Pilot salary/wages?

[magyar]

I am just curious to see how many pilots make 100000+/Yr. If you are one of those, can you state your age and if you want, what company or aircraft you are making this kind of money on.

(I just have a feeling that most pilots really don't make that kind of money)

[Spock]

45,WestJet, 737 as FO

Spock
Live Long and Prosper

[fanspeed]

34, Bizjet captain in a specialised operation

[Willis Nigh]

6 figure non-pensioned pilots,
Could you also indicate what percentage of your salary you are putting away for retirement?

[Spock]

Willis Nigh

About 40% of salary is invested. About 30K registered and approx 18K non depending on rrsp limits.

Spock

Live Long and Prosper

[planett]

100K Specialized Bizjet Medivac plus a bit of training / consulting on the side to achieve that, age 38.

[KAG]

100K plus, 32, Westjet FO.
I'm putting away anywhere 20-40% of each pay.

[Chuck Ellsworth]

100K plus, 32, Westjet FO.
I'm putting away anywhere 20-40% of each pay.

I will be helping pay your wages as I am off for St. Johns from Victoria tomorrow morning on WJ.

[CAL]

Kag do you have a wife and kids? just curious as you are putting away a good chunk of disposible income there...I invest 5% of each paycheck..every other dollar gets spent on mandatory items...well mostly mandatory..

[magyar]

hmm, Westjet FO's. I would not have imagined they make that much, interesting...

[Spit-IX]

hmm, Westjet FO's. I would not have imagined they make that much, interesting...

How much overtime does that include? I would bet a lot.

[Tiny Voices]

hmm, Westjet FO's. I would not have imagined they make that much, interesting...

How much overtime does that include? I would bet a lot.

At third year FO pay rate, if you were to pick up an extra 70-80hrs over the course of the year at time and a half, which amounts to 3 or 4 extra pairings, you should break the 100K mark. That's not factoring in ESP contibutions or profit share (if any).

[CAL]

wow thats not bad....

[SAR_YQQ]

35, Air Force, King Air

[Outsiderudder]

I think KAG is kidding.

63K CFI, Private School

[KAG]

hmm, Westjet FO's. I would not have imagined they make that much, interesting...

How much overtime does that include? I would bet a lot.

None.

[Spit-IX]

How much overtime does that include? I would bet a lot.

None.

So F/O base salary is 100K plus? I think the person who started this thread is asking about salary, not full compensation including company benefits, perdiems, or profit sharing.

[KAG]

My base salary without doing any OT, profit share, ESP or stock options at year 5 scale doing the MIN of 77.5 (count on 80) is 81K (83.5K @80 hours a month).
It'll take being at the top (8th year) to get close to 100K of just salary.

[CAL]

Kag

What can you expect to net year 1 and 2...realistically...

Thanks

[KAG]

Net –I’m assuming you mean take home? That depends on if you do ESP.
If you were hired next year starting hourly rate is $54.06/HR, second year is $59.75/HR.
At 80 hours/month that’s 51.9K and 57.3K. If you do ESP your T4 will be up to 20% higher, but your take home will be considerably lower.
Profit share is hit and miss, Stock options for an FO (if I recall are around $7500) also hit and miss, The RSU is a guaranteed amount of $3350/year.

A realistic T4 for first year FO, doing 80 hours a month, say 80 hours of “straight time” over the year, $2000 profit share (before tax, that’s low) and RSU would be $61,572.4, if you do 20% ESP then it’s $72,816.88, while saving $24,628.96+ RSU in your stock account.

A word about the ESP. When I was hired the advice was given to beg, borrow, or steal to do the full 20%. Go in debt; take out a line of credit, do whatever it takes. I would recommend to do only what you can afford until your in the higher pay scales. Right now it’s a great time to buy, as the price is low. IF the stock goes back to the $20 range, it’s a 400% return on investment. If it stays flat, you double your money. If it cuts in half, you’re even. It’s a great investment tool, I would caution going in debt to do it. That’s just me, I’m more of a low risk kind of guy.

[Spit-IX]

That makes more sense KAG. For the topic starter, I think you will find pilots in Canada salaried at 100K plus in the left seat of Boeing's, Bus's, and corporate jets.

[Chuck Ellsworth]

I can see why West Jet is so successful as I am sitting in YYZ waiting for my international connection to St Johns ad so far flying West Jet is like going back decades and flying on Wardair.

[Willis Nigh]

About 40% of salary is invested. About 30K registered and approx 18K non depending on rrsp limits.
Spock
Live Long and Prosper

Smart person. At that rate you will prosper even if you do live very long.

It says a lot about aviation that 100k is still considered some kind of large salary benchmark. Pay rates seem to have been stagnant for years while everything else gets more expensive. Consider what's left after losing almost 30k to taxes, and another 15k to retirement savings (or 30k if you're as smart as Spock). You certainly can't be considered 'rich'. I don't know if you could even be considered 'well-off' anymore.

[iflyforpie]

About 40% of salary is invested. About 30K registered and approx 18K non depending on rrsp limits.
Spock
Live Long and Prosper

Smart person. At that rate you will prosper even if you do live very long.

It says a lot about aviation that 100k is still considered some kind of large salary benchmark. Pay rates seem to have been stagnant for years while everything else gets more expensive. Consider what's left after losing almost 30k to taxes, and another 15k to retirement savings (or 30k if you're as smart as Spock). You certainly can't be considered 'rich'. I don't know if you could even be considered 'well-off' anymore.

Well said.

I bought my first house for under 100k when I was making 40k/yr. If I was to buy that same house today starting from scratch, I would have to make over 100k/year to have the same lifestyle I had before. Especially since the higher income portions are taxed quite a bit more (jumping from 15% to 22% on portions above 40,726 and 26% above 81,452 on federal income tax).

[nimbostratus]

Last years T4, just over 110,000. Left seat biz-jet.

Nimbo

P.S. 35 years old.