Ellen

Regional Airline starting wage is pretty pathetic. If you figure in duty time the starting wage for most Regionals is probably closer to $13.50/hr. TO FLY A JET! What a bargain for the airlines. If only the flying public knew. I can see it now in USA Today!


If the public knew this, they probably wouldn't get on a plane. Maybe the US Govt. needs to mandate a Minimum Starting Wage for an Airline Pilot since it involves the Safety of Millions of Americans. Maybe that should go into the Patriot Act.

ToiletDuck

You said USA Today reveals it as if it was a fact. Instead it's just your babble.

SkyHigh

This type of article has been published many times in newspapers across the nation. No one cares.

SkyHigh

Remember the Article about the Skywest pilots being asked by management to refrain from wearing their uniforms as they wait in line for government subsidies?

Freightpuppy

For once, I agree with Skyhigh.

No one cares. The only thing the flying public cares about is low fares.

Koolaidman

Yeah, this is new news to who? Thanks for letting us know for the frickin' millionth time we are underpaid!!!!!! I know I appreciate it! At least I fly for a turboprop for that wage!!!

VTcharter

How exactly do the low wages contribute to lack of safety?? A pilot needs the same qualifications whether they are paid 100k or 20k, unless you are thinking that a pilot would get depressed with the low wages and drive an airplane into the ground...not very likely in my opinion.

captchris

Be quiet... I agree with everyone else...nobody cares!

nwa757

NICEEE attitude. You must be a blast to be locked in the cockpit with, eh!

Posts like this don't really help your profession.

pilotrod

I am amused at the "old schoolers" who still remember when the only well trained pilots came from the military. Only supermen types where allowed to fly, they had to have perfect uncorrected vision, as well as a huge ego. They were trained by uncle sam, and then went on to make $350,000 a year, with million dollar retirements. The flight attendants, (stewardesses) as they where known then, where all potential miss America candidates, who hoped to marry one of these "supermen" rich pilots. Flying on a commercial airliner was a luxury most Americans could only dream of, much less afford. Ticket prices where 10 times the cost of today's prices in real dollars. Only the rich could afford to fly. Passenger loads where 5% of today's volume. The accident rate was amazingly higher per passenger mile flown with these "supermen" pilots with big egos, who thought the guy in right seat should speak only when spoken too. (Pre CRM) Evidently there are still some of these "dinosaurs" still out there who think they are the only ones qualified to turn the knobs on a FMS. It is all about supply and demand. It seems some "old school pilots" are actually hoping for accidents to occur to prove their point about how unsafe the skies are. They are like democrats who assume the public is too dumb to know what is best for them.

In the future there will be a dog and a pilot in the cockpit, the dog's job will be to bite the pilot if he touches anything.

ShyGuy

I'm not sure I'm seeing a parallel between the pay and safety. Don't get wrong, I think regional airline pay should be much higher than it is (especially for F/Os).

But what statistic are you using to say that lower paying airlines have more crashes/fatalities than the higher paying airlines?

I don't see the connection.

Pilots have proven time and time again they can fly just as well for free, if not even actually paying to fly in the right seat (Gulfstream Airlines... no fatalities).

Do I agree with paying to fly right seat? No.

But I fail to see your connection between a lower paid pilot group being more at risk for accident than a higher paid group. Mesa (lower paid) is just as safe as Skywest (look at their previous accident history).