Originally Posted by afterburn81
Dude! You are NOT the norm. In fact I have no clue where you work or how did that your first year. Most first year pay is around 23-25 bucks an hour. Even including per-diem you would have to credit at least 130 hours a month for the whole year to earn that BEFORE taxes. It just doesn't add up. Unless you were a direct entry captain. Which would have nothing to do with this thread.
If you are telling the truth, you are in the 1% of people that got REALLY REALLY lucky. Please elaborate instead of making everyone feel like they are missing out or have done something wrong.
First of all, let me say I wasn't trying to brag or anything.. Or compare myself to other guys. We are all in this game together.
I work for a regional that exclusively flies for one legacy carrier(might give you a clue who). Our first year is $27/hr and change. I was on reserve for 5 months. Our work rules, plus picking up open time allowed me to consistently credit anywhere from 110-140 every month. After reserve, I bid 60-70 hour lines with gaps of days off so I could pick up 2-4 day trips in the gaps. Allowing myself to again earn high per diem along with 120-130 hours of credit. The most days off I had was 7 or 8 each month and would barely scrape by 30/7s.
I'm single, no kids, and do not pull health insurance monthly. I paid cash for uniforms, which cancelled out the monthly deduct. Also, of course, we all know ALPA dues are not paid during apprenticeship.
I blocked 827 hours my first year of work and credited 1,076 hours. Plus roughly $6,300 in per diem.
Just hard work I suppose. I didn't want to be poor. I did my time as an instructor and earned barely enough to survive at one point. Then went corporate and made money, but the guy went broke and the king air/citation went bye bye. Hello pay cuts.
Now I'm another regional FO looking to make it. 1,070 TPIC. Someone wanna hire me? Haha...
