Originally Posted by
Urbandrone
I was hired in February. Was reserve 2 months, got a line, reserve the next month, now 3 months with a line. December I had 15 days off, and it looks like 15 off for January. I'll make 60K this year with referral and retention bonuses. This place far from sucks, I made a lateral move here and my QOL and income skyrocketed. Best regional right now.
I've had a similar experience; Came over here from MQ and haven't looked back. As an FO there on third year pay, my gross pay for the year before I left was $42,768. I spent that entire year on reserve, living in base, and picked up an average of 12 hours per month above guarantee at 150%
As a May 2015 hire here, there are less than 10 people between myself and the most junior lineholder in NY. Considering just minimum guarantee, the retention bonus, per diem, and this latest LOA, I'm on track to make at least $47,540 at 9E my first year
(7 months of 75 hours at 25.2/hour)+(5 months of 75 hours at 30/hour)+($20,000)+(12 months of a conservative 150 hours of per diem at 1.70/hour)
This is just factoring minimum guarantee, my least lucrative month at this airline so far has been 81 hours of credit. So its easy to see a first year FO here on the cusp of, if not exceeding, $50,000 his/her first year.
We're all familiar with the inherently expensive costs of becoming a pilot, however I find it incredible that in just 4 years, the entry level wage for this job has literally doubled (My first year gross income as an FO was $25,402). I know this doesn't speak to a lot of the folks who aren't new to the industry, but I feel that good things are coming our way too, things along the lines of quicker upgrades and faster progression to the majors.