I am not out to start a flame war or anything but this has become a serious issue for present career pilots and future career pilots like myself.

I am not directing this to any of you but rather those who pay airlines to get hired (pay from training etc) and for those that accept wages that makes you just enough to be poor.

Please, I know times are tough but all you people are doing is making airlines think they can push us around with poor wages and making everybody else think becoming a pilot is a cake walk with the incredibly low minimums. I am sorry but someone with 500 hours TT is not a professional pilot no matter how professional that person might act. And yet, airlines hire these people because they can't argue, they take what they are given and deal with it to the best of their abilities which is not saying much because at 500TT you are still learning.

The only way to combat this, is by not taking those jobs. I know you are probably saying "but I need the time". Indeed but at the end of the day what do you wan't that time for? to be a pilot correct? all you are doing is devaluing the industry as a whole and letting even the bigger airlines take advantage of you. The airlines have us by the balls and I don't know about you, but its starting to hurt.

 

Since you are not a professional pilot, it's not your profession to devalue. Now go back to flying your DA20 and come back when you have 1500 hours and are magically somehow more professional.

 

Did you just realize this? It will never change. And by now who cares. Find a job first then worry about what it pays.

 

It's all about supply and demand. Fewer pilots means more pressure to attract them. By you staying out of the airline game, you are helping your cause. As long as there is an endless oversupply of pilots, there will be companies exploiting that desire.

 

Forgive me if I'm wrong, but I'm going to tweak this post a little bit:
If you're currently employed by an airline as a pilot then I apologize, but judging from your "aircraft position" I am assuming you are not. Have you even worked ramp or interned for an airline? I know that, as a CFI, I had no standing on which to make such a statement as I had no exposure to the airline world. Opinions are great, but unbased opinions should just go in one ear and out the other. While I agree with some of the things you say, I just don't know if you're the one who should be saying it. And once again, if I'm wrong about your experience then I definitely apologize.

 

Low salaries are not necessarily all a matter of supply and demand of pilots. A lot of it has to do with the way salaries are negotiated at their respective airlines. One aspect of union bargaining is that every pilot gets a equal and balanced share of salary increases and even decreases during tough times. Mathematically, this results in large disparities in compensation over time. To top it off, airline cost controlling(creating regionals, cutting pay, work rules, etc.) has focused on reducing the bloated salaries at the top resulting in pitiful salaries at the bottom. For current first year FO's to earn a livable salary, say $50K a year, all pilots at that company would have to receive a 100% increase in pay or more.

 

he's trying to get in with the "bitter and older" club here...

 

What is your definition of a professional pilot and why do you not consider HectorD a professional?

 

Feel better?

 

HectorD feels he is wise enough to call a 500hr regional FO "not professional" but he is "professional" as someone who wants to be a regional FO? hmmmm?

Plus the timing of this thread is lame. This would have been better times 2 years ago during the hiring boom not today when guys with 2000+ hours cant find a regional gig. 500 hour FO's are a non issue currently.

And hectorD, just a tip. Dont talk too far out of your paygrade.