Originally Posted by
Varks
Are you sure about that. I just talked to my uncle. 1979 60K. 727 FO 12th year pay. That’s close to today $250K or so. In 1998 wide body Captain he made $200K. Today’s dollars that’s $394K. Not as much as I make NB today. $500K.
I made $107K in 2013. MD80 FO 12th year pay. The 1979 to 2013 was $192K.
Good points. How you measure inflation matters.
The median HOUSEHOLD income in 1979 was $16,530.
The median home price was $71,800 (it was $54,200 in 1977 so real estate inflation was crushing the middle class back then too).
NB CA here is now a pretty good job by most historical measures (just don't look at gold or ShadowStats.com). The big question is how long will it take a new hire to get there? NB FO in a large bid status is not a very good job until 3rd+ year pay combined with lineholder status. How long to hold a line on the Bus in CLT for a new hire today? It was 2 years for someone hired 2 years ago but it won't be that fast going forward.
Things are not BAD by any stretch of the imagination and pilots anywhere except another Big 3 will probably do well to come here. They need realistic expectations though and as mentioned the stories being told in this thread are for the most part not realistic for new hires today especially if they aren't particularly interested in LGA 737.