What is $ 4000.00 / month

The Aviator · Post by **The Aviator** » Tue Feb 27, 2007 9:10 pm

Okay, sounds good, someone's gonna pay you 4 grand a month to fly their Beaver/Otter/etc. So, $ 4000 salery per month works out to $131.51/day. Odds are your working/flying an average of 8 hours a day.
So that works out to $16.44 an hour. Odds are you've been in the business for 3-5 years if someone is actually letting you fly the "Heavy" bush stuff. But hey, it is the Glory of flying a 50 year old float plane. Don't take me wrong, there is nothing like bombing around the middle of nowhere taking people fishing/hunting etc. How about those evening trips home when the radio is quiet, air is calm and the sun is setting in the distance. Stuff like that makes one forget about lots of things, including that we are commercial pilots, flying commercial airplanes and every aspect of the flight is in our hands. I guess $16 bucks an hour is okay.

Well , my kitchen sink has sprung a leak, hope I can find a plumber for under 30-40 dollars an hour!

Crazymax · Post by **Crazymax** » Tue Feb 27, 2007 9:11 pm

4000 a month works out to be 48 000 a year, which is good I think...

Max

fougner · Post by **fougner** » Tue Feb 27, 2007 9:25 pm

sky's the limit · Post by **sky's the limit** » Tue Feb 27, 2007 9:50 pm

"What is $4000/mo?"

Base Pay? To be added to Flight Pay, Away From Base Pay, and Per Diem???

STL

boeingboy · Post by **boeingboy** » Tue Feb 27, 2007 10:10 pm

$4000/month is not bad for starters.

Nice try.
Your not going to work 8 hrs a day for 30 days straight. So your hourly wage is higher than that.

200hr Wonder · Post by **200hr Wonder** » Tue Feb 27, 2007 10:33 pm

Based on a standard 2000 hour work year (50 weeks @ 40 hours a week) that comes out to $24 an hour... I get more than that to fix computers and be surly to people... I think I am worth more when my skill and ability means the difference between people getting safely where they want to go or ending up at the bottom of a lake...

Not that skill was an issue in Widow's case... but I hope you can see my point. Also not that a life is worth any amount of money.

xsbank · Post by **xsbank** » Tue Feb 27, 2007 10:53 pm

I don't think its enough. I used to fly part-time on a Beav for that, but I had a real job too. I hope you have medical/dental and life insurance?

Just kidding.

CARS 602.03 · Post by **CARS 602.03** » Wed Feb 28, 2007 12:59 am

you may not fly 8 hours/day, but when you're sitting around the base or doing the extra odds jobs you're still working. And after it's all said and done your primary job title is still a pilot. So $16/hr it is.

twotter · Post by **twotter** » Wed Feb 28, 2007 2:28 am

A lot of companies out here on the wet coast are now paying by the duty hour. If you show up for work, you get paid, whether you work or not, this is a far better way to do it and they pay overtime (time and a half) IAW the canada labour code.. It's also far safer because if the weather is dogshit, you do not feel pressured by finances to make the trip..

invertedattitude · Post by **invertedattitude** » Wed Feb 28, 2007 7:12 am

Is that gross or net/

bandit1 · Post by **bandit1** » Wed Feb 28, 2007 7:26 am

it's only seasonal. that's the problem.

185_guy · Post by **185_guy** » Wed Feb 28, 2007 7:57 am

I think I am worth more when my skill and ability means the difference between people getting safely where they want to go or ending up at the bottom of a lake...

We could go on and on about this point......what about the guy working at Midas fixing my car's brakes..........the list could go on and on....

Dont get me wrong, i want to make as much money as i can, but we are worth a certian amount to our bosses, and thats it. I hope everyone can talk a nice raise out of 'em, but there is only so much money to go around......and i think there is way more in oil and gas, computers, construction.......

200hr Wonder · Post by **200hr Wonder** » Wed Feb 28, 2007 8:06 am

Hey 185_guy.... the guy fixing your breaks get about $30 an hour provided he has his apprenticeship, and this is for a fresh one not a guy with experience.

Human Factor · Post by **Human Factor** » Wed Feb 28, 2007 10:03 am

200hr Wonder wrote:Hey 185_guy.... the guy fixing your breaks get about $30 an hour provided he has his apprenticeship, and this is for a fresh one not a guy with experience.

And the irony is that the guy fixing the brakes on the airplane you're flying is only making $20/hr. How safe does that make you feel?

Dust Devil · Post by **Dust Devil** » Wed Feb 28, 2007 10:39 am

Human Factor wrote:
200hr Wonder wrote:Hey 185_guy.... the guy fixing your breaks get about $30 an hour provided he has his apprenticeship, and this is for a fresh one not a guy with experience.
And the irony is that the guy fixing the brakes on the airplane you're flying is only making $20/hr. How safe does that make you feel?

pay a retard $20/hr or $600/hr you still have a retard. Pay a good mechanic $20/hr or $600/hr you still have a good mechanic. If an owner can get someone to fill the job for a given dollar then good for them. Not everyone needs the same pay to live a happy life, some are quite content to get by on less. The market dictates pay.

sky's the limit · Post by **sky's the limit** » Wed Feb 28, 2007 10:42 am

Dust Devil wrote:The market dictates pay.

And we all know how F'd up this market is... So the pay stays low.

STL

bandit1 · Post by **bandit1** » Wed Feb 28, 2007 10:52 am

it's not like you're gonna pile the bitch up in firey ball of flames in some forest cuz you where only making 4 grand a month.

If you're a good pilot, you won't fly any better or worse depending on how much you are getting paid. You might care a little less about not shock cooling it but just remember who's ass is in the drivers seat for the rest of the summer.

I personnally would rarely go out of my way to help an employer who is underpaying me. There is no busting minimums to get into some shithole or even just taking a peek 50ft lower. Even if all the other guys are getting in. I'm paid to go to minimums, not an inch lower.

I'm not saying that for 220,000$ a year I'll get in no matter what but for those employers that pay their pilots the same as a McDonald's employee, don't expect any favors.

Cat Driver · Post by **Cat Driver** » Wed Feb 28, 2007 12:14 pm

So now pay determines who busts limits?

Then by logic a bush pilot will overload the airplane in relation to how much they get paid?

bandit1 · Post by **bandit1** » Wed Feb 28, 2007 12:17 pm

No,
but there are tons of guys flying around up north going way out of the way (if you know what I mean) for companies that don't pay industry standard.

redbeard · Post by **redbeard** » Wed Feb 28, 2007 12:23 pm

Take a look what people are making outside of being a pro pilot. Take a look at any experienced tradesperson and they are all making about 80,000 per year. Unfortunatly 40,000 per year really isnt a whole lot of money anymore. Try and get a mortgage with that with house prices the way they are now a days.

200hr Wonder · Post by **200hr Wonder** » Wed Feb 28, 2007 12:41 pm

bandit1 wrote:it's not like you're gonna pile the bitch up in firey ball of flames in some forest cuz you where only making 4 grand a month.

If you're a good pilot, you won't fly any better or worse depending on how much you are getting paid. You might care a little less about not shock cooling it but just remember who's ass is in the drivers seat for the rest of the summer.

I personnally would rarely go out of my way to help an employer who is underpaying me. There is no busting minimums to get into some shithole or even just taking a peek 50ft lower. Even if all the other guys are getting in. I'm paid to go to minimums, not an inch lower.

I'm not saying that for 220,000$ a year I'll get in no matter what but for those employers that pay their pilots the same as a McDonald's employee, don't expect any favors.

For me if I am getting good money I will bend over backwards to help out an employer, I will go above and beyond... fix there computers, make the website nice, paint the freaking hanger if I am getting the respect and the pay I deserve because the extra helps me out, I like to show people a good website, I like to work with good running computers and go to work in a nice fresh looking hanger. If all I am getting is a crap wage then all the employeris going to get is what is in the employment contract and not a millimeter more. If it says I work 80 hours per pay period you can bet I am going to work exactly 80 hours, and if it says I start at 0800 I will be ready to work at 0800 and go home to the minute of when I am suppose to regardless of what is happening. More money more respect gets you more effort that simple.

185_guy · Post by **185_guy** » Wed Feb 28, 2007 12:47 pm

Hey 185_guy.... the guy fixing your breaks get about $30 an hour provided he has his apprenticeship, and this is for a fresh one not a guy with experience.

Holy Jesus Joseph and Mary!! I dont doubt that somewhere on this greened grass planet of ours someone is getting that, but not everywhere!!!
My VW mechanic in NS charges a shop rate.....shop rate of $45 an hour. Has 2 bays. 3 mechanics working. Those guys dont get paid no $30 an hour!!
My father is a self employed cabinet maker/finish carpenter. He charges himself out at $27 an hour, + a fuel surcharge for his truck gas. That $27/hr pays all the bills for the shop, house, put food on the table, car payments, etc......

Like i said before,

Dont get me wrong, i want to make as much money as i can, but we are worth a certian amount to our bosses, and thats it. I hope everyone can talk a nice raise out of 'em, but there is only so much money to go around......and i think there is way more in oil and gas, computers, construction.......

And of course it depends on where you are too......
The more you make, the more you spend, the more you need.......you never get farther ahead!!
Ahhh, to be back on the east coast, where a million dollars goes as far as a million should!!

Pete · Post by **Pete** » Wed Feb 28, 2007 5:02 pm

4000 a month works out to be 48 000 a year, which is good I think...

Yeah that sounds amazing...if it was 12 months a year.

sky's the limit · Post by **sky's the limit** » Wed Feb 28, 2007 5:08 pm

Pete wrote:
4000 a month works out to be 48 000 a year, which is good I think...
Yeah that sounds amazing...if it was 12 months a year.

I hate to break it to you Pete, but $48,000 Gross is NOT good money in 2007. And as a seasonal wage, it's really not good.

We have to change this idea that money like that is good - it's not. For a full-time pilot working full time hours, imho it's just not enough.

STL

Pete · Post by **Pete** » Wed Feb 28, 2007 5:33 pm

Your right and I honestly thought about it after I clicked Post (thinking about it broken down to an hourly rate). I made 15 cutting lawn, go figure...thinking like that it is very pathetic. I dont know much about the pay thing, but odds are if your on an otter or beaver you got some exeperience. How come pilots aren't treated like firefighters and any other profession that deals and handles human life I dont get...I guess we brought it on...evident in my post.

Let me ask you seasoned float guys...how old are these bush drivers in todays north? My reasoning behind thinking 48K is good is that, Im young, and to me 48 is not too bad because Im sure my bosses have always nickled and dimed me.

If you get a young person whose never worked anywhere other than fast food for minimum wage and does the flying thing...spends a couple years on the dock/flying and then earns 48...too him thats a jackpot. I cant imagine the older population of pilots settling for that...if there are any older bush pilots up there?

I dont think its just flying though, where you have young kids put in a place to work, regardless of the job they won't get paid what they're worth. Too many frugle phucktard employers aviation and non in this here country.