Originally Posted by
Boeing Aviator
I’m as strong a union pilot as the next. The answer is it’s all about a seniority number. The difference at my airline between when I got hired and 10 months later over the last 32 years was huge in terms of pay and quality of life. My career as a whole has been significantly better then the guy hired 10 months after me.
If your goal is a legacy (AA, DAL, UAL, SWA or Fedex & UPS - top tier pilot jobs) its a race to get there as soon as you can.
So to answer you question. If flying at Southern gets you to a Regional significantly faster then flight instructing or other 135 flying jobs, then that in turn gets you too a top level flying job faster, that’s saving you (or portentously costing) you big bucks!
Plus what if you save yourself several years getting to a top level flying job. Let’s say you miss a hiring waive and have to wait several years for your next opportunity. That’s going to cost you big bucks.
First year pay at most top tier companies 70 to
90K. Second year over 100K to 150K. Five year Widebody FO’s or junior Narrow body Captains way over 200K. Top pay 300K to 450K. It’s a race to the big leagues and seniority is everything. You want to get their the fastest and need to build time in a hurry best bet is Southern. My humble opinion anyway.
I understand chasing pay ( I use to be like that but now solely a QOL guy) but when people accept that bad of pay its just giving companies more power to keep the wages low. I knew of a few 500~ hour jobs that paid 75-100k starting in relatively low cost areas to live. Now that is rare, but the local bottom feeder paying gigs were always advertising for pilots but couldn't get anyone in the door due to people holding out for the next open position at a higher paying place. Ive also worked somewhere near a few pilot mill schools where guys were getting paid 25-30k to fly citations, challengers, and a gulfstream. They knew they had a steady stream of people willing to be paid low ( or even pay) to sit in that right seat. (side note even the captain pay was insultingly low.)
We have seen in the past that refusing low pay will better our industry. The airlines use to pay nothing, so people went to the 135 side. Then the airlines started paying better, people started moving back over to 121 carriers so 135 guys started to raise their pay. And the cycle should continue as such. With the new PSA payscale coming out I believe that other regionals will follow suit (if they havent already) that will force all companies to either match or raise their pay or risk losing their employees.
The first thing I tell my old flight students when they text me asking about jobs is "Your aviation education and experience is valuable. Know your worth."