This has the potential to be quite unpopular amongst pilots. But, I’ve got some things I want to get off my chest – just hear me out.
Let me say, first off, that during my time as a first officer at Trans States Airlines, the highest I ever made was $25.46/hr (second year pay). An “hour” represents only the time from brake release (passengers loaded, door closed, etc) to brake set (end of flight, just before the door opens and people start standing up). Over the course of a 4 day trip, which actually takes 5 days for a commuter, the payable block time would average about 22 hours. Additionally, from the time I checked in for the trip on day #1 to the time I checked out at the end of day #4, I was making what is called a “per diem” that accrued at the rate of $1.40/hour. The average 4 day trip consisted of roughly 85 hours of per diem. Therefore, over the course of a 4 day trip (remember, actually 5 days, since I commuted), I could plan on making about $680.
Living out of a suitcase requires one to purchase meals at every turn. An average meal cost per day hovered around the $20-25 mark. Therefore, on average, after meals, I was netting about $580 to take home to pay the bills with, etc. Divide that by 5 days, yields about $116/day to fly an airliner as second in command – in other words, one heart attack away from being solely responsible for the lives of 53 people and a $20 million machine. Assuming an average workday of about 10 hours (fairly common day as a pilot – this is not flying time only, but total time on duty), the pay came out to be roughly $12/hour. As a commuter, I also spent $150/month on a crashpad, but I’ll leave this out for simplicity.
Is that amount of pay too low? The answer is yes, undoubtedly. First year pay does need to increase.
However, here is where I am going to digress:
When I finish my CPA license, I will likely end up with a job that pays roughly $40 – 45,000 a year. This is standard CPA beginning level pay for my area. As a CPA, when you consider tax season hours, you can assume a level of work averaging about 2,300 hours per year. This works out to about $18.50/hour, markedly better than a first year regional airline pilot.
The pilot is going to bring home about $30,000 during the first year, while the CPA brings in about $45,000.
The difference is that in the corporate world, the pay rates generally increase about 10% per year for the first few years – and that is a very generous estimate. In the regional airline pilot world, the pay generally jumps about 40% in the second year to roughly $32/hour. From there, assuming a first officer, pay will increase mildly each successive year. As such, apples to apples, a second year regional airline pilot will be making more pay per unit of time than a very highly educated CPA and will enjoy an average of 12-13 days off per month rather than the 8 enjoyed by the average corporate jockey. Total take home pay will be about $38 – $40,000 for the pilot and about $48 – $50,000 for the CPA. However, considering the time off differential, the actual pay per hour of work is quite similar, actually slightly in favor of the pilot.
Assuming a timely upgrade, a pilot can assume a pay increase of approximately 70% at this point. The average 3rd year CA pay is hovering around the $65/hour mark. Utilizing the same trip that I used in the previous example, a CA will bring in about $1,450 for that same trip – after the meal purchases. Assuming a 10 hour duty day, as I did before, over the course of the 4 day trip (plus a day for commuting), the pay will come in at about $30/hour. Total annual pay will be roughly $65,000/year. At this same point in professional development, the CPA, while enjoying the liberal 10% pay raises will be at roughly $55,000/year at this point. Assuming the 2,300 hour work week, this works out to be a whopping $23/hour. Thus, the CPA is being paid less and is working more by the third year.
Now, let us compare the two jobs side by side:
As a CPA, if you stop working, thinking, and typing….NOTHING gets done. In order to produce your valuable final product, you must WORK to achieve it. A bathroom break ceases all production until you squeeze it off and get back to your desk.
As a pilot, once in the air and at cruise, the airplane is doing all the work. Most pilots kick back and watch the clouds go by or pick up the latest copy of USA Today while handling the occasional center hand off.
There is a marked difference in the amount of work required between the two professions. Having been a professional pilot myself, I can attest to the fact that there are some flights where you fucking EARN your money!! However, most of the flights are boring and uneventful with the primary objective of merely being in the right place at the right time (i.e. on the airplane on time, paperwork done, push from the gate on time, etc). Also, remember that in the business world, raises are based on merit – you’ve got to EARN them by working really hard! A pilot is guaranteed the raise assuming he still has the job on each anniversary.
Being a pilot allows one hell of a view. Sitting up high with a cup of java in your hand overlooking the changing autumn leaves gracing the tops of the smokey mountains beats the hell out of sitting at a desk buried in tax returns. Of course, the upside is the guy buried in tax returns gets to go home at night and see his kids, sleep in his own bed, etc. As to what is more important – that is a personal decision – one I am struggling with.
When I signed up to be a professional pilot, I knew the pay sucked at first. I planned accordingly. I got the job, happy as a pig in shit. However, after a few months on the job, I realized that in order to “fit in” with the group, you had to adopt the attitude of a complainer. Every captain I flew with (well, the vast majority) was a complainer. Airline internet boards are loaded with guys all bitching about pay and other factors, yet they’ll all continue to do the job because they love it, deep down, and couldn’t see themselves doing anything else. The lines out the recruiters’ offices are very long and always have been, even in good times – obviously the job is desirable in the eyes of many.
I ran across first year first officers who got their first job flying a jet with 412 hours total time actually complaining about the pay.
Many of these guys are pulling in an average (between FO and CA wages) of $50,000 per year and are enjoying 14-16 days off per month. For those who are math challenged, that means they only work two weeks and change out of every month (it does take some time to arrive at this point, depending on how quickly the seniority list is moving). This is starkly different from most jobs where you work 5 days a week, EVERY week, and sometimes on the weekends. Smart bidding over the month break can often yield 10 days off in a row – I did this on several occasions. You can effectively create a vacation in the middle of your schedule without taking a vacation at all. Where can you do this in the corporate white collar world?
There is more I’d like to say on the matter. But, let me wrap it up with this:
Being a professional pilot is one of the coolest jobs around, despite the MANY negatives. The training to arrive at a decent flying job is high (but not higher than earning a CPA or other similar credential). Your life is on the line, as are those of your passengers. The chances of being killed as a professional pilot are greater than sitting at a desk. The lack of professional mobility – seniority system preventing lateral movement to another company, etc – really curtails the ability to enjoy a fruitful career. The inherent instability of the profession is rough to plan around. The continuous checkrides where your job hangs in the balance, the risk that a medical concern could end your career, etc should all pay a material premium.
However, the job is basically fun. You don’t have a boss standing over your back everyday – sure the Feds show up from time to time. The view is cool. 70% of the flight is spent with your feet kicked back while the airplane earns you your money (as opposed to a CPA where the computer does NOTHING if you aren’t doing something). The number of days off are higher than most jobs, the sun is in your face, and you get to fly a pretty cool machine.
And, honestly, the pay (after the first year) is basically on par with most professional jobs, as I’ve proven, and quickly has the potential to surpass them.
I know its cool to bitch about pay and airline management, but some of these guys need to count their blessings. If, per chance, one succeeds and arrives at being a major airline captain (tough right now due to increasing regional flying), the pay is well over 150k a year. There aren’t many other jobs where you can earn this level of pay without holding a significant equity position in the company you work for.
I am not saying that pilots have it great, but am just trying to keep things in perspective here.
When the industry rebounds, I’ve decided that the chances of my going back are quite high. But, we’ll see for sure when the next opportunity knocks.
October 17th, 2009 at 11:09 am
thanks for putting all of this out on the table for review. I have no doubt that some will not like your conclusions but I suggest they might argue with your comparisons based the definition of it’s starting point. Your arguments are based on the first year airline position vs first year CPA position. For the many years I was learning the aviation trade, I considered the first year airline position the GOAL, not the starting point.
If I were to count the pay/value ratio of the airline position, I would have to include the costs and struggles I incurred to get there in the first place. I went through a 141 school for everything post private pilot (which was part 91) which took about 3 years and included a bachelor’s degree. That time I consider valuable and the costs appropriate for the kind of training provided. Assuming the process for CPA might fit similar timing, I’ll put that value out of the equation and consider it a wash.
It is the years after the degree which I would mention in the discussion…. the time as a flight instructor struggling to make ends meet. My first year out of school I netted roughly $16K while working full time every week and weekend teaching. All while starting to pay back the associated student loans. If not for my wife working, we could not have afforded the tiny apartment in far western suburban Chicago.
Now, I don’t want anyone thinking I’m bashing flight instruction as a profession. I’m not. I love being a CFII. I love the teaching and the diversity. I just couldn’t afford to do it full time.
A couple of years into this, I felt I had the hours to start getting into the airlines as I had planned. I started talking with some current and former airline folks I knew and trusted to get an idea what the job is really like and they never complained about the pay. Their arguments were ones you referenced… while not working more than two or three weeks out of the month, when they were working there was no leeway if something happened at home. They also talked about the constant battle with fatigue and rising stresses. One, who had gotten out of the airlines to be a part time CFI and full time psychologist felt less than comfortable around what she felt was a group with a higher than average alcohol dependency… likely from stresses leading to depression.
I’m sure that I was getting only part of the story from each, but they all agreed on one thing… I should think twice about becoming an airline pilot.
I did.
I went into technology instead and walked into a $35K a year job and have never looked back. Fifteen years later, I’m certainly making more than that. I’m with a notable company with what I hope is a long future. We are married with a couple of kids… and my school loans are finally paid off. All the while, i’ve kept my hand in the CFII world by teaching, though not enough as I would like.
Recently I got caught up with the 20 or so others in my class at that flight school and I learned some interesting things.
1) I was the only one who didn’t go airline
2) I was the only one who wasn’t furloughed/released/laid off/etc from an airline
3) I was the only one who wasn’t furloughed/released/laid off/etc from any company
4) I was in the majority as more than half never went back to the airlines after their second furlough. Like me, they are now working outside jobs.
5) I was in the minority of those who had seen their child born
Those still in the industry certainly make more than I do now, but the break even point of total pay over time worked out to be about 10 years… if you include working in aviation before getting into an airline.
For your sake, I do hope you always keep the positive outlook you have towards the working in the cockpit. I totally agree that it comes with some of the best views and perks around. Just remember when you hear from the complainers around you that their arguments about money might actually be an argument about about the total value of the position… not just the individual paycheck.