Maybe the answer to all economic problems in this world will be solved by sending more foreign aid. Doesn't that make sense? No, it really doesn't. How come the same conservative Americans who believe that ending poverty in the United States shouldn't be done by the government do believe that this is how other countries' poverty should be ended. We shouldn't be hypocritical people. Giving free money often has negative affects that most people don't see. They feel great about having given money to someone in need (a wonderful thought), but don't realize that they might not be doing as much as they could.
In most cases, education coupled with the free market will drastically bring about good changes in a countries economy. This increase in a countries' economy can bring about real change for its people. Again, I want to stress the importance of the free market. Free market economies are generally strong economies with low levels of poverty. Even devastating poverty in most countries of developed free market economies (particularly those which are industrialized) is much different than poverty of the many African countries that come to mind. Businesses and a strong workforce will bring about a true change. Revenue increases means that job increases will occur, so developed countries must be willing to find businesses that have good products in developing nations.
As far as aviation is concerned, the biggest issue with these nations is that they employ pilots from developed nations to fill the necessary roles.The way to help developing nations will be to educate the people, so that countries can fill their own needs. This means that we must be willing to aid people from these nations get education. This is one of the biggest benefits that we in developed nations have. Education is a gift that we can give to people. It is my hope that people will help pay for kids education in jobs such as aviation, making sure that they go back to their home countries to work. This means that high paying piloting jobs will inject cash flow into the country of origin, while helping the poor work themselves out of poverty. Education within the free market is the key to helping end poverty. Again, I'm not saying we should stop attempting to help, but maybe we should change how we help. Let's provide education where jobs are actually available.
Thursday, May 29, 2014
Sunday, May 18, 2014
A Pilot's Pay
Most people in the general populous believe that piloting airliners from point a to point b, grants them incredibly large sums of money that they can then spend on all the best kinds of vacations on their many days off. This isn't the complete reality. There are pilots who make incredibly high sums of money, and an argument can be made that they are rich. However, even those pilots that make those high sums of money have worked incredibly hard to enjoy the cash that they get. Later on, I will explain why that is. My main concern here is to enlighten people of the difficulties that pilots face today when it comes to making a decent living.
First off, getting hired by an airline is the number one way that a pilot can make a living from the ratings he or she has achieved. However, this is not always easy to accomplish. The airline industry ebbs and flows greatly. There are years where everyone needs to hire new pilots, and other years the need is just not truly there. I was given a union contract information page made for American Airlines pilots which compares different airline's salaries and other items of interests. One of the pieces of information given is pilot retirement rates at American Airlines. The projections of retirement is exponentially increasing for the next few years. This is because many pilots are now reaching 65, the mandatory retirement age. That is good news for me, because when I enter the field, looking for a job, there will be about 560 retirements occurring. This means that I will have more of a chance to get a job for a major carrier without going to a regional airline first.
As I made mention just above, it is important to go to a major carrier if possible as quickly as possible. This is because a first officer (right seat) of a regional airline's aircraft (these are airlines that operate under major carriers names but are not actually the same airline- their liveries are United Express, American Eagle, ect.) might only make about $20,000 dollars a year. That isn't much money, even for a single person, especially when one considers that the costs of learning how to fly is about $15,000 dollars yearly! Not only does one need the flight, but a college degree as well! If someone can avoid these wages by getting a job with American Airlines as a first officer flying their smallest planes, they are paid approximately $85,415 yearly. A captain of the same class of aircraft makes about $125,603.
If a pilot wants to make more money, he must fly bigger planes. That's how it works in this world. That is partially because it takes so much work to gain ratings on larger aircraft. Aircraft weighing over 12,500 pounds require type ratings (licenses specific to each aircraft). This means that extra work must be put in to learn larger aircraft (and those aircraft may take more work to fly). The captain of a 777 for American Airlines makes $234,661 this year. That is a lot of money. Those pilot's are usually the older pilots who have ranked up. Hours gives pilots prestige and choice to fly when and where and what they like. So, not every pilot is getting paid this incredible sum. Next time you fly from Podunk, Kansas to a hub, remember that your pilots might not being making a whole lot, and thank them for their fine landing.
First off, getting hired by an airline is the number one way that a pilot can make a living from the ratings he or she has achieved. However, this is not always easy to accomplish. The airline industry ebbs and flows greatly. There are years where everyone needs to hire new pilots, and other years the need is just not truly there. I was given a union contract information page made for American Airlines pilots which compares different airline's salaries and other items of interests. One of the pieces of information given is pilot retirement rates at American Airlines. The projections of retirement is exponentially increasing for the next few years. This is because many pilots are now reaching 65, the mandatory retirement age. That is good news for me, because when I enter the field, looking for a job, there will be about 560 retirements occurring. This means that I will have more of a chance to get a job for a major carrier without going to a regional airline first.
As I made mention just above, it is important to go to a major carrier if possible as quickly as possible. This is because a first officer (right seat) of a regional airline's aircraft (these are airlines that operate under major carriers names but are not actually the same airline- their liveries are United Express, American Eagle, ect.) might only make about $20,000 dollars a year. That isn't much money, even for a single person, especially when one considers that the costs of learning how to fly is about $15,000 dollars yearly! Not only does one need the flight, but a college degree as well! If someone can avoid these wages by getting a job with American Airlines as a first officer flying their smallest planes, they are paid approximately $85,415 yearly. A captain of the same class of aircraft makes about $125,603.
If a pilot wants to make more money, he must fly bigger planes. That's how it works in this world. That is partially because it takes so much work to gain ratings on larger aircraft. Aircraft weighing over 12,500 pounds require type ratings (licenses specific to each aircraft). This means that extra work must be put in to learn larger aircraft (and those aircraft may take more work to fly). The captain of a 777 for American Airlines makes $234,661 this year. That is a lot of money. Those pilot's are usually the older pilots who have ranked up. Hours gives pilots prestige and choice to fly when and where and what they like. So, not every pilot is getting paid this incredible sum. Next time you fly from Podunk, Kansas to a hub, remember that your pilots might not being making a whole lot, and thank them for their fine landing.
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