Now for a anti-happy pilot post...
05-04-2007 | 07:58 AM
#31
Gets Weekends Off
Joined: Apr 2007
Posts: 100
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I wonder how many of these "you should do it because you love it and not for the money" types have families to support. I bet the percentage isn't very high. Doing something I love comes second to providing a good QOL for my family (after I get out of the military, which I obviously didn't join for money or QOL).
05-04-2007 | 08:00 AM
#32
Gets Weekends Off
Joined: Jun 2006
Posts: 103
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Flying is not bad because of low pay. I think intern doctors make next to nothing just like we do when we start. (even though they make up for it later better than we do). In flying you have to make sure you work for an employeer that isn't out to kill their employees over a few dollars.
QOL, being able to sleep and eat well enough to stay healthy, and have enough time at home to make life worth living.
QOL, being able to sleep and eat well enough to stay healthy, and have enough time at home to make life worth living.
05-04-2007 | 08:53 AM
#33
Gets Weekends Off
Joined: Jan 2007
Posts: 353
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From: BE-76
so crazy jenn how do you pay off med school loans on regional FO pay?
I think FN hit it well though...about defining QOL. Future also nailed it. Family comes first, and it should. If you can't keep your budget on a positive side, then reconsider your options. There are always ways to do things, and finding a career that suits you and your lifestyle is important...even though it may not be that dream job from when you were 10. Not everyone becomes a professional sports star, actor, or singer. Life has a funny way of working out, and often more than not plans don't work out as we thought the would...sometimes for the better.
05-04-2007 | 09:40 AM
#34
Indian Takeout Driver
Joined: Mar 2006
Posts: 1,566
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From: FAR part 347 (91+121+135)
because their idea of a good life is a 6 pack of cheap beer from Walmart and a 15' fishing boat in their driveway hooked up to their jacked up F250.. Not putting two gifted kids thru a good university and paying for it, all the while trying to live in a safe neighborhood, drive a safe and relatively new car and have a decent vacation every two or three years..
05-04-2007 | 10:10 AM
#35
Gets Weekends Off
Joined: Oct 2006
Posts: 1,183
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From: 777, sofa
Funny you should ask this, I just flew with a Captain who was quite content that he stayed at Eagle.
He mentioned how his BizEx peers had mostly gone on to fly heavier iron at places like AA, ATA, UA, & HP. He also mentioned that while thay made a bit more than him for a while, he was never furloghed, (one of his pals was for 8 years!), he was never the junior line holder sitting reserve for years, he never had to commute, or move his family cross country.
In other words, being in the top 10% of a seniority list for 100k was a better life than being in the bottom 25% for 150k.
05-04-2007 | 10:22 AM
#36
Doing One Pilot's Job
Joined: Sep 2005
Posts: 7,887
Likes: 122
Not putting two gifted kids thru a good university and paying for it, all the while trying to live in a safe neighborhood, drive a safe and relatively new car and have a decent vacation every two or three years..
05-04-2007 | 10:31 AM
#37
Swearing at the FMA
Joined: Jun 2006
Posts: 902
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From: MD-88 FO
Think about this post prior to becoming a pilot. Of you really have a passion for something, you'll do whatever you need to do to make it happen. I know this. I've put myself through flight training all while going through veterinary school. I've worked my butt off, and will graduate soon with yet a bunch of student loans...that I often wonder how I'll pay back. But, I know in the long run it's what I want to do. Life isn't always a bed of roses, especially at first. Your buddy may make 110K, but is that the job he really wants? If so, then I'm happy for him. He's found his nitch, and gets paid well for it. Personally, I would hate that job. You have to have a passion for what you do. Yes, new pilots make crap for pay. So do new doctors. Some get lucky and get a lucky break...but the average starting pay is about the same for interns (20K) And yes, I agree with every single person who says that's unliveable pay...especially when your looking at even more college. Yet, somehow it's still what I want to do. I enjoy the 120 hour week, non stop learning, and anxiety of not knowing how to treat a patient - especially in veterinary medicine - when the patient cannot speak. Emergency medicine is great. It keeps you on your toes. I feel the same way when it comes to flying. Nothing excites me more than to sit down to a good book, and apply what I learn in that aeronautical book to real world flying.
And yes, I'm still making the switch to flying. I'll always have medicine as a back up. Personally, I wouldn't mind switching to human medicine and trying to get with NASA. Baby steps first though.
Point is...if you have a positive attitude...and realize why you started a career in the first place...it may make those beginning years with low pay, and crappy QOL more tolerable. Oneday you will make a decent pay check, and things will fall into place. Your hard work will be worth it.
And yes, I'm still making the switch to flying. I'll always have medicine as a back up. Personally, I wouldn't mind switching to human medicine and trying to get with NASA. Baby steps first though.
Point is...if you have a positive attitude...and realize why you started a career in the first place...it may make those beginning years with low pay, and crappy QOL more tolerable. Oneday you will make a decent pay check, and things will fall into place. Your hard work will be worth it.
05-04-2007 | 11:09 AM
#38
Indian Takeout Driver
Joined: Mar 2006
Posts: 1,566
Likes: 0
From: FAR part 347 (91+121+135)
I've seen it many times.. that is the mentality of the $100K is a lot of money crowd.. Trailer park types..
where Einstein? A town of 5000 people with a Walmart for me to shop at? At todays rates, a typical home in Phoenix AZ (hardly an expensive place like the West and East coasts) costs about $450-$550K and therefore a mortgage of about $3500/mo for the average person with a 10% down payment.
Give me a break!
btw.. I'm quite sound financially, but not due to any money I made flying, that's for sure!
... if you are financially sound, live within your means, and don't live in a place where the median home mortgage costs you $3500/mo.
Give me a break!
btw.. I'm quite sound financially, but not due to any money I made flying, that's for sure!
05-04-2007 | 11:12 AM
#39
Che Guevara
Joined: Aug 2005
Posts: 6,408
Likes: 0
What comparison are you making? Payscales are on the front page of the website. You don't fly for a regional. Why are you starting a thread called, "Now for an anti-happy pilot post". If you are so unhappy then take a hike. Don't jump in and try and spread your funk around. Your comparison means nothing to anyone here. Who are you? Why do your opinions on payroll to you matter to us? It doesn't belong because you jumped into a regional thread and started talking about regional pay yet with a negative note intended while you don't work for a regional. Your opinions are yours and yours alone. Last thing anyone needs anywhere is someone running around trying to intentionally spread their negative funk on someone else and not plan to do anything about it.
05-04-2007 | 11:14 AM
#40
Gets EVERY weekend off
Joined: Jul 2006
Posts: 1,367
Likes: 0
From: SIC
CE750's post was great, i think the real arguments in this industry come because everyone of us has a different outlook on what a "nice house" and a "nice, and relatively new" car is. I was born and raised in the midwest and love it here, fortuantely, housing costs are pretty low compared to say new england, or california.
I'm not sure about you, but my fiance' could care less what car she was driving as long as it was reliabile, which means it could be a civic or a bmw, and she'd care none the less, as i recal new civics are normally cheaper than reliable bmw's (if those two words can go together).
And somehow, my parents managed to put me through college and neither of them are making 6 figures...akward.
I'm not sure about you, but my fiance' could care less what car she was driving as long as it was reliabile, which means it could be a civic or a bmw, and she'd care none the less, as i recal new civics are normally cheaper than reliable bmw's (if those two words can go together).
And somehow, my parents managed to put me through college and neither of them are making 6 figures...akward.
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