767 makes landing without gear down...

[RobinFinderson]

Robin, please stay out of my threads.

Like I'd be caught dead wearing anything in your closet! LOL!

[LiveCoug]

Buddy of mine flies for SkyWest. He has since 2004. He does regional routes for Delta and United. I believe his salary is in the mid-70K range and he started much lower. Basically he's been right on par with NYC Metropolitan Transportation Authority subway operators. Right about where it should be.

It's tough to become a pilot nowadays. Start salary for a Skywest pilot is seriously something like 18-20k per year. It goes up pretty dramatically after that, but that's where they start.


My dad is a retired United captain and I have no idea how much he made. Sufficient for his needs, for sure.

[old_gregg]

isn't median salary just over $100k?

[LiveCoug]

isn't median salary just over $100k?

Yes, but that includes older guys that have been around for years. The entry level pilots get nothing.

[Eddie]

I come from a family of pilots.

It's a challenging career to get into - particularly if you want to fly airlines. You have to take crap jobs initially for little pay while you build your hours. Then you may or may not get picked up by an airlines.

In the past, a high percentage of airline pilots started out in the air force. Now it is more and more common for them to attend a private flight school - USU even has one as part of their aeronautics program. But it can get pretty expensive paying for flying time.

Sure - once you are in you can make a decent living. (much better than I am) But I think it can be a tough club to get into.

In some ways they are overpaid for what they do. But they aren't paid for what they do - they are paid for what they might have to be able to do (like land a plane without gear). While a cop may save more lives over the course of a career - when a cop screws up he doesn't typically kill several hundred people who happen to be flying through the air in an aluminum tube with them (not to mention the folks on the ground...)

[Portland Ute]

Now is the time to get into the pilot business.

My brother just got hired on with Sky West. His schedule sucks and he will have to pay his dues, but that is going to change shortly. He's already looking to make the jump from the Brazilia to an RJ.

Looming on the horizon is a huge exodus of older pilots from the profession. There is going to be a huge need for pilots in the next few years.

The past 5 or so years have been pretty tough for guys looking to become airline pilots. The increase in retirement age along with carriers cutting routes had created a glut. However, because that was the case, many people steered away from the profession. Now, that glut of later retiring guys is going to retire. There is going to be an increased demand and decreased pool of qualified pilots.

I guess this all pre-supposes the industry doesn't fall flat on it's face because of economic factors.