Shiny jets are cool huh? I would be pretty anxious to make 18k a year for my 100k investment too.
YouTube - Disney & Pixar's A Bug's Life - 2 mosquitos

I hate when you guys write this crap, everyone's gotta start somewhere, don't they?

Did you start your piloting career making $75k a year GlobeTrecker? If so, i'd LOVE to know how you did it.

I agree.

In 2004 I was a junior Comair FO on reserve.
In 2011 I am a junior Comair FO on reserve.

It is like 2004 all over again.

What? You hate when people don't tell you what you want to hear? With all the available information available about how crappy the industry is and how low the pay is, I wouldn't even want to get into the industry today. Much has changed as far as pay and career progression goes since I made the jump. Gone are the days of 2 or 3 years at a regional. Today you can expect to spend 5 years or more in the right seat of an rj.

My guess is you are single with no kids and live in a studio apartment. Great, no problem there. What happens when you meet a great girl you want to marry and she looks at your career potential and decides maybe you aren't the right guy for her. If a great girl is willing to look past your meager pay and constantly being gone how will you support her and your future children on such little money.

I think it is extremely selfish to subject loved ones to your crap profession because you have a burning desire to fly jets. If you want to be a bachelor your whole life this might be a good career. I am sure you will learn the hard way eventually. Who knows, maybe you'll be one of the very few that goes from the right seat of an rj to a major in 2 years. Odds are you won't be though. I am sure you know better then people who have already been where you are now.

I think everyone on this forum would love to hear how you expect to live on 18k-20k per year. If you have found some new way of living on such a low wage, by all means, fill us in. Do something else until conditions improve for such a responsibilty. Probably not what you want to hear but, you have been fore warned.

Flying for fun is much more fun than flying to eat.

I started at ASA back when it was a low starting rate, but I was a CFI and was looking to just get on with my career. Still would've done it to this day, as since when I started here before the end of my first year we got a new contract, new CEO, new A/C, and then new bases started popping up left and right ( or at least rumors of them ) Although the upgrade time has since gone from 1.5 years to forever, it could easily shift back to the former soon enough and hopefully I'll just ride that wave out of the right seat and on to greener pastures after that. Give and Take...Got to be Happy or at the very least confident with your decision.

Looks like its time to close this thread before it gets much worse.

EXPRESS IS HIRING 100+ PILOTS THIS YEAR



As for the rest of the thread drift regarding pay and bringing the industry down and ATP mins etc...we can do without it.