Earning Potential and QOL at your Major?
 

Hi all,

I was wondering if some of you can provide some details besides just the pay scale at your Major Airline to have a better idea of how much money I can actually make in a year. There was a very good thread a couple of years ago where people would describe some of these details like actual W2 earnings, profit sharing amounts, how much premium is paid for open time pick ups, etc but I cant find it.

So Something like this:

Company
FO or CA
Pay Scale Year
Last year W2
How much from Profit Sharing/bonuses
How Much is paid for Open Time? (Straight pay? 200% 300%?)
Average Credit Hrs/month
Days Off Last Year

Thank you!

Break out the dick measuring sticks.

https://www.airlinepilotforums.com/major/92153-true-comparison-pay-vs-quality-life.html

There ya go. Thread is dated 2015 I believe but it was necro'd earlier this year

I find it useful to compare what can be actually made at different companies. Everyone knows it's more than the hourly rates. I find these discussions very interesting.

Click above where it reads Airline profile and start doing some math

Or give it or take here it is :

30 years = 7 million dollars
DL AMR UAL Fedex UPS SWA

You are da Man!! Thanks for the helpful reply.

There's more to life than money.

GF

Thats true. But his question wasnt about life, it was about money.

Ive met some big earners at DL. Ive loved the stories. Even as Ive noted I dont want their life. Knowledge is good.

Why don't you just worry about getting hired first? It's not as simple as you might think. Lots of supremely qualified guys are still waiting for a call, any call.

But to answer your question, a lot. You'll make sufficiently more money than your neighbor Joe Firefighter or Susie Nurse or Jack CPA. And you'll have better time off.

Jackie Lawyer and Natalie Doctor will prolly out earn you, but they work haaaaaaard for their money.

Most Majors and all Legacies will have you earning solid six-figure incomes within three years of getting hired. Most within two.

The rest of your questions really don't matter, because everybody's situation is different from the next guy.

Get hired. That's all you need to know or worry about.

Have they told you the real key to long term wealth? Hint hint solid gold bars in a secure location...

One that comes to mind is a grumpy, out of shape and miserable looking fellow on the narrow-body in Mecca. He was north of 7!

He was on perpetual go- mode.

TEN

If you get married. Keep the first wife. If you can't do that, don't get another one.

Keeping the first wife involves passing up green slips to keep plans with her.

Don't listen to that garbage of keeping your first wife, either. Its well worth it to dump her and pay her to leave if she is making you miserable. It probably cost more to keep her then pay for her to leave.

So my rule of thumb is, try to have a great marriage. If you have done your best to create that union and its not working; sever the tie and NEVER MARRY AGAIN! In my opinion, marrying the 2nd time and beyond is disaster.

TEN

Ps. I am still married :)

In summary, best advice is don't take advice regarding marriage or money from pilots.:D

What makes you think he's only concerned about money? It looks like he's asking for all angles, to include time off. Clearly the pay rates don't tell the whole story. The thread that is linked above is actually incredibly insightful for those wondering they can expect wrt to pay/time off.

Personally, I jumped up to my current fleet because it's fairly well staffed, which allows one to drop down to 6-9 days/month. Tons of time off and still making some dang good money. Everyone has their thing.

That's kind of what I was getting at. You said it much better😜

Is this where the Three F's rule comes in?

Yes.

The most financially well off pilots use this rule. Although I am 2 out of 3.
Married 41 years. Over time I think it was better than renting.

What are the three "F"'s?

North of 7?? and on the narrow body?? not saying I don't believe you but thats like pretty much double the highest numbers I've seen from Delta including wide bodies. I thought Southwest took the cake with their senior capts busting their backs for 500k until I saw this.. I wonder if guys at ups/fedex have the ability to put up these kind of numbers. At the end of the day money is good and all, but the key is the work to pay ratio.

Fu@&$, Flies or Floats

It's cheaper to rent...

I've met some of the known big earners on the 88, they were north of 5. Impressive, but well under 7.

Isn't there a saying about keeping your FO wife and your FO house? That's got to be a key to wealth as well.

I heard that one a few yrs ago and so far it's been spot on.

Well, ya know, you don't need a dick to make some serious $$.

You just need to be willing to work your butt off. And it's not for everyone, many people want to enjoy what is left of their lives.

I would be more interested in who makes the bucks while getting a decent amount of time off, in order to enjoy those dollars.

Yeah, 8 of them. 4 secured on each shoulder.

Let me jiggle it a few times first.