Originally Posted by
rickair7777
My best freind is an MD. He made squat until med school + one year, then he was paid a liveable wage. When he completes his specialty training he will be able to walk into $250-300K per year. He knows this, and it is not contingent on knowing someone, passing subjective interviews with personality/psych components, getting a job at one of only two hospitals which pay that much, or spending 12 years as a FO .
He has been working his butt off, but the system he's in has always found a way to pay him enough to live comfortably while a supporting three kids and a mostly-stay-at-home wife (like me he's a career-changer, not a kid).
The economic returns from aviation no longer match up to most real professions. You must have other reasons for going down this road. Justifying all the crap by calling it "dues-paying" is exactly the sort of self-delusional thinking that has gotten us all into this mess...and management loves self-delusional pilots.
I have to agree with Rickair on this one. I did a fairly short stint with the military so I do not have the retirement pay. After I got out of the military I went for a graduate degree and flew part time corporate. I have friends who went for MBAs, and Medical degrees in dentistry and they are all making well over $180,000 a year. In fact, even a starting pharmacist right now can get $85,000 a year to start. I know this because a girl I know who hasn't even graduated from a college received an offer to start at $85,000/yr.
So don't get into this profession if money is important. If money is not that important, and you love to fly and you don't mind the risk of getting furloughed several times throughout your career, then go for it. You have to remember, though, not everybody makes it to the majors. Even then, it is not what it used to be. Maybe it will get better, we can all hope.