The investment it takes to become a professional pilot plus the career risks that are associated with it demand strong assurances of a timely and equitable return.

I like to use the mailman example because it is a commonly accessible career that demands nothing more than a high school diploma and satisfactory civil service test. It is a yard stick to use against the typical civilian pilot career where there are huge investments required in education, training a in wasted years. Add to that the fact that the odds of making it to one of the better companies and it become obvious that aviation is an extremely poor place to invest yourself.

In order to make a pilot career worthwhile I believe that new pilots should start with some kind of guarantee that they will have a job when they get out. After college and training that job should have a starting wage that is commensurate with what other professions of similar effort receive as compensation. My estimation is a starting wage of at least 40 to 60K that rapidly moves up from there. In addition a pilot needs a better retirement system and professional safety net then just a crummy 401K and good luck chuck if you loose your medical.

Firefighters on the west coast in urban departments swiftly can attain 100K in earnings with minimal training prior to employment. If they get hurt on the job they are well taken care of. After 20 or so years of service they are eligible for a retirement program. Pilots should expect the same with better average wages. As pilots we all get stuck only looking at the 20 year captain salary and forget to calculate the career averages. A few guys might be lucky to top 100k but the majority are stuck well below that and mostly no one has a full ride retirement anymore.

One solution is a national seniority system with wages that are linked to your overall time in service not employer. Airlines should be forced to hire from the list in order of the date of career origination. Retirements should be paid in by the companies into an independent organisation that oversees the retirements of the national seniority list.

In summary the price it takes to become a pilot and risks we face demand a much higher rate of return and security that we have now. Currently pilot wages are halving every 15 years into oblivion and face a retirement that is worthy of Oliver Twist. Not worth it at all. I know it is difficult for the older guys here but try to put yourself into the shoes of a 20 year old who is just starting out. Four plus years of college and self funded flight training ahead. Hundreds of thousands of dollars in debt on graduation day and many years down the drain before you can even apply to be a flight instructor for nine bucks an hour. Not much hope of things getting better either. The goal of making it to a legacy airline is not that great anymore. The first 5 years of FO wages at UAL average just slightly more than what a mailman earns and with slim benefits to boot.

In the mid 1990's a typical UAL career was estimated by FAPA to be worth 10.5 million dollars. We need to be closer to that again to make this career worthwhile.

Skyhigh