However a young unattached guy could make a pretty good living hopping from one first year bonus situation to another, then one DEC situation to another, just skimming off first year bonuses and accumulating type ratings. No doubt hone his video gaming skills on reserve too.

 

Except you'd be using the bonuses at the next companies to pay off the contract at the others and probably wouldn't look good if you're wanting to move on

 

So you are saying $66k was your base bay without the bonus. That sounds like first year street Captain pay, not a new FO.... unless you are including a ton of overtime, in which case you're never home.

 

Ton of overtime, but who cares. It’s one year. I upgraded as soon as I hit 1000 PIC and now I can dial it back to a much more reasonable schedule. Even if you have kids/a family they can handle one year; most other high paid jobs will require 150% of you your first year too. Also plenty of instructing/extracurricular options that improve quality of life are now available to basically anyone off probation. Those jobs would’ve required way more experience back in the day.

 

Yeah man most jobs require you to be away from your home 22-23 days a month to make 60k

 

Hopefully not serious?

 

No, but they require nights and weekends, even if unofficially, and other infringements on your free time. When I’m not at work I have 0 work obligations. Work like crazy your first year and you can make just as much with 12-15 days off after you upgrade. Buddy of mine is a consultant and he’s gone 4 days a week and in the office on his fifth. Weekends aren’t truly free either.

 

While not directly aimed at you, this post is another example of where many on APC really just need to take breath and think about perspective. Yes, jobs where the comp ceiling is 60 to 90k rarely require this much travel...but they are out there (construction), blue collar oil and gas, etc.

A much better analogy though, is a job where the “junior executives” have the pay potential in the 300k to 400k range. Energy, Finance, Banking. Those guys graduate from top schools, with high GPA’s, with sometimes high student debt to work a 50-60k a year job 80 hours a week. They do this for sometimes 5 to 6 years to get over 100k, hoping for a chance at that first “lead” position or a project that has a large bonus opportunity. Lot of hotel rooms, going home at 2:00 AM to get a toothbrush and clean clothes just to come back in 3 hours and do it all over again.

I think retaining the perspective that a regional job is the opportunity to get paid to learn and get experience to set you up for your dream job is essential. That’s what countless other industries require. Lots of people out there grinding it out, airline pilots are not unique...not in the slightest.

 

This just proves we are in a hiring wave, not an actual shortage...that by definition would require there to be inadequate replacement numbers, which remains to be seen (at skywest, republic, envoy, endeavor and psa aka 80% of the regional industry).

Interestingly what's developing is not a shortage of 1500hr pilots but rather slightly experienced 2000-4000hr pilots willing to go to ACMI or a good 135 or any pay tier lower than LCC. However, I concede that 121 regional captains will remain to be bottleneck.

Just look at the places that return calls immediately and have class dates like tomorrow. ..that's where they are hurting. Around 5-10 percent of (undesirable)121 jobs I'd surmise.

By 2023 the picture could be different but it's anyone's guess.

 

"Interestingly what's developing is not a shortage of 1500hr pilots but rather slightly experienced 2000-4000hr pilots willing to go to ACMI or a good 135 or any pay tier lower than LCC. However, I concede that 121 regional captains will remain to be bottleneck.

Just look at the places that return calls immediately and have class dates like tomorrow. ..that's where they are hurting. Around 5-10 percent of (undesirable)121 jobs I'd surmise."


What companies are you referring to when you say ACMI and good 135's that return calls immediately and have class dates like tomorrow? I'm not opposed to either one if the pay is right and it's a decent company. Every place I've applied to hasn't called. 4200TT, 3 jet type ratings, current regional FO.