USMC, I think you're right that there is a break-even point. For me, that point was a lot lower at 22 and single than at 30, married with a kid. Career stagnation and the continual downward spiral of pay and QOL has turned a lot of optimists into pessimists. Everybody has different priorities and is willing to make different tradeoffs and a lot of people have had and will have great careers in aviation, but I think for more and more people, the rewards of an airline career just aren't worth the sacrifices. Just my $.02..

I'm not saying there is a break-even point - - I'm asking if there is and what it is for the different people.

I'll wholeheartedly agree with you that it is different for each person which is why I often challenge the posters on these boards who call other pilots who have made/or are making a go of aviation delusional for example. THEY certainly don't seem to think that it is a different set of circumstances for each person. Whomever THEY is has decided that if it didn't work for THEM, then it is a folly for all.

Having spent a career around those very people who miss a majority of birthdays, anniversaries, first steps and even births, I never heard one of them say that they were unhappy when missing those events if they were making (insert some amount of wage here), but they wouldn't mind it if they were making (insert higher wage here). Some stayed for their minimum commitment, others stayed until the civilian job market picked up, others made a 20, 23, 25 or 30+ year career out of it. The ones I remember hated missing Timmy's first baseball game whether they were making E-2 pay or O-6 pay; but they still did it.

USMCFLYR

Chasing the $
 

They did it at the major airlines during the "golden age" too, and all by their own choice. I remember one MD-11 CA complaining: "This double commute to reserve is killin' me!" I refrained from asking him: "Why did you bid it?", because I knew the answer. :rolleyes:

I think the point is that there needs to be compensation worth not being home, living at the airport, and flying people around(that could be killed)new. Even $28 hr is not good once you factor in those items. Add to the fact that Joe public thinks every pilot works 20hrs a month and does nothing else the rest of the time you get the picture... or at least that's why the bag sticker, "if you can read this I'm not getting paid" exist. People including new pilots truly do not understand what sacrifices this career involves. And that is why forums like APC and others are good to help inform an unknown public/prospective pilot.

But lets back to the topic. If your thinking about a career change set yourself up to return to your old job if you either realize it isn't exactly what you expected or you get a furlough notice. Better yet, retire from your job and join the game with some sort of pension. Sad to say the only real way to survive on first year pay in the US(I'm not talking about other countries since first year pay is actually decent) is to treat it like working at McDee's for a while. Meaning cut your bills, eat ramen and carry no debt. Besides at the rate things are going in a couple years the new retirement age for pilots will be 75 years old and you'll have plenty of time to fly(if your health doesn't give out) even if you retire at 60ish. I wish I was kidding, but I'm not...

I'm sorry if I misinterpreted your post. I respect the effort of those who attempt to provide relevant information, but I think that it is misguided and unproductive to assume that an individual's personal conclusions apply to everyone else (YMMV is an underused caveat). I think most people (civilians) would be willing to miss holidays at home and the occasional family event if they made six figures and worked three days a week. Most would probably not be willing to do so if they are working 5-6 days a week and making $22,000. Money is part of the equation but I think quality of life is more important for most people. If I spend four days a week at home, then I don't mind being gone for weekends and holidays. Perhaps more important is a sense of fulfillment gained from working, which is why I think you'll see vastly divergent points-of-view between military personnel and airline pilots. As an E-2 I think I made about $17,000, but I felt like I was doing something important (and I was 19 and single) so I easily saw past the paycheck and the time away from home. Flying around in circles all week does not provide much personal satisfaction or a feeling of purpose, so airline pilots tend to focus on the aspects of the job that are easy to quantify (and complain about).

Payscales
 

I've had a long layover...so I came up with another formula enjoy.:)

Often as pilots we factor the hourly rate *1000 to estimate what our annual salary will be. When factoring time spent at work this salary figure yielded an approximate figure of 28/hr.

hourly rate *.32 and you have your "truer" wage/hr.

(89/flight hour*.32 = 28.48)

50*.32 = 16.00/hr

150*.32 = 48.00/hr

Anything less then 23.00/flight hr means you make less then min wage! Interesting that the # conincides with regional FO pay.:cool:

I think you are calling off-duty time "work". How about just using all "on duty" time and forget duty rigs?

I'm paid by salary--this month I'll fly about 20 hours and TAFB is 90 hours, tops, plus about 20 hours in the office. How'd you figure it?

GF

Congrats last month you had the dream job. Next month you are just avg again as I think you are about to go on a 15 day trip.

I am, which may or may not involve much flying. It is all my flying for the month; last such trip was about 12 hours of flying, 6 days of visiting friends, one on a port call. I don't classify time free of duty work.

I'll let you know when I get back.

GF