How much money does the average pilot make a year?

Question

I wanted to know how much the average pillot makes a year that flys like ur boeing747 type plains most people travel on, as well as someone who own their own small plane like harrison fords character in 6 days & 7 nights. How much would each make roughly on average a year.

Answer 1

cargo 767 pilot makes 1/4 million a year

Answer 2

2

Answer 3

According to most college books the average salary totals to about $128,000 a year. This is just the average and it is lower due to the fact that this year had the highest amount of new pilots which only are getting starting slaries.

Answer 4

Jones Blonde, The licence does not cost £70,000. I believe that current rate for the issuance of a commercial pilot licence is £231. That's what the Civil Aviation Authority in the UK are currently charging. I am a couple of weeks away from completing my pilot training and will soon have my Frozen ATPL. To date, excluding the MCC training (multi-crew co-operation) and a type rating, and the total is so far around £50,000. I still have around ten hours to fly before completing my training. The price varies depending where in the world you decide to train and how many hours of training you need.

Answer 5

Wow, yet another question that Av8Trxx has nailed right on. That is the best explanation of pilot pay as far as airlines go that there is.

Flight instructors can make anywhere from minimum wage (I was there) to around $30/hour. It all depends on the school where you are teaching. Corporate pilots will make anywhere from $20,000/year to $200,000/year depending on what airplane they are flying and what size company they work for.

Answer 6

I'm not sure about the corporate pilots that have been flying for some time but often students and base pilots (ones who are building up their flight hours) start off making only around $20K for several years until they reach enough hours to fly for big wigs.

I know several pilot students who went bust because they could not afford to pay student loans on their pay.

Answer 7

As of May 2004, median annual earnings of airline pilots, copilots, and flight engineers were $129,250. However, such salaries represent the upper level of airline pay scales. Salaries at regional airlines can be considerably less - though according to the Bureau of Labor statistics, median annual earnings of commercial pilots were $53,870, with the middle 50 percent earning between $37,170 and $79,390.

Answer 8

Salaries vary according to the type of aircraft you are flying and your experience. Pilots and first officers are paid more for flying jet aircraft than for flying turboprop planes. As an example, with EasyJet the salary of a fully qualified captain is £73,792, and of a first officer with a frozen airline transport pilot's licence (fATPL), £36,445. Ryanair pay an experienced captain up to £100,000 (salary data collected Jan 07).

Answer 9

It is very difficult to 'average' pilot pay. It varies wildly from operation to operation. It can be under $20,000/yr to over $100. It totally depends on the specific operator and aircraft flown.

That said, according to the Air Line Pilots Association, their "average" major* airline member Captain is 50 years old, with 18 years seniority (tenure) and makes $182,000 a year. A non-major airline Captain is 41 years old with 10 years of seniority and makes $70,000 a year.

The average ALPA First Officer member at a major airline is 43 years old with 10 years of seniority and makes $121,000 per year, while an ALPA non major First Officer is age 35 with 3 years of service and makes $33,000.

*A major airline is a carrier with more than a billion in sales annually. American, Delta, Northwest, United, Continental, US Airways, Southwest, Alaska (and even several 'regional' carriers) are considered majors by that definition. However, not all major carriers pilots are members of the ALPA union, notably AA & SWA who have their own in house unions.

Factors affecting pilot pay:
~ Time with the company (seniority)
~ Aircraft flown
~ Whether they are a Captain or First Officer (seat)
~ The hours in their monthly schedule
~ The payscale at their specific airline

A pilots pay is figured upon the hourly rate for their seat and their equipment based upon the pay grade for their seniority. Each company also has a set 'minimum guarantee' flight hour pay in their pilot contract. This is generally about 75 hours per month but varies slightly by airline. (A few majors guarantee is only 65!) However, in no case will the pilot earn less than the 'minimum guarantee'. They may fly less than 75 actual flight hours, but they will still be paid for the 75 per their guarantee. If they get a flight schedule that is blocked for more flight hours than the minimum guarantee, they will then get paid for the greater amount of time flown instead, plus per diem. Flight crew make from $1-3 per hour in 'per diem' for every hour they are away from their domicile on a trip to cover expenses. This generally adds a few hundred dollars to their pay check.

A general comparison of starting monthly First Officer pay by airline*:
~ AMERICAN - $2,240
~ CONTINENTAL - $2,500
~ DELTA - $3,640
~ FED EX - $3,700
~ NORTHWEST - $2,574
~ SOUTHWEST - $3,744
~ UNITED - $1,950
~ US AIRWAYS - $1,875
~ UPS - $2,187
*all without per diem, based on minimum monthly guarantee, first year pay in smallest fleet type

Here is a Captain pay comparison* at 12 years of seniority, by the largest type in fleet (best paying):
~ American 777 - $12,352
~ Continental 777 - $14,688
~ Delta 777 - $14,040
~ Fed EX widebody $14,874
~ Northwest 747 - $14,586
~ Southwest 737 - $14,196
~ United 747 - $11,570
~ US Airways A330 $11,520
~ UPS (all a/c) $15,390

(*all without per diem, based on monthly guarantee, 12 yr pay in largest fleet type)

As far as other commercial flying ("Commercial" means any paid flying job from private charters to aerial survey), the Bureau of Labor Statistics says that the salary range is from $28K-$114K, with the median salary of $68K.
http://www.bls.gov/oes/current/oes532012.htm

Answer 10

Well there are many factors to consider, First of all what airline you fly with? Your seniority also makes a difference, how long have you been with the airline? all these factors are to be taken into consideration