Hey guys,

Very tired right now, but I'll try and write it while it's fresh in my mind. It's sort of long.

My father is a sales executuve (nothing that high, but very good money) for an air logistics company. Today they had a mega shipment from their biggest account that needed to be sorted, segregated, restacked, and labeled. Since my hours have been severely cut at my regular retail job, I jumped at the chance to make some money. I spent 12 hours in a warewhouse doing all that. I don't think I've ever sweat that much, and by the peak of the day I was starting to smell like rotten eggs (seriously, no joke). My dad was able to pull off a wage of $13/hr for me, so I made $150 for the day. Today was a longer day, but if I were to do that job full time for like for 8 to 10 hours a day, I'd make around $25K or so a year.

This is around the same as a first year regional FO.

The warehouse is in Elizabeth, NJ, and all day the planes going off EWR 22R were screaming right past the building. I would see their gear doors close as they past.

Although it would be a while before I'm qualified (I have 140 hours and just got signed off to do the IFR checkride) and I will definently have another job for at least a couple years after college, I'm still seriously thinking about making the push and becoming an airline pilot, at least for a few years.

Now back the the salary. After realizing this, what feeling did I come away with? Did I start to feel cheated by aviation? The answer, surprizingly, is: no, not really.

I though "If I was only making $25K, I'd much rather do it by flying a regional jet than by doing this warehouse work". Stacking pallets of cargo while covered in sweat and smelling like rotten eggs isn't exactly enjoyable or glamorous. The guys I was working with were really great, and seemed very impressed when they found out about my flying. When I told them the comparable new-hire salary, they were surprised, but still thought the same thing: they would rather do the pilot job.

I didn't specifically inquire, but I believe after a year of working at the warehouse your salary probably wouldn't go up much, whereas you'd get a substantial raise at the better regionals. Also, when I get my BS in meteorology, my starting salary would probably only be about $35K, even in NJ.

So yea, those are my thoughts and feelings. For the same money, I'd rather be an airline pilot than a warehouse worker. It may be the same money at first, yes, but the major point is the job itself. I remember there was once a thread here were a guy said he could give up aviation to go work in a warehouse driving a forklift for the same amount of money. Although I didn't work the forklift, I did work the warehouse floor. Trust me, YOU DON'T WANT TO! Once again, these are just the feelings I came away with.

Ok, you can call me an idiot now.