Finally made the jump from helicopter firefighting to 121. Pay is down now but it feels really good to be on a path that has better pay/benefits/retirement/QoL over the long term.

JAN-MAY 16yr helicopter firefighting CA
68k Salary
5k bonus
2k 401k
≈$75,000 total

JUN-DEC 1yr AA WO Regional FO. Training Jun-Sep, Reserve Oct-Dec
43k base
4k bonus (red flag)
3.5k per diem
≈$51,000

401k kicks in this month (1.5% woo!). Around 20 days hot reserve so far, which sucks but is easy in comparison to 14 hour days sitting at a podunk airport in a company truck next to a helicopter for 12 day shifts. I'll take the drop in pay for the work rules, protections, and long-term benefits. Just having a schedule that I can bank on is already a massive decrease in stress and worry. Also maybe I'm just new, but the flying is good fun.

Thanks to this thread over the years (among other things) to finally kick my ass this direction.