Those "payscales" you refer to never include the OT...that's the real kicker.

I agree that your tolerance for excitement is factor in choosing a LE career, and the higher paid agencies usually earn their money. There are numerous QOL issues related to being a cop, maybe worse than airline guys.

Plus the ability to reire at age 45-50 with a generous defined benefit plan is HUGE...those guys can then take up a flying job as a hobby if they want and not worry about making ends meet...

and yes I've been shot at...lots of people have been lately lol. You either get used to it, or you find another job. Don't get too excited about gunfire though, I know people who ride motorcylces in such a manner that they would be safer spending their saturday afternoon in Fallujah. But it's not the actual shootings that get to people, it's the constant threat of being shot at that wears you down in the long run.

 

The grass is always greener on the other side. I don't care what career your in. Every career field has it's +/-. This topic has strayed far from what the original intent was and that's sad.

 

Don't forget that cops can earn a livable wage from day one and get a nice protected retirement. In addition they are enjoying a raise in status and pay. By comparison a pilot has to pay growing sums for the licenses and ratings and it takes 3 to ten years to reach even a starting wage as a cop. By the time a pilot had made it to a major the cop is looking at retirement. Lastly it is becoming it is becoming increasingly difficult to even reach one of the better positions. Most will end up serving out their career as a regional pilot without most of the benefits that police and fire enjoy.

The dream that you talk about is mostly a memory now.

Skyhigh

 

NOW THAT THE THREAD HAS BEEN THOROUGHLY HIJACKED...CAN SOMEONE OUT THERE PLEASE RESPOND TO AFOREMENTIONED!!!!


atp

 

I think you have your response already. There is more of an interest and experience in changing from aviation.

SkyHigh

 

How does it take 10 years to reach cop pay. Police make $38000 starting where i live. My uncle was a police lieutenant and made $80000 his last year after 30 years working with a hell of alot of overtime. You all are very misinformed on pay scales for other careers. A regional starting CA making 65000 year is more than most people make in the US. I dont know where you get this info, especially SKYHigh's info, but you need to come back to earth and face the reality of other careers. SkyHIgh, Just because flying was not what you expected dont ruin it for others. For every idiot who knocks the profession there are 10 guys who love it!! ALSO, I am a Physician Assistant with 8 years of college making 31 dollars an hour. $72000 year, wow!! Thats medicine too.,

 

Proficient Pilot

The glory days are over

BY BARRY SCHIFF (From AOPA Pilot, June 2006.)
Barry Schiff retired from TWA in 1998 after a 34-year career with the airline.
I have been agonizing over the topic of this column for a few years, not knowing if I should publicly air my personal thoughts. Not to do so, I finally concluded, would be intellectually dishonest. So at the risk of attracting flak, here goes.
I was hired as a pilot by Trans World Airlines in 1964. This was during the glamour years that began after World War II. Airline salaries were rising, working conditions improved with every contract renewal, and airline pilots earned approval and respect from every quarter. On international flights, airline pilots were treated like royalty.
No one working for Pan American World Airways or TWA during this period could possibly have anticipated the demise of their airlines. These were cultural icons of the twentieth century. At one time, TWA's logo was the second most recognizable in the world (Coca-Cola's was the first).
The death knell for this era sounded on October 24, 1978, when President Jimmy Carter signed the Airline Deregulation Act. The merits and demerits of deregulation aside, the long-term result for pilots was etched in stone. There would be an erosion of wages, working conditions, pensions, and job security.
Things got worse after the terrorist attacks of 9/11. Because of the need for additional security, airline pilots are locked in their cockpits behind bulletproof doors and suffer the indignity of coordinating trips to the lavatory with flight attendants.
The glory years are gone.
I could not have been prouder when my son Brian was hired by TWA in 1989. Although conditions had declined since the airlines were deregulated, being an airline pilot was still a great job. He upgraded to captain on the Boeing 727 11 years later. Although thrilled to be in the left seat of a jetliner for a major carrier, he worked harder and earned a smaller salary than I did many years previously.
TWA was assimilated by American Airlines in 2001. During the next two years Brian went from left seat to right seat to the street. He had been furloughed and eventually found a job flying Learjets for a Part 135 operator. He now flies as captain of a Canadair Regional Jet for a commuter carrier.
Like thousands of others who have been furloughed from the majors, he has no idea when he will be recalled. Considering that American is reducing its need for pilots by contractual increases in pilot productivity and outsourcing many of its shorter, thinner routes to commuter carriers, it could be many years before Brian again sees an American Airlines' flight deck. Another of my sons, Paul, began to satisfy his desire to become an airline pilot in 2000 when he was hired by Trans States Airline, a company that operated TWExpress, US Airways Express, and AmericanConnection. Paul bounced between all three and discovered after 9/11 that he was not making headway in accruing seniority.
After four domicile changes, he opted to leave Trans States and obtain a more promising position with United Express. He worked there for three years, during which he had as many changes in domicile, and discovered that the most he had earned after six years as a commuter pilot was less than $30,000 per year. He again foresaw little potential for a career like I had and with great mental anguish opted to change professions.
Paul recently started a pet-supply company, gets to spend every night in his own bed, and has an opportunity to develop a social life. As an airline pilot gone from home 21 days a month, he had little opportunity to meet someone with whom he might like to share a future. When he did meet someone, he had neither the time nor the money for dating.
Paul says, "It is relatively easy to get a job with a commuter carrier, but not because these carriers are losing pilots to the majors; they are not. The attrition rate at the regional level is high because so many pilots reach their limits of endurance and quit. They find it too difficult to live on starvation wages [especially those with families]. There usually was nothing left in my wallet after shelling out for commuting and crash-pad expenses."
Although these are anecdotal experiences, my frank and personal discussions with numerous other airline pilots corroborate my feelings about the state of the airline industry. I can no longer encourage aspiring airline pilots without first ensuring that they understand the treacherous and daunting journeys typically required to reach for such lofty goals.
Do not misunderstand. Coping with the challenges of weather, communing with nature in a way that only pilots can appreciate, and maneuvering a sophisticated aircraft from one place on Earth to another remains a stimulating and gratifying endeavor (although I think it was more fun with less automation). It is the price one must pay to get there that is so discouraging.
I frequently am asked for advice about becoming an airline pilot. The best advice I can offer those determined to endure the rigorous hardships often required is to simultaneously develop a sideline vocation that can be used in case of emergency. A pilot should never get into a position that is totally dependent on income from an airline.
Does the end justify the means? Does becoming a captain for a major airline justify all that must be endured to get there? Perhaps, but surviving long enough to get there is the problem.
Visit the author's Web site.



The magazine is in the pilot's lounge of every FBO anyway.


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-LAFF

Found posted on flightinfo.com - i don't think they or AOPA will mind if we read and discuss here at APC...

 

Our department is a Department of Public Safety which means that we are dual certified as Police Officers and Firefighters. Our starting pay is 45k with a top pay of a little over 60k. Promote a couple of times and you can look at about 85-90k. With overtime, as a regular officer you can look at 75-80k. This is Texas and cost of living isn't so bad. Some of the other pay quotes seem to be from places like California where the cost of a 1500 sq ft home might cost you 300k. All things are relative. I was a motor jock for a while and you really have to like being a cop to be happy at it. Can't really be in between. Tons of paperwork and dealing with the REAL a##holes of this world.

Fireman

 

Oh yeah, most medical benefits at city departments (with budgets) will cost $300/month for you and your family. That is quite a chunk of your pay check.

Fireman

 

Could not have said it better myself. This guy needs to find something better to do other than bashing the profession. If you don't like aviation than move on to another area that makes you happy.