that the young guys will suddenly quit signing up for the poverty-level RJ jobs? (hint: probably about zero)