I flew at an fbo for a year to earn all of my ratings and then began an aviation degree. I recieved 35 credit hours for that training. That was more than 1/4 of the required hours, leaving less than 3 years for a bachellor's degree. If you don't get an aviation degree you go to college for four years then you have to spend another 9 months to a year earning all of your ratings. Having a family, I couldn't do both at the same time.

Not knocking the state college/non aviation degree plan, just pointing out that you can save a little time if you need to.

While a non aviation degree may be a better choice for a backup, significant time can be saved if you choose to get an aviation degree. It saved me over one year, and that can mean a lot of seniority.

Not that I like MPD or anything though.[/QUOTE]
I disagree...If you do it right, it will be a HUGE advantage to get your ratings through CFI before/during your freshman year and instruct while in school for another degree (while not a good job to make a living on, instructing is a great part-time opportunity). When you graduate, you will exceed regular minimum times for regionals which should mean (depending on reg. choice) a quicker upgrade. Not to mention, you get way more experience and in my experiance at the regional I'm with, you will also get more respect from fellow pilots. Add to that the fact that if/when your airline gets on shakey ground (as most everyone experiences at some point in their career), you will have a least more peace of mind than the aviation degree guy that life will go on in case of a strike or shut down.

Notice how some of the responses too your post refer to only the ditch digger! Ditch digging is unskilled labor only if the entire ditch is dug by hand. Use a backhoe and you will quickly see that it takes much skill and training to operate one safely. The other professions you mentioned are skilled labor and their pay reflects that. In closing, I agree with your statement and would add that if pilots would stop acting like premadonna's we'd be better off.

I couldn't disagree more with this statement! Nobody is lining up to do ditch digging, road paving, roofing, or other labor intense professions for free. Pilots are the only one's lining up to do their jobs for free. How many times have you heard a low timer unwitting say, " I'd do this job for free because I love it so much." This is the attitude that is killing our industry. I am not saying that it isn't ok to love to fly, but why give management more ammuntition to lower the pay.

Here is one more bit of advice that will serve you well if you remember it. Pilots are a nickle-a-dozen. Management has a stack of resume's that if left alone over time would fill the room from floor to ceiling. If you left the company you work for today, they will have you replaced quicker than you could get another job. Even though it is a cycle you go to the bottom of the pile at the next company you apply to. Because management has so many pilots to chose from, and so many pilots would do the job for free, why should pay be better?

In closing, the airline industry could be best compared to the trucking industry. Both industries are competing for a market that demands cheap transportation of people and goods across america. Both industries are affected by high fuel and equipment costs. The cheapest factor in both industries is the workers because there is a high number of people who desire and love the job. If we fix these problems we can then demand to be treated like professionals with a pay that reflects our skill.

I am willing to bet a very small percentage of first year FO's are eligible for food stamps. Further, I am willing to bet that the vast majority of first year FO's are not consider to be poor by their States.

Even though the pay is not where we would like it, it is unlikely that in your firt year you would be considered poor.

http://www.fns.usda.gov/fsp/applican...s_Ben_Elig.htm

I agree, VERY few FO's would qualify for food stamps. Although 1st year FO's at Great Lakes would qualify.

I did my first year at skyw!!!!!!!! 16k and reserve the whole time. That after paying 6k to get the damn job.
2 1/2 months no pay (2000$ pay loss from previos job) x 2.5 = 5000$) and 1000$ for my uniform makes 6k. So 16k-6000 dollars = 10k for my first year. I know a lot of guys who were on food stamps their first year, most with familys.
Whats wrong with this industry is people who compare this to digging a ditch, Get a LIFE!

Thank GOD SKW has changed. Not that it's much better but they now pay you 60 hours a month during initial training as well as pay for most of your uniform.

Regional airlines not paying pilots during training is more of a travesty than first your FO pay.

My first full year (12 calendar months from the first day of ground school) at SKW I made $24,300. This included not getting paid for ground school. I’m on pace to make $38K+ my second year and I fly the mighty Bro. Most second year jet FO's are topping $42K. Also, I’ll be upgrading to CA here soon and that will increase my 2 year earnings to above $45K with 3rd year near $60K. Now this is a far cry from the $80K I was making at my previous job but I won’t go into details on why I am MUCH happier.

http://www.fns.usda.gov/fsp/applican...s_Ben_Elig.htm

If you read the link you'll see that an individual making 16K a year doesn't qualify for stamps, as sad as that is, but if you have a family then you fall well within the qualifications. That's mainly dependent on you not having much of a second income from your spouse.

Easy for you to say given your present employer! The rest of us here in the trenches still are reminded of it everyday. Did you bypass the commuters? It pays better to dig ditches for most.

Ok, I know I will probably get crap for this, but oh well. In the next few years hiring is expected to increase as fast as the average for all occupations, through atleast 2014, so that is an increase of about 9%-17% in jobs. So more jobs will open, that is not saying it will be easier, because more than likely more people will be applying for those jobs.

As far as pay, Airline Pilots are still considered to have some of the highest pay in the nation, that is according to the U.S. Department of Labor. As far as whether or not you will make a really decent amount will depend on alot of factors, including what you consider really decent. If anything the aviation industry is cyclical, meaning it will get better and get worse, it is still a relatively new industry, that is almost constantly changing. To say that it will only get worse and stay this bad, I think, is being short-sighted, and I think that is one of the reasons for the extreme cyclical affects on the industry, is that people become too short-sighted, believing it will stay the way it is, but just like any other mode of travel, it is directly tied to the economy, and as such will be affected by the economy. As the economy improves so will the industry, the economy wasn't doing too well recently, and neither was the industry, so as the economy begins to get better, so will the aviation industry.