Maybe someday but not yet.

SkyHigh

 

Why are so many pilots like you always in denial about the facts of aviation?

 

I'm not in denial. I know what I'm getting into and I'm okay with it. There is a difference. I've worked in other industries that pay better and I hated them. I love what I do now and wouldn't change it. People here are all adults, let them make their own decisions. This is the most negative and hostile forum I have ever browsed in my 14 years of using the net. I come here for info and leave disgusted with many of the users bitterness and cynicism. Why don't you go down to the local grocery store and whine to the 50 year old cashier about the "horrible" life of an airline pilot. If you don't like it then leave!

 

Loser thinking Skyhigh?

Please, so if you were the most senior guy at your regional (not me) making mid 80's, nice house, happy wife, kids in school with friends you would leave to make a better life at the majors in the future?

What you think is a good life others may not and vice versus. However you telling me I would be a loser to stay at a regional is bullheaded, stupid and just plain rude.

Would I like to go to the majors, sure I would I did'nt start this to be a regional pilot! However there are only 3 airlines that make sense for me to IMPROVE my life.

This industry has lost all crediability, if I were at a regional making a good living without commuting I would think real hard about leaving, and I don't mean 30-40k, Captains make closer to 85k.

Skyhigh i'm happy you made the leap outside, it looks like your real happy and the better man for it.

 

You are right. It was a bit to strong to use the word "looser" and I am sorry. I should have used the term "passive".

My point is that we all sacrifice a huge amount to become airline pilots. To be satisfied with a mediocre return is foolish. If you are happy with 85K then why not 65K and so on. A few regionals are doing well currently but that does not mean that they will in a few years.

I worked for Horizon Air and had I stayed I would be earning around 60K after nearly ten years with the company. To a high school kid that is a lot of money. I have a stay at home wife and four sons. I am sure that we could make a go of it at that pay scale but as I mentioned before I could have earned that much as a long haul truck driver and saved myself the trouble of college and flight school expenses. Over time the pay will go up but it would never be able to compensate for the sacrifices it takes to get there.

The lifestyle sacrifises it takes to be a pilot demand much more than what is being offered. To simply accept the poor considtions is short sighted and does not help the industry.

SkyHigh

 

Welcome to aviation! It is a difficult and bumpy road filled with long faces. One day you will look in the mirror and see one staring back at you.

SKyHigh

P.S. Not everyone here is an adult. Many are trying to figure out what to do with their lives and need to be presented with the full picture.

 

I spent less than $20,000 on my degree and ratings because I worked my butt off and got a scholarship, therefore I did not spend a small fortune. As a matter of fact that debt is now gone. And the guys that pick up garbage where I live make far less than what I did last year, and much much less than I will this year. And my expectations don't stop at a regional. It is a stepping stone on my way to something bigger and better. The aviation career is a cyclical one, but if you are not smart enough to research what you get into before you get into it then you have no one to blame but yourself!

 

What you are saying is that you choose to be underpaid and knowingly went into the profession with low expectations. Good for you, I guess. You might check the garbage man thing out however. Most do very well.

Best of luck to you,

SKyHigh

 

You know SKYHIGH gets bashed a lot, but he actually has very valid points. This industry is no way as Glorious & rewarding as it used to be, at all.......................

 

No, I started training pre 9/11, I graduated 8/11/01. I continue to do this job because I enjoy it. Money does not make me happy, I am not a material person. I am perfectly content with what I make, which is more than a garbage man, and now since I am in the left seat it is much more than a garbage man. I manage the money that I make which allows me buy the things that I want. If you do not enjoy flying for a living that is fine, do whatever it is that makes you happy. I'm sorry your dream didn't work out the way you planned it to. Thats too bad, really. But I am happy with my life, I make far more than I ever could being a garbage man for a lot less work. And I don't want to be a doctor, lawyer, dentist, or policeman. None of those occupations interest ME. I don't care how much money they make. I don't want to do any of those for a living. Buy the way, you seem to be so obsessed with garbage men, perhaps you should become one. Or is that some fetish you are hiding? Oh yeah, Best of Luck to You