How would you describe a pilots salary?

Question

High, medium, low. Social status of a pilot...etc.

Answer 1

Low, people dont realize that for what the cost and time it takes to become a pilot, if they do not go through the military figure most pilots are in big debt because of the training cost say around $40k, and now a days Airlines dont pay like they use to.

Right now a pilot for say a regional airline
A FO makes between $15-$25 a credit hour
A Captain makes anywhere from $30-$90 a credit hour

Now when you are flying for the big boys it will jump to around
a FO will make around $70-$130 a credit hour
a Captain will make around $150-$200 a credit hour

Now Freight Company like UPS and FedEx are the highest paying jobs for a pilot in business. Unless you are privately hired and making more but thats unlikely.

Now you think they are making a lot of money, but realize pilots dont work 160 hour months or 40hour weeks. But instead thier pay is determined by credit hour, which is the expected time that they are in command of the aircraft.
So a pilot is usually guarenteed 75 hours but they cannot fly over 120 hours in a month. But the differences are tremendous and think to become Captain of a large airliner takes a very long time.

So its a fairly good job when you make it to the big leagues which you can easily make over $100k but to get there most pilots arent making very good money at all. Plus there is no job security now a days and the pensions are anything like they used to be.

Answer 2

A pilot's salary is anything from non existent or dismal to middle to high depending on the pilot.

Many low time pilots whore themselves out for free flying skydivers, towing banners or gliders, or occupying a right seat.

The answerers above gave the details for the various airline positions.

A 'blue collar' pilot who has been at it for a few years and does some extra work for the company like me (air-taxi) makes a medium income but also has the advantage of being home every night and not having to deal with big company BS.

As far as social status goes, it is a myth that the movies create and the general public supports. Even the pilots with cushy jobs have horror stories and tribulations that could (and many times do) fill a book. Many pilots (especially airline pilots) secretly hate their jobs and are only there for the money and the perceived social status (ohh wow...you're an airline pilot).

I do it for the fun. I am getting paid to do my favorite hobby full time. I could have made a lot more money being a lawyer or a doctor, but then I would hate my job and be trying to spend the rest of my time and money flying.

Answer 3

Ezz 17 is completely correct.

I do however want to clarify a few things. When he says credit hour, he really means block hour which is from parking brake release on pushback to parking break set when arriving at the gate. Therefore when the crew goes down to the plane before you (passengers) board guess who is not being paid. Pilots have many checks to accomplish before the passengers board and also must load flight plans. So, while a pilot may only fly 90 hours a month, they work much longer. Please don't begin to think that pilots are as well compensated as they deserve to be. A pilot's salary is medium at best unless you are in the top 2% of all pilots. I know a lot of managers that make the same or more than avg. pilots and are home every night.

Answer 4

Low to high.

A friend of mine started at Continental Express and made less than the poverty level for the first two years he flew as the co-pilot. This was after years of flying even worse jobs for even less pay. Since then he has worked his way up to the 737 and finally the 757 as a co-pilot. He is making good money now but it took him years of hard work at meager wages and silly hours to get where he is now.

Answer 5

Like everyone is saying, it depends on a lot of things. As an aerial applicator, my pay is decent and I am home every night. Plus I don't have to put up with whiny passengers. I have never flown for an airline, and I never want to. What I do is just simply too enjoyable. Nothing beats flying an airplane 6 feet off the deck while dodging the occasional deer.

Answer 6

What KIND of pilot - it can be far poorer than people suspect.

$200 - $300K for the big guys down to about $20K for a time-building guy looking for a break - mostly anywhere in between.

BTW - most would agree the glamour is gone. Hard to keep the better jobs and more flying is required these days of the younger guys coming along.

Still nothing like it if you are an aviator though.

Answer 7

Do you mean a military pilot or commercial airline pilot?

Their pay is reasonable, but not high. You have to consider the amount of education they have, the hours they work and the time away from family, too.

Answer 8

The AP just ran a story on this last week. Big airline pilots make more of course, the article said something like 250K. Smaller airline pilots make less, under 100K, and tend to fly a lot more.

Answer 9

As others have said, many factors will influence a Pilot's salary. Here's a link showing the median salary of a Commercial Airline Pilot in different cities: http://www.payscale.com/research/US/Job=Aircraft_Pilot%2c_Corporate_Jet/Salary/by_City&src=yahooA To find more accurate salary data for your specific Pilot position - taking location, experience, employer type, etc. into consideration - you can take a free salary survey at PayScale.com. http://www.payscale.com/?src=yahooA

Hope that helps,
Assistant to Dr. Salary

Answer 10

There are a lot of variables to that question. A lot of people who gave you an answer at the high end were referring to the top pay one could expect before retirement. There are a lot of lower paying pilot jobs that people take as a means to get to other higher paying jobs. Many times, there is a tradeoff between pay and lifestyle as well.

Here is a "typical" career progression:

Note: This outline is for the civilian progression. The steps will be quite different for people who learn to fly through the military.

Prerequisites: A college degree is not required, but it is highly recommended and certainly helps with getting any kind of competitive job.

Training, training and more training. Before you can make money as a pilot, you need to have the proper licenses (called "certificates" and "ratings" in the industry). The normal progression is:
(a) Private Pilot certificate (min. 40 hours of flight time)
(b) Instrument Rating (allows to to fly in clouds and reduced visibility conditions
(c) Commercial Pilot certificate (min. 250 hours of cumulative flight time) - allows you to get paid to fly
(d) Multiengine Rating - a fairly quick add-on to learn procedures for flying an airplane with more than one engine

At this point training costs have probably totaled between $20,000 and $60,000 depending on the hours it took, the type of aircraft used, the experience of the instructor, etc. With the certificates and ratings outlined above, you can start making money to fly. What kind of job it is at this point depends on the market. Generally speaking, don't expect to climb into a jet as soon as you have these certificates and ratings. MOST jobs at this point will have a starting pay of less than $20,000 a year. These jobs include flight instructing (with additional certificate), traffic watch flights, pipeline inspection, skydive flights, and banner towing.

As experience builds, so do options. Here is a sampling of different jobs and their starting pay:

Regional airline F/O (First Officer or copilot): Around $20,000
Charter F/O: under $20,000 to around $40,000

Regional airline pay starts low, but progresses relatively quickly based on years with the company. When you have the experience, other jobs become available:

Regional airline captain: Starting $40k-60k depending on plane. Top pay currently around $100-120k with 10 years experience at the same airline

Major airline pilot: Starting F/O pay $30k-40k. Captain with 10 years experience at the same airline: $95k-140k (some airlines and cargo carriers are up to $200k).

Corporate: F/O starts $35-60k. Average $45k-70k with experience. Captain pay averages $50k-100k depending on airplane size.

Fractional and Charter: Similar pay structure as corporate, but about 20% lower.

In general, if nothing changes (nearly impossible), somebody starting training today can expect to be making $20,000 in 2-5 years, $50,000 in 10 years, $70,000-100,000 in 15 years, and $100,000-150,000 in 20-25 years to retirement. These are all in today's dollars, not adjusted for inflation.