Realistic 1st Year Skywest FO Pay
 

With the new contract, have any of you SkyWest pilots run the numbers on what a realistic 1st year salary for a new FO is? I read while back that under your old payscale with your work rules 1st year RJ drivers could earn in the mid to upper 20's. I was wondering if a 1st year guy could earn in the 30's now without too much trouble?

Thanks for any insight.

SkyWesy is very Similair to XJT when it comes to pay, I made around $34,000.00 my 1st year at XJT, I am sure with some hard work you would be able to do it at Skywest

No. You can't. You're going to be in training for two months, then you're going to be on reserve for a few more months. They're quite good at not working you over your guarantee, and there's very little extra flying to pick up right now, if even you're willing and able to do it. So I'd bank on 75 x 22, plus a little per diem (which isn't really income, per se), minus taxes.

I'll disagree a bit with Shark, partly. Most FO's on the EMB go straight to holding lines (I was reserve for two months, partly by choice), and I haven't had a month where I credited less that 100 hours. I haven't run the numbers, but it would appear to me that mid to upper 20's for first year pay wouldn't be out of the question...but 30k might be a little bit of a reach.

Well, to make $30k, you'd have to bring in $2,500 per month, which at $22/hr is 113.6 hours of credit, on average. You'd have to go way over that once you're a line holder to offset the miserably low training and reserve pay.

I just wouldn't want anybody to be misled into budgeting on $30k their first year here. I'm inclined to believe that even those who reach the high 20's are few are far between.

Before taxes and deductions, and also including per diem (since I pack food and consider most of the per diem as actual income, at least for the first year when it counts for 15-25% of my paycheck), I end up looking at about $2.8k/month. Figure you hold a line right out of training, 10 months at that puts you short of $30k. Splitting hairs though...first year pay is miserable from any angle you look at it.

And for what it's worth...at least we get paid during training. Don't most places NOT pay during initial?

Dependant upon your ability to work the system and how fast you get a line I'd expect $28K - $33K first year.

Most places do pay during ground school. ie. At Mesaba, you get 75 hours monthly guarantee. Same at Horizon.

Horizon pays 60 hours per month until the beginning of the bid following completion of IOE.

Currently, a first-year Bro FO would most certainly make more than his Jet-counterpart...lower staffing, 120-hr Block/month, and less reserve means for great paychecks!

But even on the Jet-side, I don't think upper 20's is too difficult in the first twelve months. I'm in line to do about that much (only because the girlfriend as of late has decided I can't work as much LoL)

RAH=$400 per week tax free

You can always supplement your income. Gemini Cargo has a DC-10 captain, I'm not kidding on this either, that's an Elvis impersonator. He made more doing that than he did as a junior FO!

If only I had some talent like that...hell...I can't even fly Airplanes good :D

I'm sure you can fly airplanes plenty good. You're just afraid of the automation;)

For what its worth, got to fly a full procedure VOR-DME approach in Mexico last week complete with course reversal and step downs. But I wussed out and used the FD so I could free up some brain bytes to look at the big ass freaking VOLCANOES! You should check out Oaxaca, Mexico. Bet you would think you died and gone to heaven.:D

How'd you find that out? Try to hire him for your wedding or something?:eek:

I don't think I would have lived through that - way too exciting!! :D

I lucked out today and got to depart Rwy 28 in HDN (uncontrolled woohoo) today...low overcast so had to fly the published ODP...no FD and no white-needles...flew direct CHE VOR, teardrop (should have done a parallel) entry to climb to 10,000 for on course...and since I was green anyway, I just shot the arrival into DEN old-school too.

Made an "oops" on the procedure turn though - flew outbound at 200 KIAS in the climb, but as we turned inbound, we also broke 10K, so I cranked her over to 250 KIAS...would have worked out great, but with the tail-wind and the addt'l airspeed we didn't quite intercept the inbound course as smoothly as I would have liked...never something I would have thought about the last time I shot a hold (over a year ago in a Seminole :eek:). Well - ya live and ya learn I suppose!

But wow it felt good to use the brain to fly the plane for the first time in months and months! And then I had to pound her in hard just to bring myself back down LoL

If he was available I'd have to consider it. Just from a guy that works there.

Thanks for all the replies gents. I'm constantly evaluating what the best course of action for my family and me is post Army. With family in Portland and Denver and me being from Montana SkyWest is up there on the list.

I'll probably still have to get a side jot at Starbucks or Barnes and Noble to make the ends meet, but it is a small price to pay to continue flying and to not settle for some office managment job through a headhunter no matter how much they'd be willing to pay a former officer.

Possibly $30K, but you'd have to get lucky on a few counts...

A nice 5 week break between sim and IOE will cost you.

Also if SKW remains heavily staffed there will be little to no open time to pick up, meaning that you will probably be stuck with whatever line you get...probably 90 hour average for the jet (not sure about the bro but obviously higher). With workrules, you might credit 95 hours on a line that originally was built at 90 hours.

I'd budget for 75 hours a month and then be pleasantly surprised when you earn more. A realistic guesstimate is between $24-27,000.

As long as Rickair brought up open time, I see Brasilia FO's in FAT have over 350 hours of open time to chose from. Sheesh...thank heavens we're not running classes for a few more months.:rolleyes:

Great...I can't pick up beans on the Jet. Want to trade, Timmay?? With a 75-hour line, I might as well be on reserve!

Yeah, no joke man. At least I lucked out and got a good line for the month. These last few months have been killing me with bizarro schedules and no options to drop or swap.

Skywest pilots do not have a contract. They are at will employees.

Yep - it's just awful...!

I have 8 hours this month... and last month I think I got 20... minimum guarantee with no per diem is brutal. =/ I would have been able to hold a relief line next month, but I'm transferring to LAX starting April 1st. Ooooh well =( I'm gonna be blown away when I finally start flying and get a (semi)real paycheck!

I'm not SKYW btw... But my point is that you really should plan for the guarantee.. When I was in training there was open time galore, and red flag (150%) pay all over the place... and people were getting lines almost right off the bat out in LAX and ONT. Ya just don't know what it will be looking like by the time you get out there, so plan accordingly. Make sure you have a good credit card to live off for a year =)