Originally Posted by
paxhauler85
I made roughly 50K my second year in the right seat.
How? 4 months out of 13 I got paired up with a check airman. Got my line dropped for each entire month, and picked up 70-80 hours of flying in its place.
85 hour line = dropped for IOE.
70(x2) hours of Open Time.
85 + 140 = 225 hours of pay.
225 x $29/hr = $6525
Per Diem on top of that.
$7000 month...ran all the way to the bank those months.
I'm sure $50K can be done.
As an FO I lived in Domicile (ATL) so I was able to work the system when I made almost $53K my second year at SKW (included 3 months at first year pay) all while not being JM once (they just can't do that at SKW) and averaging 15-18 days off/month while being home every day. Basically I would bid a 90+ hour line and sit reserve for the company on my days off (no reserves in ATL and I would only do it during the week / not weekends, pays at least 3:45 per day). Since it was ATL they considered me emergency reserve and if they had time they would TDY an ORD or SLC FO down to cover the leg/trip instead of calling me; if they called I then was paid almost $60 an hour at JM pay. I was also able to drop some of my schedule and pick up open time. In the end I sat reserve for SKW a total of 38 days and was only called once. That’s 38 days X 3:45 hours per day X $36 per hour = $5140 on top of my line. (monthly credit averages of over 135 hours)
You’re right; 50’s during your second year can be done, at any airline, if you know how to work the system.
BTW, I consider a reserve day that I spend playing golf a day off. If you consider reserve days as work days then I averaged 12-15 days off per month.