The average annual pay raise for US workers for 2012 was 3%. The second year raise for regional pilots is, on average, in excess of 50%. I would call that dramatic. While the second year pay rate may not be, the raise is.

 

Hey Anton, I don't have the knowledge or experience under my belt to tell you what you should do but I will say that I was in your shoes not long ago and I was very discouraged with the info I was getting from this website too. I decided to go to college where I could study and decide if a career in aviation was right for me or not. I'm currently a senior at the U.S. Naval Academy studying Aerospace Engineering. In my honest opinion, Aerospace engineering is one of the hardest engineering degrees you can get. Yes, you will take A LOT of calculus and physics. But don't let that scare you. It is very rewarding and you may be good at that kind of stuff. The Naval Academy is a military school, so upon graduation I will hopefully be an officer with orders to flight school (I find out in december). If selected as an aviator, that means all your training is paid for by your commitment to serve roughly 10 yrs. in the military. (Nothing is free!!) If serving your country is something you are open to, I would suggest you look into the military. Message me if you have any questions and good luck

 

Getting off probationary pay is not a valid comparison to the annual average payraise.

I also don't see why not automatically saying "Go for it! Be an airline pilot!" is negative. Someone is about to make a very big decision involving a very big amount of money and requiring lots of time away from home. Adding some caveats and perspectives that a flight school probably won't is a good thing. When flight schools try selling a pilot career to everybody who comes in the door-now that is a problem.

Original poster...this is a big decision. You aren't merely choosing a job, nor just a career, but the way you could live the rest of your life.

 

Your answers always inspire, MaxRate! But, still, let me ask you a couple questions?
Why does almost everybody here advice not to join pilots, go away from this industry? And have you had another experience?

 

Yeah yeah yeah.... the second year your salary will increase dramatically. Oh, but you might end up at that first year pay multiple times. I've been at the first year pay of smaller airlines twice already and am now in my 30s and will most likely be starting a new job at $25,000/yr for the third time. This is not uncommon.

My savings? Non-existent. My school debt? Very existent.

Be a pilot they said. It'll be great they said. Live your dream they said.

 

2nd year pay at a lot of places is significantly more than 1st year, this isn't specific to just airlines. On the other hand, many of those places pay a lot more to start with.

 

Anton, one of the few good things about getting older is having the benefit of hindsight and experience.

First off, never, ever let anyone discourage you from following a dream.

With that being said, when you shoot for the sky, sometimes luck isn't on your side. For that reason, you have to be very careful that if this happens, it's not catastrophic for you.

Don't go into major debt (or your parents) chasing ratings and short cuts.

Don't shortcut your way through college with a degree that is useless i the real world.

Don't let the idea of flying a 747 around the world blind you to the things in life that will be more important as you get older.

Stability, being paid what you are worth, all these things start coming into focus. You can never have too much info, even when it seems discouraging. For the majority of people, nothing worth having in life is easy. It's up to you to accept the challenge.

Keep your nose clean, make smart decisions, and anything is possible.

 

You should get your degree first then do your flight training, its much better if you do it that way.

But I recommend doing Aviation Science because it will help you a lot in the future.

 

This is funny to those of us who know better, but do NOT follow this advice!

 

What?! How?