Originally Posted by somertime32

So I assume you are talking averages for salary since you mentioned 40k/year for our FOs. That is below police and teacher averages per year. The BLS reported in 2012 the median annual salary for patrol officers was $55,270. Average teacher salary as of September 2014 is $52,552. National Education Association reports an average national starting teacher salary of $36,141 in 2012/13. The average starting police pay is anywhere from $26,000-$49,000. I am not sure what you mean by other transportation workers but I'll just assume they make more too. I am not sure whether you were saying our FOs make more or less but I just wanted to add some numbers.