Originally Posted by
RV5M
$120k? Is that number based on anything, or just part of the "more" that everyone wants? Take a look at comparable jobs with similar training requirements and barriers to entry, they don't pay $120k.
Here are two salaries for jobs that require more knowledge, experience and training than pilots:
Senior Aerospace Engineer: US Median $93,969
Senior Programmer: US Median $86,494 (This job is hugely in demand!)
But a pilot should get $120k? I think senior pilots' corrupt notion of how much they should be paid plays a big part in how backward pilot compensation has become.
What did those jobs earn 20 years ago? The top 1% earners keep getting richer and richer. That is an easy enough fact to verify. That money comes from somewhere, and that somewhere is lower wages and outsourcing. I am not just talking about the airline industry. The methods and business practices that are common now to accomplish this were probably criminal in the past, but through lobbying almost anything can be made legal with enough $$$. It is a ridiculously hard trend to fight. I did just pull those numbers out of thin air as an example, and I know they are not realistic in this world.
My main point however, was that we should not be looking to raise the pay of first officers at the regional level by reducing the pay of captains at the regional level. That is a shortsighted erosion of the career. Our piece of the mainline profit pie is so skinny that it takes a laser to slice it. Our contributions are worth a bigger slice.