Fat paycheck?

Most would like an average paycheck!

Everyone does find happiness in different ways and that's fine.

If people lay claim to having a unique position with respect to their job, I'm interested in hearing what that is. In this case, unfortunately, it did not relate to pay or benefits.


AL

 

I mentioned it only because a large majority of your driving point has been pay. $40 an hour for the minimum 70 hours a month gets you $33,800 for your first year. The average income of Americans according to the census bureau is $32,000. I personally wouldn't complain about being above the average in only your first year on the job.

If APC numbers are correct you get a pay raise to $53 per hour in your second year? That's a $10,000 or more pay raise. Hardly seems like a bad deal to stick it out for a year. To me the logic seems to not reward newhires with the pot right off the bat. With training costs and such, that first year could be costly if the pilot decides that working for B6 isn't where they want to work. In times like these the odds of someone taking off in their first year are unrealistic. But when business is booming and someone gets hired at B6 but then gets an offer in a year to work at an airline they really want to work for, who gets footed with the training bill? To me this seems like a reasonable insurance policy rather than a case of management irrationally flexing its power. That lost money on the newhire could have gone into your pocket or reinvested in the airline to grow, expand, and create more jobs.

I'm really not trying to step on your toes. I'm just trying to better understand your position and am curious what you think reasonable pay scales for pilots are?

I also would hope that just because past carriers have given the stiff arm to certain workgroups doesn't mean B6 will. Change only happens when it happens and I am just as anxious to see if B6 decides to be different or one and the same.

 

Personally, I think it's reasonable to expect better than industry average rates and benefits if you're with a half decent carrier.

FYI, the average American doesn't have a 4 year degree plus another $100,000 dollars worth of additional training.

AL

 

If there is an increase in pay and bennies you can thank JBPA for putting the pressure on management.

 

Wow 32 grand a year for someone who has 100 lives in their hands. Way to aim high and promote the profession.

 

I absolutely agree. I have always maintained that the JBPA's organizing drive was a healthy exercise for this pilot group. Though I was not a supporter of their efforts, I applaud Mike and Bill for putting their passion into action. I hope the mere threat of a union was enough of a wake-up call for our leadership to act upon our concerns. Only time will tell. I do believe we all need to move on and would hope that the pilot group can respect each other's difference of opinion. The incessant name-calling and scapegoating needs to stop.

 

It won't, after all, this is an anonymous internet forum frequented by airline pilots. What do you expect?

In any case, Auburn, I'd like to thank you for your approach and demeanor at the forums. I'd guess three or four users have been banned during the Jetblue vote, on both sides of the issue, for their inability to converse in a respectable manner. Thanks for keeping it "above the belt" over the last couple of months.

 

Is it possible to strike without a union? Just wondering.

 

Dang, where did you go to flight school?

 

As I expected you to say. However, many professions require Master's degrees and the starting pay is similar to that of a first year B6 pilot. In my home state, having a Master's degree as a teacher will start you out lower than first year B6 pay at only $37,000 per year. But the pay raises are much slower and there is a cap at the end of 20 years of only $70,000 per year. Master's degrees at good to better schools will cost you between $40,000 and $60,000. That's after the four year degree as well.

I'm not promoting the profession. I'm just asking questions. A starting Paramedic or Fire Fighter in NYC gets paid an average of only $40,000 per year. While you may fly hundreds of people per day, a paramedic is asked to save lives every day. A paramedic will be called upon to save lives infinitely more times in their career than you will in yours. So why don't you go promote their profession?

If we're going to start arguing that we deserve higher pay then I don't think we can just compare to others in the same profession. Some jobs out there frankly are more important than being a pilot and they too prove their worth every day.