Pilot or air traffic controller?

Question

to make a long story short im in college to be a pilot and ive been doing alot of reading, something i came across was the fact that some pilots get paid as low as 20,000 per year if you get stuck working with a regional airline and i really dont think i could live off of such a low salary. i recently was talking to a few friends of mine training to be air traffic controllers and they said the pays amazing and that they have a friend in florida who does it for a living and he loves it. i did some research and found that air traffic controllers have a very high salary. ive always wanted to be a pilot but money is pretty important when it comes to picking out a job that i will be doing. does anyone have any advice for me? i would really like if any air traffic controller could tell me basically what their day consists of and a little about the field. thanks

Answer 1

I'm in the exact same boat as you... I read that when you start out you qualify for food stamps. This is truly horrible and I really do want to make more money, but I basically came to the decision that I love jets, flying, and aviation so much that I am willing to sacrifice my wants to make more money.

This decision was also based on future job outlook: Baby boomers are going to be forced to retire soon, so there will be many job openings. This could be the perfect time for us to get into an airline job as the main things that make you rise in seniority (and advance in pay) depends on pilots ahead of you retiring, and pilots below you being hired.

One thing you need to remember is that as an air traffic controller, you are not going to start out at the high paying jobs either. You will probably need to begin working at a really small airport where you don't make the 90k salaries that many tower controllers do now at major airports. The same is for pilots; it is not a matter of "if" you get stuck with a reginal airline, you will need to start with a regional airline, and even before that, a lowly flight instructor or other smaller hour-building job. When you finally get to work for an airline, you will start out at the bottom, but as you rise in seniority, and move onto working for a major airline, you will progressively make more money. (no major airline is going to hire a pilot fresh out of college, as you need 1000 hours minimum to work for an airline)

Basically, if you love flying enough, you will stick with it. If you think money is going to prevent you from wanting an airline job, then you might not love flying as much as you need to.

I personally went through the same questioning because I was kinda freaked out about doing stalls in my lessons, but all I had to do to find the answers was watch some aviation videos on www.flightlevel350.com. Watching those videos reminds me of how much I want to fly for an airline, and basically encourages me to work harder for what I want. I think i am still going to double major in business marketing because its another interest of mine, and it is nice to have a backup degree, but I know flying commercial is what I really want to do for the rest of my life. And maybe run a company on the side, if I can.

Answer 2

This is just my opinion, but I believe that pilots make better ATCs because they have a general understanding as to what a situation is within the cockpit, especially within an emergency. I remember hearing an ATC recording where a pilot was in a spin in IFR conditions, the controller, who was a pilot calmly told the pilot the recovery technique. In such a situation, it will do wonders to have that voice to assure that everything is going to alright and how to remedy any problems. But, yes, a pilot can become an ATC controller. In many cases, a pilot will have an upper hand on understanding how to give vectors and they should already know how to give instructions.

Answer 3

i went to WMU to become a pilot and recently graduated and got a job with a cargo operator getting paid somewhere in the neighborhood of 25-30k a year.. i consider myself lucky cuz i hear the regionals pay anywhere from 15-25k.. this is only for the first couple of years though.. if you stick with the same company long enough they will upgrade you to captain and you can make much more after like 5 years.. my company will probably upgrade me with 1000 hours in the type of aircraft im flying plus ill be able to move over to different aircraft as captain.. since there is a definite shortage for captains i would be willing to bet that pilot pay increase in the coming years as competition to get captains increase.. at the end of a long career i expect to be making over 100k a year..

on the other hand.. ive heard about those extremely high salaries for ATC.. i would be willing to bet that if you talk to some professionals they will tell you their pay will be dropping in the next ten years or so.. they are government workers and the government cant afford to pay them such high salaries.. the FAA got a huge spending bill passed in congress some years ago and thats where alot of that money came from.. i doubt that will happen again when they need more funds.. ATC salaries will be the first thing cut from the bill.. i dunno how much they make starting out..

so in the end, ATC salaries will be decreasing considerably in the coming years and pilot pay will increase..

Answer 4

Do some digging into air traffic controlling, heard that soon there may be a major shift in the way air traffic is controlled away from radar. Cant remember much more, but Id say get into some comp sci, engineering, and technology classes, could be a great time to get into the industry if you develop expertise in the technology they are moving to.

I caught this I think in a same piece I saw on the Las Vegas airport moving to RFID tags in luggage, in case that helps your search.

Answer 5

If you become a air traffic controller in the US and you can become a citizen in Europe they pay significantly more starting out.

Answer 6

Air traffic controllers get paid more and it is also a better job.