Parents don't send your kids to flight school

This forum has been developed to discuss flight instruction/University and College programs.

Moderators: sky's the limit, sepia, Sulako, Right Seat Captain, lilfssister, North Shore

iflymax
Rank 0
Rank 0
Posts: 3
Joined: Sat Apr 02, 2022 7:15 pm

Re: Parents don't send your kids to flight school

Post by iflymax »

Yes, it's a grind, and I am all for working hard and earning your seat and responsibilities. No reasonable person expects to make over 100k on the first day out of school, but let's ask the kid/parent how many years is too many? Every pilot that enters the airlines should start at that amount, in my opinion, but it's far from it, and that's a fact.

When I was 19, in flight school, I did not think/know it would take 10-15 years of sticking it out to get over 100,000CAD, which is the point that's being brought up.
Again if aviation floats your boat (not literally, as boats are out of reach for a long while), ask yourself and your parents if they think an average of 50,000CAD a year for 10-15 years after flight school is reasonable. As a naive student, I did not understand what 40-50K a year would buy me. I was too busy grinding to think of money. Now, in my 30s, I know the truth. I have nothing to show for it but a nice uniform and a rusty 2005 Mazda 3 (again...thanks mom, you are the best).

Being a Captain for a major airline is a more comfortable lifestyle? Yes. But to say that things will turn out good is a promise I am not relying on.
"then we woke up all it once and realized that it was starting to turn out good."
Turn out good, as you say, is perspective. I have yet to speak to an FO that has been in the industry for 10-15 years that will say that we are doing ok.
Having the companies break us apart as a group is a pressure I am surrendering to, and should I vote with all my power for the next generation's pay cut and my pay raise as an FO because I've been destitute for years now? As they say, pilots have been "eating their young" for decades now. We are not in the same boat, and I would like the intended audience to hear about the long grind we face before jumping in the left seat at the majors.

Computer programmers and pilots have different skill sets and entry barriers to high-paying jobs. Maybe programmers have certain talents and skills that we don't have and vice versa. The conversation isn't about other professions, 5-10 years minimum experience to get to a major airline. It's shameful to have 10+ years of experience for the "opportunity" to work for a major airline and get the same pay as a CPL swinging bags up north for the privilege to maybe fly one day. Tell me you don't want better for the next generation of pilots and potentially your kids than the embarrassing reality of our compensation.

Were things the same 30 years ago? Anybody who thinks so is out of touch, and that is exactly why this discussion needs to happen.

Industry representatives have openly said that there will always be "downward pressure on our wages" if the people that have "made it" are saying this, then those just starting out need to listen. Because if the last 25 years have been any indication of what the future holds, wages have been systematically suppressed and things aren't as good as they used to be. Not to mention inflation, cost of housing etc. Things won't be better, let alone as good as they were, unless salaries go up across the board. The industry has taken advantage of pilots' "passion for flying" and used it against us quietly and overtly for decades now, and it's those just coming up that are paying the price for this complacency. Unless windfall gains are made, those "young bucks" (and does) considering a future in aviation will be lucky to have it as "good" as we have it today.

Call me a cry baby. Call me an idiot. I can take it. What I know is that I love the day-to-day this job offers, but the future doesn't look as bright as it was illustrated in the flight school pamphlets, and change is past due.

Make decisions with your eyes open.

Choose wisely
---------- ADS -----------
 
digits_
Top Poster
Top Poster
Posts: 5919
Joined: Mon Feb 14, 2011 2:26 am

Re: Parents don't send your kids to flight school

Post by digits_ »

iflymax wrote: Mon Apr 25, 2022 1:09 pm The conversation isn't about other professions
It really is. Pilots who decide not to fly anymore, are going to other professions. The attractiveness of those professions will directly influence the salary and quality of life the remaining pilots have.

Compare it to a non-unionized 703. When people leave in droves, that's when situations approve. When I left a medevac job, I was making 55k. That job now pays over 80k. Colleagues at other companies make 100k+. Only took a few years. For every pilot that leaves, the pilots who stay, reap the benefits.

Once you make it to the airline level, the most feasible way out, is by leaving the industry. I made that jump as well. And my first day, I made more than what 10 years of seniority at my aviation job would have given me. If more people did this -and I believe they will-, conditions at airlines and other companies will improve.
---------- ADS -----------
 
As an AvCanada discussion grows longer:
-the probability of 'entitlement' being mentioned, approaches 1
-one will be accused of using bad airmanship
Post Reply

Return to “Flight Training”