SkyHigh

Teacher Salary

CNN had a story this morning about teacher salaries. The state of Connecticut had the highest average at over 58,000/ year plus fantastic benefits.

You know when the regionals have sunk into a working hobby when pilot pay falls below that of teachers. Don't get me wrong, I like teachers. I like to use them for comparison since most people have the impression that they don't earn very much. However, compared to most pilot jobs I would call them rich.

Teachers only work 8 months out of the year. Get a full ride retirement (in most cases) and get every holiday, two weeks at xmas and one week in the spring off. Teachers enjoy a normal 8 to 4 work schedule. They don't have to buy expensive licenses and ratings. In most regions teacher jobs are easy to get. Teachers also start out at a wage that is mostly livable.

Pay Averages:

California $56,444

Oregon $49,169

Washington $45,434

Utah $38,976



Teacher benefits high

The NEA survey does not directly address the level of benefits paid to teachers, but research conducted by the OSBA, the Chalkboard Project and others does.

Benefits as a general category typically incorporate a variety of expenditures expressed as a percent of salary:

F.I.C.A. (Social Security & Medicare) 7.65%
Workers Compensation 1.00%
Unemployment 0.30%
PERS Employee Contribution 6.00%
PERS Employer Contribution 16.97%
Total 31.92%

Something to think about.

SkyHigh

preludespeeder

then become a teacher if the pay seems that great to you, i know in california starting pay for teachers is around 30k though and to get to the high pay takes five or so years

SkyHigh

Speed,

Thanks for the suggestion however I am not a teacher type. Believe me I wish I was !! Using your numbers it would take the average new pilot 5 to ten years to reach starting teacher pay. By then the teacher would be moving past the average and towards the maximum. There is little hope that the pilot would ever financially catch up to the teacher especially when you add the cost of flight training and funding your own retirement. My point is that teacher pay is a significant improvement over current pay and working conditions at the regionals. Working for them almost doesn't really count as a job anymore since the efforts and expenses outweigh any benefit.

It's just something to think about before investing oneself in this career field.

SkyHigh

ChrisH

First off; not everyone 'invests' themselves into a career field for money; in fact, that is the single worst reason to go into any career field; for money.

Second; I looked up average pilot pay, vs. average teacher pay, and although it may vary per state, overall average pilot pay is far higher than average teacher pay.

Third; Pilot pay stretches beyond regional pay. We can't just stop and look at regional pay, and focus on that, and say that people spend $150K for $18K/year, because that is just not true. Pilot pay stretches beyond just the regional, and even the majors for that matter. And, even the lowest paying of the majors pay a pretty good deal more than a teacher.

The following is nationwide, not per any specific state(s):

Average Teacher Salaries:
Starting: $30K
Average: $39K-$44K

College Teachers/Professors:
Average: $49K

Professional Pilot Salaries:
Average Regional: $47K; Middle 50% earn b/n $33K-$70K
Average Major: $109K; More than 25% earn over $145K

I could not find any info. on corporate or charter pilots, but you can throw that into the mix as well. Most corporate pilots do pretty well.

Pay may be decreasing for pilots at the moment, but it is not going below what people would make in most other career fields. I still don't see where people think that pilots are make next to nothing, unless all you do is focus on the regionals; and, a range of $33K-$70K, is not a bad salary range even for regionals, that is the typical range for other careers fields.

Again, I understand it is not all about money, but also about what it takes to become a pilot, and what the job involves, and that aside, being a pilot is a job, like any other job, and I know of very few other career fields that offer the salary potential of pilots. Realize, also, that people working in other higher paying fields are not necessarilly all making top dollar either. Salaries will very from person to person in any career field.

SkyHigh

ChrisH

Thank you for your well constructed response to my post. Though I see the point that you are trying to make it seems that your information is weighted a bit towards aviation and I don't agree with those estimates. I have never heard of a regional FO making 47K. You have that listed as an average. Besides it can take most of 20 years to get to the upper levels of pay at most regionals. The reality is that you will spend 15 years or so at the bottom before you slide up in pay. We can not forget that it will take the average new pilot 5 years of even lower CFI wages before they even get to their first day as a pilot at the aforementioned 18K. By the time a regional FO has made it to upgrade the teacher is half way to a fully funded retirement. Lets not forget that the teacher has the ability to work a different job in the summer thus increasing their earning potential. There is no contest. The regional pilot will never catch up. The reality is that the majors are not in the picture for most of us and by the time you are ready to start applying the teacher could be starting to plan for retirement. The other dynamic to mention here is that as we all know pilot wages are on the down hill slide while teachers are enjoying an increase in demand and pay.
The Time Value of Money is very important. If it takes you 15 years until you will finally begin to earn a middle class income you will have lost the potential to reach a secure footing financially by the time you reach 60. The teacher by comparison makes a good wage from day one and starts building a nest egg immediately. It will take most pilots well into their 40's before they even pay off their student loans.

As you mentioned money isn't the only thing to consider, but I can assure you that the coolness of flying rapidly wears off and then all you are left with is a life of poverty and loss. Being poor might seem romantic to a 20 something but it is a nightmare to a guy in his 30's who is trying to raise a family on minimum wage. The future is not encouraging. The majors are shrinking and reducing pay and benefits. Even now it might take you until 40 to get hired at a good major only to start out again at 30K and this time with a wife and kids in tow. Not all dreams are meant to be followed. Everyday people have to make adult choices. You have to weigh your other dreams against this to determine if it will be worth it.

SKyHigh

SkyHigh

Just look around a bit. Even a career in the military would greatly outdistance the regionals and the regionals are the reality of an airline career for most. You are only looking at the highest sides of the profession. Most fall way below those highs.

The profession is in decline. It has been in progress for the last 20 years. This is not a temporary down turn. The industry will recover but pilot wages will still sink. It is a simple function of supply and demand.

You are looking at this with rose colored glasses and not using realistic analysis to determine your opinions. Just study the American Eagle pay scales and move up to 9 year FO pay and see what the results are after subtracting taxes and pilot expenses like crash pad and airport car. There is little left over.

I admire your conviction but youthful enthusiasm and nievety can get you into a situation that you might be unhappy with.

SkyHigh

FlyerJosh

Skyhigh,

You fail to consider the fact that a teachers job doesn't end when they walk out the door of the school. I disagree with your statement about it being an 8-4 job.

I live with a teacher. She leaves for school at 630 each morning. Classes start at 715 and run until 230. After school, she spends any where from 1-3 hours tutoring, mentoring, or supervising after school activities. She then comes home spends another 2-3 hours at her desk grading papers, preparing lesson plans, and getting ready for the next day.

I don't deny that starting salariessuck (for both professions), but I do think that if you took an average rate (across the board for pay, benefits, overtime, retirement vs hours worked) pilots would come out on top.

Teaching isn't as easy as you make it out to be. It's certainly not a job that I would want.

preludespeeder

sky high i would like to know where you think it will take somebody into there forties to make what a teacher makes. are you forgetting that to become a teacher you must hold a four year degree, get a credential and get hired by a school. i know the process takes around 5 to 6 years becuase people are demanding better teachers. and then to top it all off if you end up with a class full of underachievers becuase the parents of these kids do not take their education seriously your job is on the line. i think teachers need to get paid more for what they do. teacher salary is not what you seem to think it is. most new college grads who once thought about teaching have decided that it is not all that good being a teacher anymore. you talk about retirment as a teacher as if it something good, after thirty years in the profession a friends mom barely makes 3k a month on retirement and she is only 61. that is after thirty years. you must be kidding me about how teachers have it so nice. i have friends and family in the teaching profession and when i talk about how the ailines work they are saying how green the grass is for pilots. maybe everybody who thinks the grass is greener some where else should go to that said profession and come back five years from now and discusss what thier experience is. never assume anything. airline pilots have alot of hurdles to jump before it pays off but when it does it pays.

Superpilot92

The key with this profession is to start out in this profession, because if you do another job and make average pay and then try and start at a regional in your 30s its not as easy as a guy straight out of college that doesnt know any different.

In my situation i started out getting a job at a good regional right when i graduated college. So the pay was alittle more than what i was making as an instructor so it was easier to cope with.

It would be difficult to start out in this profession if it was a second career.

Try subsitute teaching and see how much you would like that job.

ChrisH

I think the above statement says it best. I am not saying pilots are pulling in the money from the beginning, it takes time, but it eventually pays.

I also realize I am young, and nieve, but I do know a few regional FOs/CAs, and they are not as bad off as some people paint the regionals to be, especially the captains.

As far as American Eagle, they are in a bit of a different situation than most other regionals. It will take you 8 years to make at American Eagle, what you will make your second year at ASA, as an FO, for example.

-2nd Year FO ASA: >=$30K, assuming only flying the minimum guarantee.
-2nd year FO SkyWest: >$30K, assuming only flying the minimum guarantee.
-2nd Year FO ExpressJet: =<$30K, assuming only flying the minimum guarantee.
-8th Year FO AAE: =<$30K, assuming only flying the minimum guarantee.

Upgrades currently running about 2-4 years at ASA, SkyWest, ExpressJet, etc.:

-First Year CA ASA: ~$50K, assuming only flying the minimum
guarantee.
-First Year CA SkyWest: ~$50K, assuming only flying the minimum guarantee.
-First Year CA ExpressJet: ~$53K, assuming only flying the minimum guarantee.

"assuming only flying the minimum": I say this, because the regional pilots, FOs and CAs I know, are typically flying over the minimum guarantee, and making more than the above.

Three years as an FO, and your first year as a CA, so lets say 3-4 years and you are making $50K; that is more than most to all teachers in that same time frame will make.

I am not saying that $50K is a large amount of money, but it isn't that bad for a young pilot, and that is first year CA pay. I also realize that upgrade times vary, and it may not be 3 years tomorrow, I am just stating what is current.

Also, people are leaving as we speak from the regionals to go fly for the majors, and they are not all 15 year regional CAs. I don't think the majors are as distant a dream as some paint that to be either.