Originally Posted by JollyF15

I know it's apples and oranges, but here's what a 2Lt in the Military makes under the newest pay charts (this includes a 2.2% raise this year):

Base Pay - $2469/mo
Flight Pay - $156/mo
BAS - approx $1000/mo (depends on what part of the country you live in)

there are also additional COLA's added for living overseas. With the added tax bennies, your average 2LT pilot type is making between $3600 and $4000 a month or over 40K per year.

When you start comparing what a more senior officer/pilot is making, and compare that to somone of like experience at a legacy is making now it's the same. Let's look at a Lt Col with 18 years experience. Looks like this:

Base Pay - $6900/mo
Flight Pay - $840/mo
Housing - $1300-$2000 (depends where you live)

Let's just call it $9000 grand a month or 108K a year, and when you take all the tax bennie into account jack it another 15-20K. That's not too shabby.

I'm not trying to poke anyone in the eye here, just make a statement. In all my years in the military did I ever dream I'd make more than my civilian counterpart. I never did it for the money, I loved the job. That may be the case for a lot of you too. But the bottom line is, you gotta put bread on the table and save for a rainy day. A guy in the right seat of an RJ/SAAB/Whatever deserves and should expect more than 20K a year. You just can't pull a guy off the street and ask him to do what we do overnight, but it looks like some of the clowns running these companies would do it if they could.

I'm glad some of you are happy with your work environment at Mesaba or where ever else you work, but you deserve more than your getting. Like I said, I'm not trying to poke you in the eye---but look at what a 2Lt is making right off the street in UPT, and when you compare what a Lt Col is making to a legacy Capt on a DC-9 or Airbus it's kinda sick.

Jolly