Your company matches 100% of what you put into your 401(k)?? Holy #$@!. That is a good deal. We only get 100% of 7%. You can save over $30k/yr in your 401(k) then, do that for another 10 years and retire early. %(#@ working!!

I'm with you bro!!!

I can relate! I have been with UPS for 12 years...5 as a part timer working various shifts and going to college. 3 yrs full time as a car washer and the last 4 as a driver. I work from from 8:30 to 7 :30. Yeah I make 80K and great benifits but I want to fly for a living! Money is not everything that is for sure. Life is to short to waste it doing something you dislike just for the money. So in the meantime I am aquiring ratings completing my degree so I can change careers!

I totally agree with you, you have to do what you want to with your life and I want to fly for living as many other guys in this forum. The low wages are all about to change guys pretty soon. The demand just keep growing and the supply can not keep up with it.

I have a college degree and I make about 14 dollars an hour flight instructing and it is not paying my rent sometimes, but I love flying. And I can not considering doing something else.

good luck to all you :)

KDUA

Why complain about what pilots make on here. If you are complaining about a pilot's salary then there is no need to be on here because you obviously do not want to be a pilot. Flying is a privledge that only few can do. I personally love it. I was a firefighter for a major city. Made good money especially with overtime and I was a Blackhawk helicopter pilot for the army national guard so I made a double income. I was living the good life. Being a firefighter was incredible, something I loved, but I loved flying more. Here I am a regional jet pilot and I love it. I could care less what I make. I am happy, my wife is happy, and that is all that matters. If you come on here and complain about the type of money pilot's make then you must be a wanna be pilot who probably failed several check rides and could not make it as a pilot anywhere. I fell sorry for you. For the rest of us who are happy, I am right there with you:)

Working Hobby
 

Aviation is descending into a working hobby. You guys might love aviation but it most likely will not love you back especially if you are not there seeking a real income. In time you will begin to see my point.

SkyHigh

Skyhigh, You just dont get it and it appears you never will. People enter aviation the same reason they become policeman and firefighters. For the love of what they do, not to become rich. I am a detective with a Sheriff's Office in Florida and have been doing this job for 8+ years. I gross about 45K that is with no overtime. I could make 70K but my QOL would go way down, I would have to work 7 days a week. There are some areas of the country where cops make more but the cost of living pretty much balances it out. 100K a year to do what cops and firefighters do would not be enough in my opinion. I have been spit on, bitten, got in knock down drag out fights with drunks and crackheads where I was litterally fighting for my life, seen all kinds of nasty suicides, murder scenes, car wrecks, you name it. I tell you the negativity of this job gets to you after a while. Stop trying to drag people down for wanting to do what they love. Your incorrectly comparing other careers to aviation and you are not going to change anyone's mind on this forum. I just finished up my PPL and I am pursuing an aviation career. Being a cop is not worth it anymore. People have no respect for you or human life for that matter. The Justice System is a joke. Oh and you say a meth addicted construction worker makes 43K? I know meth heads. They dont work, they steal and do meth.

Hopefully less pilots train for the profession
 

Personally I chuckle at Sky High's view of the Aviation Profession, but I actually don't mind the rant overall because I hope less and less people learn to fly as time goes on. That alone will keep the QOL and pay up. A major dental school wanted to double its output of Dentist and the Dental Association told the school it would not certify them if the school did that. Other professions have some control over supply and demand into their fields. Our's would be better off if we did too.

We are already seeing major flight schools closing in my area. One in particular was in business for nearly 40 years. I think people are seeing the managment tactics in this industry and have begun to shy away from it hopefully. Plus the population is so over extended with credit that people are finding it hard to spend 30K on flying in addition to 40K for college.

Personally, I still think if you have the drive and are willing to take the long haul to a great profession you will end up in the driver's seat someday of that plane or company you want to work for. I grew up poor, and didn't have any friends or family members in aviation, and it worked out for me.

What SkyHigh fails to see is that the network and professional life that you live for the first (plus or minus 10 years) is that thing called experience, and that is why you can't just jump into a job at FedEx, UPS, or SWA. SkyHigh doesn't have the experience to get hired because he wasn't willing to wait until it came with time; not because he wasn't military, didn't know anyone, or wasn't attractive enough.:rolleyes:

SkyHigh
 

I understand what you mean and I wasn't willing to wait. My generation started out with the real expectations of getting hired at a major while still in our 20's. UAL had a hard minimum of 250 hours total time and a commercial licence. Had I known I would have to invest most of two decades to reach a point where I could even apply to a major (40 years old in most cases) I never would have taken lesson one.

The efforts and sacrifices are long and difficult. In the most can expect only a one in three chance at a decent job after 20 years of sacrifice is ludicrous. My point is that this is just a job (and a mediocre one at that)and not a life quest. There are much easier jobs to get that offer a better life and more overall pay.

SkyHigh

Do what you love
 

Maybe people need to be dragged down and have their faces rubbed in the obvious in order to make a change. The lust for flight is intoxicating and inspires self delusion.

I am not promoting that everyone become a cop. I like to use it as an example since it is a common job and the facts are easily verifiable. I do however have several ex-pilot friends who are now police officers and love it. They also earn a real living complete with fully funded retirements accounts.


SkyHigh