Multiplying the rate to credit almost never tells the whole story.

Maybe he is counting perdiem. Maybe there's some soft pay that simple math won't cover. Maybe he is counting 401k contribution. Maybe min day. Maybe vacation pay. Maybe training pay. Maybe he got some profit sharing etc, etc, blah, blah.

Compensation is compensation. If it's on your check it counts.

It's never as simple as rate times credit extrapolated over 12 months.

Yep. We also have quarterly performance and financial bonuses.

Thanks again for all the info. What I'm gathering is there is time away but I can minimize that by living in base. There seems to be a lot of pilots that hate the regional route and a lot of pilots that love it, I guess it's just doing your time at the bottom the first few years. Thanks for all the advice!

You mean the 142 schools? After recently leaving FSI as a program manager, it's not zero work. Hardly. Two weeks on is not uncommon. 14 hr days are typical. Lucky to get 1-2% a year increase. And if you start on a level one aircraft (citation, etc.) you'll likely start in the 55K range. No profit sharing bonuses for three of the six years I was there (even though the company was highly profitable). So-so 401K (odd, given the fact it's owned by Berkshire Hathaway ). No pension. Regulators and management constantly looking over your shoulder. Doze through some European clients and you'll be unemployed quickly. Don't want to come in on your day off? No worries- in a "right to work" state they can just let you go no questions asked. Maybe in the past it was different but currently the client never hears the word,"NO." If you're dozing, your center is about to be shut down or consolidated (e.g. Toledo & the Bell Center in Fort Worth).

I can remember this subject from years ago, but the majority had agreed that compensation isn't compensation if it's perdiem...i.e. what a company is supposed to use to make up for you being on the road...I received about $1,100 from my company when I was gone for a week to Europe, but that sure wasn't compensation...it was payment for me buying breakfast, lunch, and dinner for a week and living out of my suitcase.

When it comes to the soft money, I'm all for it...but it isn't what's expected for the "average" pilot who just flies their schedule. I know my old airline has been hiring like crazy right now, and average lines are built to 70-75 hours...when I left 5 years ago lines were constantly built into the 80's and I credited above 90 for months on end...max I credited was somewhere between 110-120 hours for a single month, and on a captain paycheck that was huge...but even at $56/hr, I wasn't going to push much past $65k that year.

When I got out of the biz and started a job that paid a salary of $56k, it was amazing how small those paychecks actually were. No more $3,300 captain paychecks anymore...Make nearly $90k now, and still don't see checks that large. Maybe one day.

Ok, so subtract 4k from your yearly total for perdiem.

I just "fly the line" and I receive soft pay.

401k is most certainly compensation and can easily be added. Profit sharing and on time bonuses etc.

At the end of the day even medical and such can be counted if you want to be picky. It is definitely added by the company during negotiations when talking about total contract cost.

At RAH, as a commuter, you'll sometimes see the 24 nights a month in a hotel. Here's how:

RSV starts at 0400 or 0300 in base, in almost every base.
You don't have to return on your final day of RSV till 2359.

So 30 day month = 11 days off, commute to reserve on your last day off 5 times and that's 6 nights at home. Don't forget to factor in a commute from work when you get back for trips too late to same-day commute.

However, it averages out so that on any given trip you can add one day to the total. Because usually I can either front side commute a trip when notified early (rare) or backside commute a trip when we return to base. I do frequently get the RAH special of a 6 day reserve stretch followed by 2 days off and another reserve stretch which can equal 1 night at home in 10-14 days.

Before my base closed again, while on RSV in base, or holding a line I could get 15-20 nights at home per month.

So the real question is, do you want to move to a base? If so, how stable is it? At RAH many bases are at risk, but IND and PHL are good bets. We've opened or closed several bases this year, I think maybe 4-5. We have historically opened and/or closed several bases a year for the past 10 years to.

God bless,
BB

Well, when we do it like that I'm finally making WELL over $100k/year...I feel better, but my paycheck still seems small.