Originally Posted by
mike734
I should have said entry level AIRLINE job. I stand corrected. And BTW you don't have hundreds of lives in your hands. You have 50-90. It's a tremendous responsibility but you don't add up the total passengers to get to hundreds. In fact RJ pilots probably carry more total passengers base on the number if flights they make. But you are forgetting, the size of the paycheck is dependent on the size of he hole. (For the most part)
See above. And CFI is still entry level. Probably the lowest level. Should it be? No, but there it is.
Seriously, your perception of reality is the main part of the problem.
You pointed it out well in saying that a regional jet pilot carries as many if not more passengers over time.
The pay is not based on natural market forces or even on the aircraft size (as you are led to believe) but on an artificial negotiated system designed to be self destructive over time. The unions do not represent the pilots anymore, they have become a tool for big management to drive down employee costs.
At least as a flight instructor, a pilot can earn pay based on market demand rather than based on an artificial union closed door deal, otherwise they'd probably have to pay for the priveledge of teaching.
Also....I can earn over $200k at times flying an airliner and I must say that it requires less applied skill than when I flew regional turboprops.