Originally Posted by
yimke
10k is pretty good. Considering you don't have to pay school loans yet. But combine that with only a 8k increase in pay. Plus those that have a family, mortgage, etc.. it is nothing!
Name another career that you spend this amount of time in training/school only to earn 20k per year? Residency doctors earn average of 40k. That is the equivalent of the amount of time/training we put in out of flight instructing for 2 years to get into a regional. Plus if doctors lose their job in the future, they don't restart at the bottom! They pick up where their experience level will pay them.
I know not every pilot can be a doctor, and the same goes the other way. Something has got to change.
Lucky for me, I guess, that I have the GI Bill and won't worry about student loans. Not to bash those that do - the military is not for everyone. That's what I'm saying though, living withing your means. If someone is only making peanuts, how do they expect to start a family and pay a mortgage? Edit: I guess I should throw in there that I am not 18 and just getting into college. I am 23 and have been supporting myself (and all my bills) since I was 18 and joined the Air Force. So, the 10K goes quickly but It's managable and I'm happy.
I do know that not on size fits all in any field. There are people who start learning to fly having already started a family and who already have mortgages. And with them, I empathize. That's gotta be tough.
My only point is that it's not as imfathomable to start out in the industry [for most] as a lot of people are claiming is all.