Originally Posted by
Cubdriver
Actually Boiler is a tad low (he said $40/60/80k). Here are the top paying salaries for new hires in the US (see
link). Wages should match other professions. There is no reason new pilots should get less than the others, the cost of training is the same, $60k from day one is the typical salary. But there is a glut of qualified pilots in the US and entry level wages are heavily depressed by the oversupply.
Flying isn't even in the same category as the jobs you've listed. We're more on the blue-collar, skilled labor side of things. It's clear to me that many of the pilots I've worked with wouldn't even be capable of completing the education necessary to do something like computer or aerospace engineering. All kinds of people enjoy flying and have chosen to make a career of it, but the barrier to entry is also much lower than certain STEM careers.
Airline first officers should be paid more, but when I consider the realities of what we do, it seems that the high end of the pay scale should be lowered. The idea of a $200,000 base salary airline captain just doesn't make sense to me when I consider the vast amount of knowledge and experience required for other jobs that pay slightly less.