I make 14K a year (aft taxes). $20 an hour. avg below 70hrs per month (my OT is usually taken away before I get to fly it). min pay is 70 per month. I do not eat more than 4 meals per 3 day period. I do not complain. I suck it up. Work my butt off. Waiting for flight time to build.

Only ONE instructor during my 4 yr degree told me it would be this way...every other instructor talked about the end of the career not the following: painful QOL/hunger/barely paying loans back (haven't missed a payment yet YAY)/bed on airport floor life style/jumpseat on late flights hoping to sit in 1stclass for a free meal/live out of a suitcase lifestyle

Gas was also $1.10 a gallon back then

Look at the wages pilots fly for now. Airlines have no problem finding bodies to fill cockpits. There would have to be a significant attitude change on the PILOT side to change this. And if that happened, I'd suspect quite a few airlines would not be able to support their cost structure. What is better, 10 people having a good job, or 50 people that can at least say they have "a job", even if it sucks?

Hence the username? ;)

Airlines are an economy of scale, as in the larger the operation, the cheaper this operation becomes. Trends are leading towards a reduction in the regional market, which will drive up the cost of operation (regardless of fuel prices or wages). Airlines will either have to adapt or risk turning their planes into beer cans.... Some airlines can barely survive now. I think wages will go even lower, no matter how dry the pilot pool is..People can talk all day about what the mins, hiring, and salaries were like in 80s, 90s, heck even this year... But its almost 2013 and times have and will continue to change. As previously stated, experience and salary have no correlation. Guys back then had thousands of hours and barely broke 17k. Many, myself included, were hired at 3M with not even 500 hours and will probably reach 25k first year...

This is pretty much the only post that matters.

But you can take it back farther to the early to mid 90's. When you had to have that kinda time, or more. And most, but not all had pft. So you had to have the time, plus 5-6-7k all for the privilege of flying a turbo prop for $10-12-14/hr.

Also, there was a time when both Eagle and AWAC had the same published minimums;

2500tt, 1000me with preferably 500 turbine and some 131/135 experience.

So along the lines of what others said, experience level has NO bearing on entry level pay.

Man I know that feeling

10 good jobs, that way it frees up the other 40 to get really pizzed off and take the pitchforks and torches to D.C. to do a very long overdue housecleaning.

It was also enough to qualify me for food stamps back then!

Im a 12 year guy at Delta, a 911 era legacy pilot. Almost all of my buds have seen at least 1 furlough and or loss of a job, regardless of who they worked for. Only a couple have come through the last 10 years with what would be considered a good career so far. Outsourcing has led to more pilots making less money and fewer pilots making the good money. If I knew at 21 what I know now, I would not be an airline pilot. It's unfortunate when you achieve your "dream" only to find out that you're not happy with your career. Of course I have many friends that still enjoy the job. Although to most it is still a job and has lost it's appeal of what it once was. Today at Delta I often work just as many days a month as I did at AMR Eagle.

Bottom line, you had better really want this job as it can be a tough life. The 1500 hr rule will only make the up and coming generation spend another year of your life getting flight time, other than that it's not a game changer in regards to compensation.

man, I made it too easy for ya lol