Continental Airline Tickets

Why can a person make more at Burger King than an Airline pilot?

Among the headlines: The flight's 24-year-old first officer, Rebecca Shaw, earned less than $17,000 in 2008, her first year on the job with Colgan Airlines, the Manassas, Va.-based carrier that flies regionally for Continental, US Airways, and United. She earns $8.25 cents an hour to fly an airliner.

Public Comments

1. Yeah, and she wasn't very good at it either!
2. what newspaper did you see this article in?
3. It was Ronald Reagan's idea. It's called the Unregulated Business Environment. It's also called Capitalism. Works every time, right?
4. I hate when people criticize pilots who were involved in an accident like they even realize what it takes to be a pilot! She was a good pilot I believe but what we know is she wasn't experienced in icing conditions. One can argue that why would an airline put 2 green pilots in such conditions? so before you open your big foot-in-the mouth think? don't act like an irrational animal. Now, to answer your question, it's pathetic that the regional airlines pay pilots so low regardless of their low time experience, it's just unacceptable! Blame the deregulation first. Secondly, new rules and regulations need to be implemented to correct this situation. Regional airlines take advantage of the fact that these pilots come to get their experience before opting for the major airlines, so knowing that they're a "stepping stone" for these pilots, they pay them low, and make tons of profits without regards to other factors such as the safety of passengers, well being of these pilots etc
5. If you had taken the time to read more and understand. You would have seen that she makes $23 an hour, but only gets 70 or less hours a month. This is standard for regional airlines that pay pilots by the hour. as opposed to Major carriers that pay a salary based on aircraft and seniority. It also said she work another part time job and lived with her parents to make ends meet. Its called "Paying your dues" just like any other job, you have to start at the bottom.
6. Sad thing is if all the hospitals banded together and said all new doctors will make poverty wages for the first 4 years they are employed (keep in mind it takes similar amount of debt to be an airline pilot, 40,000 in flight training on top of a 4 year degree) people would freak out to learn the doctor that treated them was making 20 grand a year, 90 thousand dollars in debt, moonlighting as a bar tender to pay rent and had 4 hours of sleep the night before after closing down the bar at 2am. Regional pilots have made poverty wages for years. It isn't right and I'm not agreeing with it, but the truth is when most people buy their ticket they don't care. Lowest price wins. An extra 5 dollars per ticket? Most people feel just fine saving the 5 bucks.
7. Folks, there are some real world lessons to be learned. First, no one is FORCED to become a regional airline pilot. And the pay scales are well known via a number of online sources. I was a regional pilot for 10 years, and no one frog-marched me to the interview. I took it on because I wanted to fly. Crappy wages. Yep. Crummy schedules? Yep, until I got some seniority. Then a base change or aircraft deletion throws that in the air. Part of the game. No one lied to me about the pay or working conditions. Should it be better? Yes, but ticket prices will increase, and Peter Passenger says he'll spend $5 more on a ticket till it happens, then loads start to drop off... Safety is NOT connected to how much a pilot is paid. In 23 years as a Captain, management pilot, simulator and ground instructor, check airman and line pilot for three airlines, choosing to fly at a regional with its pluses and minuses is ..what's the PC phrase... a "lifestyle choice", and I have flown with excellent airmen and minimally qualified pilots, but the size of the paycheck had NOTHING to do with how professionally they flew. Triple-A ballplayers are a good parallel. They put up with abominable conditions, knowing that they may never make it to the "bigs" because they love baseball, and there is always the chance. No one herded them into a cattle car to join up... I would like to see regional pilots make more money, but who's gonna pay for it? The government? Oh, swell, yet another nanny state solution... EDIT - One final rant - when a crash occurs, the pilot's final actions on this earth are placed under a microscope by a media (most of whom couldn't tell a Cessna 152 from a Boeing 737) in full feeding frenzy mode. They become the anointed "experts", and readers who have NO idea what they're talking about become "Instant airline pilots", bloviating with the luxury of 20/20 hindsight, sitting in a warm BarcaLounger with a glass of Chardonnay as they post their opinions (thankfully few on this site). How would you like one of your screwups at work posted in the national media in similar excruciating detail? End of rant.
8. Actually the reegional pilot's earn $17 an hour, but can only fly for a max of 1,000 hours a year for safety reasons. The second year in the business, it nearly doubbles to $25 an hour. The first year is you trial. The tiniest mistake, and some of the other 200 people applying for your job will get it. THe next year it goes to $30, then increases by 5 until you get to $40. Now you become a captain andcan make up to $70 This is a regional airline. No pilot over the age of 40 works there. Regional airlines are a place to fly small jets, with minimal people, short distances inorder to gain money for the $200 an hour big shots.
9. Supply and demand. Nobody dreams of working at Burger King, but quite a few people dream of being an airline pilot. This allows airlines to get away with paying pilots low salaries. Many pilots would work for nothing if forced to and if they could survive that way. As it is, often pilots accept very low salaries just so that they can fulfill their dreams of flying. As long as there are people who love to fly, this type of situation will continue to exist. Keep in mind that paying higher salaries would not guarantee better pilots, it would just improve the living standards of existing pilots. It's hard to live on less than $17,000 a year, so a higher salary might generate less stress for a pilot. But paying $170,000 a year would not turn a bad pilot into a good one. In this case, the pilots were inadequately trained with inadequate experience. Paying them more would not have changed that. Higher airline standards and better training would have changed that. There is some evidence that their basic piloting skills (or at least those of the captain) may not have been that good, which cannot necessarily be fixed with training or money. Fatigue might have been a factor, and that again is the airline's problem, although they seem to have had enough energy to chat during the flight, even though it's against regulations. We won't know the cause of the accident for sure until the final report is out (and perhaps not even then), but whatever that cause may be, the salaries of the pilots are unlikely to be a factor.