Reason for low pay for pilots
05-16-2008 | 10:41 AM
#1
Thread Starter
Line Holder
Joined: Nov 2006
Posts: 74
Likes: 0
From: Instructor
Reason for low pay for pilots
What do you think is the reason that pilot pay isn't what it used to be? I was talking to some friends of mine, they were saying that the deregulation of the airlines had something to do with it. What's your opinion?
05-16-2008 | 01:06 PM
#2
Gets Weekends Off
Joined: Jan 2006
Posts: 305
Likes: 0
Like most things in life, it is 100% supply and demand.
05-16-2008 | 01:22 PM
#3
Kerbal Rocket Surgeon
Joined: Dec 2007
Posts: 1,099
Likes: 0
From: DTW 717A
I think the way seniority works is largely to blame. The way the system is set up now I can either take a 'concession' or go look for work and start at year 1 pay and seniority at another airline (IF i even find another job).
05-16-2008 | 06:11 PM
#4
Gets Weekends Off
Joined: Jan 2008
Posts: 1,422
Likes: 0
From: the correct seat
I agree with Phuz. The seniority system is causing most of the trouble. I'm not in an airline yet, but I intend to do some research on the pros/cons of a national seniority list. From the little I know about it, it seems like an excellent idea, but there must be some reason it's not implemented yet...
05-18-2008 | 06:57 AM
#5
A moment please...
Joined: Sep 2007
Posts: 769
Likes: 0
From: Just passin' thru
I agree with Phuz. The seniority system is causing most of the trouble. I'm not in an airline yet, but I intend to do some research on the pros/cons of a national seniority list. From the little I know about it, it seems like an excellent idea, but there must be some reason it's not implemented yet...
05-18-2008 | 10:33 PM
#6
Thread Starter
Line Holder
Joined: Nov 2006
Posts: 74
Likes: 0
From: Instructor
I'm just really having a heck of trouble deciding if I want to persue an airline career or not. Its been my dream for awhile, but now with the economy in the dump and the price of oil rising with no end in sight, I'm really starting to wonder if it would be a wise career path.
05-19-2008 | 05:42 AM
#7
Gets Weekends Off
Joined: Feb 2006
Posts: 6,248
Likes: 0
From: 767A (Ret)
Is it really worse now?
I'm just really having a heck of trouble deciding if I want to persue an airline career or not. Its been my dream for awhile, but now with the economy in the dump and the price of oil rising with no end in sight, I'm really starting to wonder if it would be a wise career path.
05-19-2008 | 06:30 AM
#8
Line Holder
Joined: Jul 2007
Posts: 1,217
Likes: 0
The airlines, unlike the cargo and corporate world, essentially wh*re themselves for revenue. Since deregulation, the average airfare has dropped dramatically resulting in more airlines, more flights and more cheap seats.
Of course who needs respectable pay and quality of life when you can soak in the glamour of flying a regional jet for poverty wages?
Of course who needs respectable pay and quality of life when you can soak in the glamour of flying a regional jet for poverty wages?
05-22-2008 | 11:55 PM
#9
Gets Weekends Off
Joined: Dec 2005
Posts: 1,413
Likes: 0
Sage advice for someone who's been around. I've looked at it this way. The commuters were the "minor leagues" and the mainline carriers were the "major league" (I'm going for a baseball anaolgy here). The problem is that the folks who run the airlines figured out that it was better to expand the minors at the expense of the majors. The pilot unions let them do it and the customers didn't see a difference. The worst is over since pilots won't work for the minors very long, if they don't see a chance to get into the majors.
Obtaining and keeping a high-paying airline job has always been a long shot. The difference today is that low-paying airline jobs are plentiful, resulting in a lot of disgruntled pilots instead of disappointed non-pilots. It may sound worse now, because those who missed the brass ring in the past would just disappear into another career field, and not join a forum like APC (which didn't exist then anyway).
05-23-2008 | 07:04 PM
#10
Gets Weekends Off
Joined: Jul 2006
Posts: 290
Likes: 0
From: DA-40
Obtaining and keeping a high-paying airline job has always been a long shot. The difference today is that low-paying airline jobs are plentiful, resulting in a lot of disgruntled pilots instead of disappointed non-pilots. It may sound worse now, because those who missed the brass ring in the past would just disappear into another career field, and not join a forum like APC (which didn't exist then anyway).
Thread
Thread Starter
Forum
Replies
Last Post
captain_drew
Flight Schools and Training
39
12-05-2012 08:29 AM
