Some of the regionals pay very low, approaching minimum wage. Only attraction is flight time to get on the big carriers.
True. Very true, and that has been the carrot and stick approach for years. But there is an alarming trend to those pilots stuck at the regionals. The article mentioned it.
Today, the regional sector accounts for half or more of all flying, and pilots are realizing that a job with a regional often means an entire... career with a regional," Smith said.
Some regionals pay below minimum wage; $8.75/hr. On top of that, a pilot is only guaranteed 75 hours per month. To get more they have to wait stand-by at the airport. It is often common to see a pilot trying to get 100 hours in a month spend 300-400 hours to get it. Most beginner pilots see their home only 3-4 days in a month.
When I lived in the Arlington, VA area (2010 to 2013)...I got into a chat with a guy in the apartment complex who was a pilot for a no-thrills carrier that flew out of Reagan. The guy was in his late 20’s and very happy to be a pilot. But he noted that the pay deal was lousy and his only escape was to get accredited on a larger airframe, which his current employer wouldn’t pay and this cost would take him at least five years go save up and be able to pay (in cash). He figured somewhere along age 40....he’d finally be in the big leagues and bringing home $100k a year.
The thing that gets me....is that this was a young guy who’d gone out and got his Cessna license at 18, and did two years at some community college for a degree in X-ray medical field. He would have done better to just stay in that medical field in terms of income and stability. But he enjoyed flying.
After he laid out the path and the license business....I kinda wish that I was 20 again and I’d probably go do this the same way as well.
Guess they’ll have to hire someone mooslimb rapefugees to do the work Americans won’t do.
Until a few years ago, I had no idea that pilot pay could be so low considering the responsibilities for the passengers and equipment.
I thought I made nothing (close to it) in public TV years.
Maybe they should pay more than ~$20k/yr.