Cat Driver wrote:You are basing the above pay on a eight hour duty day, 160 hours per month?I say it depends where you are flying hours per month etc.
flying a Husky should be worth $30.-$40. an hour now days.
An experienced bell 206 pilot with 1000 plus hours on type should get $70.00 per hour based on 600 hours a year.
Husky pilot $76,800 per year.
Bell 206 pilot $134,400 per year.
Yet you feel a turbine Otter pilot is worth over $200,000 a year and should be paid more than an airline Captain?
You have some interesting ideas on pilot pay, what exactly is your background to come to these conclusions?
Cat Driver,
I’m not basing the pay on a eight hour duty day, who in their right mine would pay a Husky driver 76,800 per a year unless it was somewhere like Afghanistan don’t twist things around. I’m talking gross wages divided into hours flown (flight pay) same with the Bell 206 $60,000 to $70,000 per year is not bad for a beginner. As for the $200,000 for the Turbine Otter I was only trying to prove a point Bush Pilots pay is very low compared to other skilled jobs, the salaries is moving up but if a Airline want the best out there they will need to pay more, that goes for all Aviation companies.
As for my back ground I do have aviation background, My dad a Pilot for over 50 years flew during WW2 and a retired Boeing 747 captain, after retirement flew in Alaska for a few seasons on Bush aircraft he always said Bush flying was risky, over 500 pilots lost their life flying up there over the years, there been a few along the coast of British Columbia over the years as well. I have a brother who is a crane operator in the oil path who earn almost $400,000 per year with plenty time off. I have flying experience too but only a few thousand hours scattered over many years.
Margaret.
