Originally Posted by
TheBlueGuy
I'll chime in from the neglected step-child side of the aviation industry. 135/133 (longline) utility/firefighting helicopter work. 15+ years.
$170,000 base pay
$11,700 flight + bonus pay
$1900 per diem
$5000 IRA 3% match
$188,600 Total gross compensation
Slow fire year so only about 300 hours flown. Schedule is terrible when it exists at all, work 200+ days a year usually. Flying can be good fun but still question my career choices. Mostly due to losing a few good friends to crashes. An impossible task to improve the safety of these contraptions to anywhere near 121 safety. I'm glad y'all keep pushing for better pay and QoL because it has slowly forced our industry to adjust too.
Very interesting, thanks for sharing. I'm glad some pay raises have reached the helicopter world. Just curious, what was pay like ~10 years ago?
And as others have mentioned, no shame in bailing to 121...if ever there was a time to come over it's now. I for one always appreciate flying with pilots that have a different background from the norm and the experience they bring.