Originally Posted by
iflyjets4food
I for one am glad that Skyhigh is here. I love my job. I love to fly. I also know that there are a lot of people who never hear the rough parts of the job before they come across them. Skyhigh is here for that purpose. He had a rough experience. Some of us won't have the same experience, but I believe it is a great disservice to the newbies in the industry to have them only know and believe the good parts. Skyhigh doesn't exist on this board for those of us who like our jobs and have had great enjoyment from a pilot career. Don't get bent out of shape over his way of thinking. Really.
There is nothing wrong with letting people know some of the negatives one
may experience during their career. BUT, you cannot assume that everybody will experience this.
I think it is also important to note that other careers, outside of aviation, also have negatives. I have plenty of family and friends who work in non-aviation related careers, and they have experienced some very difficult times as well.
Through my job, I have had the privilage of talking to many pilots; regional, and major first officers, and captain. I also have friends who fly for the regionals, and majors. I have yet to talk to one pilot who has told me he does not like his job, or wouldn't recommend it, or wouldn't do it over again. This includes legacy first officers, and captains, who have taken, some of them, 50% pay cuts.
When I look at what my friends and family members are making in their non-aviation related careers, vs. what my friends who are regional captains are making, I see no difference. Less than 10% of people will make over $80K in their career. $80K is also included in the top 10% of income earners. This may not apply to everybody, but my friends who are regional captains, are pulling in $80K with only 5-6 years with a regional; 2-3 as FO, 2-3 as CA. In fact, a good friend of mine is a 3rd year CA at Mesa, and is pulling in $70K; 3 years into his career as an airline pilot.
Saying it will take 20 years to make a livable wage as a pilot, or to assume that everybody goes to ERAU and has $100K+ in debt, is absolutely ridiculous. FYI, I will have no debt when I enter the regional world. Not everybody's situation is the same.