This article says pilots are the #1 most over paid

[Driving Rain]

http://www.salary.com/the%2D8%2Dmost%2D ... id%2Djobs/

[Taiser]

??? They don't seem to explain how long pilots work for shit pay to finally get to that airline job!

[Meatservo]

That's because nobody knows about that part, and never will unless we start whining more.

[Driving Rain]

http://www.ornge.ca/Media/Articles/Docu ... losure.pdf

5 pages of mostly EMT-paramedic salaries and no pilots listed.

[Beefitarian]

Reminds me of the article from this thread. viewtopic.php?f=54&t=84996

Meet two guys making a lot of money, write about how everyone doing that job is paid tons of money.

[Colonel Sanders]

Don't believe everything you read on the internet!

[MrWings]

They should ask the passengers if they think the pilots up front are over paid. Ask them in a snowstorm when the aircraft is picking up ice (Colgan Air). Ask them after double engine failure and headed for the Hudson.

I'd think they'd want the best pilots money could buy and not some bargain.

[Flying Nutcracker]

"EMTs, on the other hand, have jobs that are anything but boring. Charged with responding to and transporting ill and injured people, often in life-and-death situations, most EMTs unfortunately have just as many devastating stories about loss as they do about saving someone's life. The job is not only incredibly stressful, it’s also physically demanding. Add in long, irregular working hours, and this is more of a calling, less of a job."

"EMT-paramedic is more of a calling".

Sound familiar?





A sidenote... Read the whole article and put everything in context. Pilots are the best paid in TRANSPORTATION.

[Hoque]

??? They don't seem to explain how long pilots work for shit pay to finally get to that airline job!

100% agree with you

[FlyGy]

The article seems pretty clear to me, it specifically states "commercial airliner pilot" not pilot in general. Agreed, there seems to be a bit of selective information in the article. I know paramedics that make 6 digits a year who are in upper management. This woman could have done the same to them and just selected EMS Manager. If one is going to attempt to compare wages, one should compare the wages across the entire sector, not just one little piece of the pie.

[Valkyrie_XB70]

http://www.ornge.ca/Media/Articles/Docu ... losure.pdf

5 pages of mostly EMT-paramedic salaries and no pilots listed.

EMT's are considered govermental workers which is why their salaries have to be published. The pilots however are not govermental workers so they don't publish them. At least that's how my ex room mate who was an ornge pilot explained it to me.

[Panama Jack]

Sorry, but I say "F^&k Dawn Dugan."

I really don't understand this weird Canadian mentality of complaining that some people make too much money. It smack of negativism (bring everyone down with you) with some communist overtures. In some of the old Iron Curtain utopias of the workers and peasants, everyone was equal and a doctor's salary was not all that different from a factory worker's.

Here you go, Dawn:

http://www.parti-communiste.ca/

[1000 HP]

I had very few days where I ever thought I got paid too much. But the Canadian government actually penalizes people for making more than subsistence wages by jacking the tax rate up for the higher income earners. Canada is one of the more socialist countries in the world (that I've been too). We have a government social program for higher education, health, retirement, just to name a few. I believe the NDP used to be the "social credit" party. We are trained as commies by our own "democratic" government.

It's because of the lousy wages that I quit flying the first and second time. My old chief pilot "Captain Crunch" told me when I left: "You'll be back, aviation is a disease". I still have flashbacks of that day

[Meatservo]

The article doesn't bother me too much. The way it's presented makes it look like just another obscure internet-fluff piece of crap that would pair up well with articles entitled "top ten celeb moms with stretch marks" or whatever.

I would rather be overpaid than underpaid. And so what if a roach-spraying guy has a harder day at work than I do? Presumably he had the same choices available to him as I did, and he picked smoking dope and hanging out at the mall while I was in college. Some other guy picked staying in school even longer than me and got a degree or two, and now he has nicer suits, and a newer car, and is considered by guys like me to be overpaid too. And guess how much he cares what I think.

You know what- I hate having a job. I fucking hate being subservient to people I consider to be my moral and intellectual inferiors, and I hate having my opinions brushed aside, and I hate being undermined at every turn. I hate getting up in the morning and I hate not drinking as much as I want every night. I hate being told what to do and I hate not being able to tell everybody else what to do. I hate having to shave and wear professional clothing, I hate the "safety culture" and I hate the smell of turbine exhaust and rubber, and I hate not being in my house most of the time. I hate hotels and I hate having to watch my language and trying to camouflage my bad attitude. I secretly believe everybody hates all of these things, and it's your ability to tolerate them that determines whether you get to be a bug exterminator or an "overpaid" whatever (pick one from the list)

My ability to tolerate all of the above I would classify as "moderate", which is why I am stuck being a semi-professional transportation worker with a second-rate postsecondary education and little prospect of ever fitting into the corporate scheme.

I try not to feel bad though, because I get to spend MOST days shooting through the air in one of the greatest aeroplanes ever designed, looking down on all the other guys on the ground who have to endure "having a job" ALL DAY, with another guy who has to do what I tell him all day long, and going to some pretty wicked places.

[Panama Jack]

Cooly said, Meatservo.

[xsbank]

Hey Meat, sounds like you're living my life! Corporate ain't necessarily any better, as soon as you've been to the same place 47 times or the boss changes his plans three times that same trip, or you've flown 100 hours in the latest chrome-plated zoomy techno-marvel, its just another cubicle that confines you while you do your work, except it moves a bit faster and the recurrent is much more complicated.

[Duncan Idaho]

Fist pump! We win. High five guys LOL.

Seriously though I find it hard to disagree with the writer that we have it good. Come on, do a year of training to get a job flying an automated machine that takes you all over the world, in the safest way possible. And you get to chat away enjoying the scenery, eat some food and sometimes have a nap LOL. Sure sometimes I have to figure out wtf this airplane is doing, but I like that. It doesn't get much better boys, enjoy it.

[mel gibson]

Meatservo ,

Of all of your points I like " morally inferior," and "comments
brushed aside."

Things that pilots require.

We all know of someone who has died in an aviation
accident in their quest to become a " well paid," pilot.

The years of BS that one has done to " make it," are not understood
by basically jealous individuals that do not get it.

F@$? them.

Check out the Canadian College of Pilots website and Operation Orange
website.

[Instructor_Mike]

This article has been leading us to a polarized political discussion but I will try and tread lightly. I'm not a liberal or conservative (at least in the traditional sense) and I think both sides are morons most of the time

Are pilots overpaid? Maybe if you only look at the highest level it may seem like it if you don't consider what it took to get there. (Taiser made this point already) Think about the number of students that want to break into aviation many with 30K-50K+ of debt and many of them could end up no further than McDonald's since there is not a pilot shortage at low levels. Consider too that in many ways we are like doctors with peoples lives in our hands and responsible for what happens (more so maybe if you are a medivac pilot). What about lawyers and CEOs for example, what risks/responsibilities do they have vs doctors, ambulance drivers or pilots?

(Mentioned already but) Does anyone on US Airways Flight 1549 think the crew were overpaid? What about the last time you or a family member went to the doctor?

I'm not the first to say it but low time pilots are our own worst enemy with regards to undercutting or willingness to work a ramp to have the chance at right seat. It's an owners market at the low end and a pilot's market at the high end. With that said, i don't think a union or organization will bring a balance to things. Maybe in a way it's good to test the pilots at low end and see if they are in it for the love of flying or just a paycheck. Not to say that high time pilots shouldn't get what they deserve, far from it. It takes a lot of work and determination to get yourself an ATPL and pilots deserve a reward for that.

I guess my point in the end is that the system isn't ideal but you can't just wave a magic wand to change public opinion or the system. Also any attempt to "fix" the system might only make it worse.

[Flying Nutcracker]

If more pilots had told me the true story about working in the aviation industry, I probably would have focused more on getting a better education and pursued a different career path. I love flying, but it definately has been a rough road!

So maybe, just maybe, the next time I get a chance to talk to an aspiring pilot... I will tell him or her the full truth and not sugar coat their dreams...

[shimmydampner]

It takes a lot of work and determination to get yourself an ATPL and pilots deserve a reward for that.

It takes 1.5 - 2 years experience and a weekend of studying.

[Instructor_Mike]

It takes a lot of work and determination to get yourself an ATPL and pilots deserve a reward for that.

It takes 1.5 - 2 years experience and a weekend of studying.

Once you are working a mid-level flying job maybe but it depends. If you spend a year on a 182 as a jumper dumper or you are a tow pilot flying Day VFR it might take you a while to even be able to afford your IFR (or renewal) plus build the night time and so on.

If you start right seat at 200 total time (after a year of bag throwing maybe) you have a fair bit of PIC time to build.

--edit--

My mistake, I was thinking 50% credit for right seat, but the rule states

421.10 Crediting of Flight Time Acquired by a Co-pilot

The holder of a pilot licence may be credited not more than 50% of co-pilot flight time towards the total flight time required for the issuance of a higher class of pilot licence.

[catan man]

[quote="Meatservo"
I hate having to shave and wear professional clothing, I hate the "safety culture" and I hate the smell of turbine exhaust and rubber, and I hate not being in my house most of the time. I hate hotels and I hate having to watch my language and trying to camouflage my bad attitude.

I agree 100%

When I'm on the ramp and doing my job, I actually get shitty hearing all the fucking aircraft around. Not to mention anything evil enough to have Garrett Engines on them. They're worse than jets. I hate looking at the ramp guy who just wants to walk away after we start up. I always move the plane out of the way, just to not have to look at them with that, (anytime now for @#$! sakes, look on there face.) haha.

[AllClutch]

.

[JDW]

I have a good friend who is as passionate about cooking as I am about aviation. After watching him shell out thousands for 2 years of culinary training, one would assume he would have some ability to be paid a living wage. This is not the case. Out of school, my friend has to work 14 hour days for minimum wage, the hours are odd and unpaid overtime is a standard (or as they say, 'you're expected to stay after and prep food for the next day but they dont pay for that'). Why is my friend willing to do this? According to him, this is the path you must take to become a top chef and he is willing to work for peanuts to gain experience with the best chefs in the best restaurants (sounds like chasing metal ) Over 2 years after graduating, my friend is just starting to make a living wage, but he will still have many years of terrible hours, prep-work, low pay and general disrespect before he gets to the point in his career where he is an executive chef making a good living. Maybe in around 10 years when he gets to that point Dawn can write an article about chefs being the #1 most overpaid.