what did you do before becoming a driver?

You are probably the 10th pilot/former pilot I've heard from in the past three years who has painted a horrible picture (financially) of the aviation industry. I had dreams of becoming a pilot (cargo or private, no airlines - don't like my cargo to talk back) when I was young. Ended up in the Marine Corps Reserve while going to college, forgot about my dream. I actually started private pilots licensing back in 99 but never finished. Now I'm glad I didn't. The amount of money they pay pilots (cargo or airline) is an absolute JOKE considering the amount of responsibility you have.

It makes me wonder how the quality of individual that enters the industry is still relatively high compared to other professions. How on earth does someone spend $40k+ on training and getting flight hours to get paid around $29k or less for the first few years in the seat?

I guess what I'm asking is, do you think that the lack of decent pay is eventually going to attract less than the best qualified to fly a Jet-A filled "bomb" full of passengers?

 

I was going to fly for CommuAir but they only offerd $18k to start!!!

I used to teach 7 days a week but then the students dried up with the economy, sucks...

 

Started out going to college and working in an auto parts store, worked for the post office as a temporary, then UPS as a temporary driver. Then got into delivering then selling medical supplies. Well, the business has slowed down so much and competitive bidding is kicking in for medicare. So my job is gone first of the year. My father and uncles are truck drivers, so I felt it time to get into the family business lol! Plus I have been fascinated with 18 wheelers since I was a kid!

 

I was also an Army medic for seven years. I've been to Kosovo. I drove an armored personnel carrier in Germany.

 

$18k??????????????

Am I the only one who sees a problem with that? Not matching pay with responsibility will certainly not end up well in the long run.

I guess it's just going to be me and MS Flight Sim for the rest of my life.

 

I was an Astronaut, the first to walk on the Sun. For the last 2 years I've been an unemployed dog sitter.

 

I was too old with too many bills...If I was a youngin without a family a bills I would have flown for free!...

 

after 6 years with Uncle Sam Ain't Released Me Yet (U.S.ARMY) and riding around with the 1st Armored Div. in Germany and 3 ACR Ft. Bliss. Came back home and put my commercial license to work. Got it when I turned 18 at the time Texas only required a vehicle with carring capacity over 1 ton and not a pick up. That's been 25 yrs ago and how has time flown.

 

You would think that, but you would be wrong. And we only need look a few posts down to find the reason why.

Here it is right here:

We have seen the enemy in professional aviation and it is us. It gets awful hard to walk into the head office and demand better wages when there's a thousand guys standing outside the door who are willing to do your job for free.

 

I was being facetious...