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.
Very well done.
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