I have known plenty. It was my first indication that things were not going well when I saw a well known Horizon Air captain leaving his trailer park on his way to work.

Skyhigh

 

I worked at Horizon Air before the latest contract. Back then things were pretty gruesome and pay was extremely ugly. I understand that the new contract made wages a bit better and that is great.

I still think that it is difficult to justify.

Skyhigh

 

"Horizon is one of those places that if you did end up stuck there, it wouldn't be the end of the world..."

Thanks for your comments.

You got Skyhigh beat three times. One, you got the interview that he never got. Two, you got hired and on the list that was his end all, be all. And three, in 10 years, you'll be flying 737's around while he'll still be a slumlord coming on here telling you that you should have been a garbage collector...

While Skyhigh's personal choice based on his personal situation is to be applauded (god bless him), I still can't figure out why he attacks those who find the career a worthy job. He'll say he's the counter point to all us successful losers. But if you can't post in an accurate, credible, provable manner, then there is no point in listening to the guy.

 

12 more furloughs in January

 

Stalking fellow pilots or do you live in a trailer park too? I have never seen a trailer park in a nice neighborhood. So unless you like to hang out in trailer parks and inform the fellow citizens there on how much worse it can be (being a pilot) I would have figured you would be in a nice house in a nice neighborhood. You know, since you left aviation and all. I mean you do have a C150...so you must be rich!

 

And maybe he is smart and saving a ton of money so he wont have to work until he is 65 or waste money on stupid things like a C150. Or maybe he is trying to save a lot of money so that he can make the jump to a major and not have to suffer for the first 2 years until he catches back up to his regional captain pay rate as an FO for a major.

Remember, "live like no one else so that one day you can live like no one else." - Dave Ramsey

 

I am not trying to "put down" anyone. My purpose is to point out some things about the industry that people may have not thought of before. 70K seems like a lot of money until you compare it to another choice.

In my calculations a career at Horizon has an uphill battle to try and match the prospects that a mailman has.

Not a put down but an analysis. I wish someone had filled in the blanks for me.

Skyhigh

 

What I dont get is why anyone would need the blanks filled in the first place. How on Gods earth did you ever get near an airplane with the intent of a professional career and not see and hear about all the B.S. in aviation. What I find rather pretentious about Sky's posts is that he just assumes everyone else is as slow as he was figuring out the game.

 

Here is a simple comparison. Assuming the pilot at 18 starts at a state university professional pilot program and the mailman also gets hired right out of high school.

By year four the pilot has graduated with a four year degree and now holds a commercial and CFI. During that time the mailman has been earning a living (estimated: 48K per year when you add in all the benefits) while the pilot has been spending a fortune on tuition, books, living expenses and flight training (-150K).

By year four the mailman is up +192K over four years while the pilot is in the hole -150K in college and flight training costs. At this point the mailman leads by $342,000.

Over the next five years the pilot works low wage jobs trying to get to day one at Horizon Air while the mailman expands his lead. The pilot is in a deep hole that most likely they will not be able to climb out of until they are in their late 50's.

Now you guys can start picking it apart.

Skyhigh

 

I started in the 1980's. My generation of pilots did not have access to the information that new pilots do now. The industry was also very different then. It puzzles me as to why someone with all the proper information would intentionally pursue this career unless they have intend to martyr their lives to aviation.

I don't believe that a rational person would blow a fortune on college and flight training expenses unless they held the belief that they were going to be flying for SWA within a few years of graduation. How else can you justify the expense? The only other explanation is that aviation is a hobby job akin to music and art and no one really expects to see their money again.

At least my generation had an excuse.

Skyhigh