Originally Posted by
Utah
First year is going to suck no matter where you go. Assuming you hold a line as an RJ FO in your second year, you could make $35K+. Even just as a reserve in your second year you'd get a minimum of around 930hrs of pay if you never broke guarantee(75 x12=900 plus holiday and online recurrent pay). The hourly rate is $36.60.
Lineholders average around 85hrs a month. Could be as low as 75, or up over a 100. At 85hrs a month you're above $37K plus another $4-6k in per diem.
I work with a number of FOs that make mid 40K and above.
Where do you work? My W2 for 2010 on THIRD year pay was 27K, of course that doesn't count per diem. My hourly rate was around $37, I did one month of high speeds and two months of reserve, every other month I broke guarantee. I don't pick up open time because 1.) I have a life and 2.) with my schedule I always had min days off so it was almost impossible to pick up more flying. I think people are lying to you about what they made.