He must be chasing that "quick upgrade"

 

I thought after the crash that Colgan, the FAA, and ALPA fixed all this.

 

Hmm..that number seems low, but if its right, wow. $21x75/mo x12=$18900
I don't know what an accurate add in for per diem might be but lets be conservative and say after taxes that number drops to 15500K take home, not including per diem. They pay for parking for commuting up to what it would be to park in base (is parking at EWR free?) How much is the insurance?!

 

That is the big question, how much do they get stiffed on insurance it's alot more if married with children and airline pilots should be able to afford children.. Don't forget that they were figuring in crash pad expenses as well. Irregardless, even $18,900 is still way to low to be a professional pilot flying 70 passengers around.

 

Why does everyone count Per Diem as income? Per Diem is to cover food, incidentals, etc. while on the road. You gotta eat, right?

 

I actually made more money collecting unemployment after being furloughed from MESA as a 2nd year DHC-8 guy. No joke. After you figure in commuting and all other expenses these numbers are probably fairly accurate. Wages are going to continue to get lower if pilots are willing to keep accepting them. Pilots keep accepting them because they believe in a huge future pilot shortage (not going to happen). Just my two thoughts.

 

He is chasing that "quick upgrade". The point I keep trying to get across to new pilots in the industry: whats more important to you? Would you rather get to a major in 3 years and have no money, barely be able to afford housing, not married ect....or would you rather get to a major in 5 or 6 years, have a house, wife, kids, ect. I take option 2 myself. This same guy who took the job at Colgan actually said that they couldn't pay him to fly that "cramped" ERJ around (refering to me) and that he's glad he's on the spacious Q400. The funny thing is he'll be making around 18K this year flying 76 seats, I've been here 4 years and made 50K flying 50 seats. I guess the aircraft size is all that matters......lol are you kidding? I actually have a life (wife, house, ect.) I'd rather stay here 5 more years and enjoy life before moving on rather than live on food stamps in my one bedroom apartment asking for an advance on the rent but hey, I got to mainline in less than 5 years. Come on people, flying isn't everything! There is more to life, trust me.

 

My Take Home After Insurance (Family- Middle tier Insurance with life dental and vision) and taxes, also before per diem is 1060 a month (530 a paycheck) after that there are uniform deductions ($440 at $50 a paycheck) and travel benifits for everyone (me, wife, daughter, mom, dad) at $50 per paycheck ($250 total) I have not made anywhere near Guarantee. So the math equals a takehome of $12,060 in my first year. That is real numbers based on my life. My reasons for being here are the fact that I need the insurance, and location near family. The flying fits my lifestyle needs for now, and my wife is bringing home the spending money. I don't have any regrets, I don't expect sympathy, although I would of course take more money, but I figured I would lay it out for everyone. I also don't have a crashpad, so the $9,000 number is probably about right.

 

^^ Finally someone who get's it!


exnavy, if you want to go to Colgan nobody can stop you on here, but since you are also ex-CMR, send me a PM and I will fill you in on what's going on at my airline and I'll see what I can do for you if you want to come here instead of Colgan.

 

FWIW - Colgan does pay for parking at your base or up to the cost of parking at your base at the commuting airport of your choice. Just to make your calculations as accurate as possible.