Wages - the limiting factor of hiring

First a private pilots license, around 4000 dollars and 6 to 9 months ground school, air instruction and tarmac training. Around 60 to 100 hours prior to solo, including hourly rental of plane and fuel burn per gallon.

Then multi engine. Then you work into the commercial, then upwards towards the mighty ATP rating which means you can fill a A380 with 800 souls bound for Singapore tonight over the pole.

Those pilots make a bunch of money and limited hours. Not like our logbook abuses etc. We run so hard for almost 10,000 hours a year making maybe 50K if you are lucky and it's below minimum wage. ATP Pilots fly when they are with hours and so forth and make like 4 to 5 times as much a year.

I trained a little bit towards a private pilots once and have enough hours privately in the right seat with the nav radio stack, maps etc to get along well enough. But I imagine post 9-11 changes will clip the freedom a little bit. (My air space bounded Dulles, KBWI, Camp David, Gettysburg and Lancaster, that was the box of american sky we spent alot of time in during my time back in the 80's Times were different back then.) Now you cannot even get out of the field without asking Center Washington for flight approval. Things have changed.

If truckers had to work in such precise restricted supervision way beyond what they endure now... half would quit.

Imagine that a little bit. One of these days if that one valve gets replaced Im going back up there into the sky. But not just yet.

 

Trucking beats my old old paper route lol

 

I made more than double in trucking than I made in aviation. After 1 year in trucking I had more cash in the bank than I had made my last year with airplanes.

Aviation requires the time, money, and education. similar to a dentist but pays like a cashier for the first 5 years. $20-25k is a common 1st year pay, away from home 15-20 days a month. Oh, you'll be assigned to expensive city crew bases. Many newbies are based in NYC and live in Fargo, ND. They live in Fargo because rent is cheap & commute to work, sometimes a day is wasted commuting.

 

I delivered the "Moron County Sentinel" when I was 13 or so.... yeah, few bucks a week. Made more planting fence posts, and taking over dad's old refuse route, LoL.

 

Airplane rental is about $130-150 per hour. 40 hours minimum for private. Average time before private check ride is 50-60 hours. Half of those hours will be with instructor, add another $20 per hour.

The FAA now requires 1500 hours of experience before flying for airlines. This is like FMCSA requiring 1 million miles BEFORE you get a CDL. Europe is now lowering standards with a Multi-crew pilot license. US FAA wants NEW pilots to have test pilot levels of experience to get a job.

 

That's what tanks are doing for me...I actually turned down LTL when they finally called me as I had just gotten this gig. Everyone finds their sweet spot.

 

A female regional pilot posted on here a couple years ago, she planned to attend cdl school because she was making only $17K per year as a pilot. She realized she can easily triple her income as a new cdl grad with all the endorsements.

 

Why did the joy of flight go out of her? Bad dispatchers?

Every time I get into a plane, and the wheels come off the earth... no matter how small a plane (Especially small ones... even though I go gaga when the 155K pound 737 comes off... or the old L1011 half million pound lead sled finally unglues itself...) there is a great deal of Joy to be free from the bonds of gravity.

They offer flights in Searcy where I am, but not Piper Archer. Only 172 glass panels which is a little bit like the FSX deluxe software on the computer but it's not for me. I think it's a hundred for a ride around and back.

 

No, the pay is low. Very few pilots make decent money these days. That slick haircut and fancy clothes with the fake gold shoulder boards, strutting through the terminal with the briefcase, don't pay the bills.