SkyHigh

Not exactly a light bulb changer but I found this after a simple search.

Port of Seattle

Construction Safety
Manager #6045
$71,897.00 -
$89,876.00
annually
Please visit Airport Jobs
or company website for
more information
Port of Seattle Sea-Tac
Airport
M-F, 8:00am - 3/12/2014
4:30pm
37.5h/week
; FT
Op

Skyhigh

USMCFLYR

YIKES That comparison is revelvant. How long ago was that?
I'll have to take your word for the ad for the general maintenance guy.
You often tout the federal gov't as a good job with benefits and I'm pretty sure that a basic maintenace guy changing bulbs at an airport employed by the FAA isn't making $55k (that would be GS-12 starting pay).
How are the raises and how high up in salary do you think that general maintenance guy could go in his job? Since you didn't detail any specific CA's pay in your oringal post - I'll throw out the regional CA who is making over $100k and has a strong control over his schedule with many more days off than that FAA employee in this fantasy scenario.

That may have been true at times in the past, but it is not necessarily true in the current climate. A trade off for gov't employment has often been less pay for greater stability.

You definitely have an infinity for the garbageman/santitation jobs and I hope you keep pursuing them and guide your young kids that way too - or the post office - another favorite of yours. I agree with your idea that taken as a whole the gov't jobs do pretty good; that is why I am here. I know I could make more in other sectors of the industry, but I feel this job gives me many benefits and a sense of security (for instance if I lost my medical) that many other flying jobs lack.
I wish you were in charge of our pay scales then - maybe you could make that come true.
If you want to know what I make - it is listed in the GS payscales (be sure to use *other* locality pay in your computations). I will be promoted to GS-14 on Monday - so you can check it out if you like. Otherwise - that answer is asked and answered a few times over in the 'FAA is hiring (my job)...thread in the Hiring Section if you don't want to use Google.
I believe that I am a very highly paid King Air pilot as compared to industry standard if trying to compare my job/pay to a fractional/charter/P135 type of gig. Of course we use to be dual qual'ed without any increase in pay. I was recently told I was going to transition to the Challenger 605 which would be for the same pay too since aircraft type doesn't figure in the pay rate (ala Netjets). I'd wager that our international flight inspection pilots flying the -605s are probably paid BELOW industry average
Skyhigh[/QUOTE]

USMCFLYR

Exactly my point.
Not the guy driving around the airport changing light bulbs.
I'm sure this position has NUMEROUS responsibilities outside of general maintenance.

This is why I asked for more details in your wildly speculative original post.

I'll also agree that there are great jobs out there related to aviation as JNB often reminds the users. I'd bet that job would give you the possibility of the disposable income and the time to enjoy GA flying on the side. Some people feel they have to fly airliners to feel like a pilot. If that is the case - so be it.

MD11

ADX is the best deal in aviation. With 4 months of trainining and a week long distance course, my wife secured a dispatcher job starting at 15.50/hour. She is currently on second year pay nearing 18.00/hour. Top out over 25.00/hour. Plenty of overtime and shift flexibility (this is a regional). Cargo and mainline are at approximately 100,000 year topped out (UPS and FDX higher).

You would still be in aviation in a significant way. In my wife's office, their are several previous regional pilots that said screw it. They are happy with their decisions.

Try this place:
Distance Learning Option for Students | Airline Ground Schools

SkyHigh

USMCFLYR,

I have not found an exact job listing yet. As far as we know the job I found could be for a construction flagger. Patience buddy.

Skyhigh

SkyHigh

Here are two airport maintenance jobs in smaller towns. Don't forget to add in the awesome benefits packages (Pension, Vacation, Insurance) and the fact that they do not have to go into debt for the career.

Add to these numbers at least 20K for a large urban airport maintenance job.

https://www.chandleraz.gov/hr/salary...n.aspx?id=A060

AIRPORT OPERATIONS & MAINTENANCE TECHNICIAN

Pay Grade: L19 FLSA Status: Non-Exempt
Job Group: Labor & Trades (L) Class Code: A060
Effective Date: 7/01 Revision Date: 8/03, 7/05, 3/10

High end of pay scale is $52,339.20/year and this is in a smaller town.


Class Title: AIRPORT MAINTENANCE WORKER
Bargaining Unit: Modesto City Employees' Association
Class Code: 6710
Salary: $18.46 - $22.44 Hourly
$1,482.76 - $1,802.30 Biweekly
$3,212.65 - $3,904.99 Monthly
$38,551.80 - $46,859.88 Annually


Not bad at all. Brian Williams last Friday ran a story on regional airline pilot wages and mentioned $16,200 for a regional first officer.

Skyhigh

USMCFLYR

Those are not bad jobs.
Of course then you have to go and try to make your point by picking the absolute lowest paying FO job in the nation.
I'm sure I could find a similar job at the lowest paying airport in the country and it would be much worse than what you cherry picked.

Why can you just post information without trying to make the situation out much worse than it has to be.
Btw - in your original post you also compared the light bulb changer to a regional CA, not a the Greats Lake FO. More misdirection.

Here is one such job for $14.03/hr full time.
https://www.hrepartners.com/hrepartn....aspx?id=22496

SkyHigh

USMCFLYR,

I have noticed that it takes a lot to get your attention. Modest posts that plainly state the facts gain me nothing from you.

Skyhigh

PS. Can I assume that I am correct in the assumption that an FAA king air pilot earning more than a legacy airline pilot?

JamesNoBrakes

lol, I work for the FAA too, but in a different area. I can say with certainty that an FAA pilot earns nowhere near what a legacy airline pilot earns. The government isn't paying out $300,000 salaries, salary caps way lower than legacy airline pilots ensure this.

Red Forman

Sky,

Where do I start? Where is this $72,000 starting pay for a mailman? When I do some research it shows starting salaries in the upper 30s and after time you can average in the mid 50s.

What regional are you referring to that only pays it captains $40,000 a year? I'm asking because I have never known a regional captain to make that little. I also find it amusing that you talk about this mythical light bulb changer making more than a regional captain, but when you post the job opening it is for a manager position. Then you change your story again and compare it to the starting pay of a Great Lakes FO.

Since you keep on bringing up USMCFLYRs pay, let's discuss that. He does make a good salary for flying a King Air and probably does better than most King Air drivers, but he isn't just flying King Airs with passengers in the back. His job duties are much different. Does a King Air test pilot get paid the same as any average joe King Air pilot make? No, they have completely different job descriptions. As he stated that if he were to also be qualified in the 605 that his pay wouldn't change, yet his salary would be slightly lower than your average 605 captain. Like JNB said, even though our fellow FAA flight inspector has a good job and makes a good salary, he doesn't make what your average legacy pilot makes.

Every one here doesn't mind talking about facts and specifics, but you have got to lay off of the EXTREMES just to make your point of view. It's really sad to see a grown man act so childish so frequently.