Originally Posted by
rickair7777
IMO, he'd be better off as a pilot assuming the industry stays on track. Down the road, a civil service retirement is going to be peanuts compared to airline pay. Plus if he waits 15 years, the large retirement age demographic bubble will be over.
This is the exact thought that I have been tossing around between working towards an airline job when I finish my licenses and hours or working towards a full-time position as a FF/Paramedic . I'm already licensed as a Paramedic, but financially, provided the aviation industry continues in the current direction, we would be better off year over year financially than with career departments. Top out for most FF/Paramedics is closer to $120-150k for captains (about 10-15 years into the career), and some Battalion Chiefs make closer to $200k but those typically with more than 15-20 years. Also most departments used to provide pension, but now only county departments on the Florida Retirement System offer that, the rest is 401k.