is an airplane pilot a good job?

It is a tough career. Many through no fault of their own, never get a really good job, or they get a good job, and it is yanked out from under them. So why do people still pay 70 to 150K for the privilege? Because, if you gotta fly, you gotta fly. It is as simple as that. You are either hooked or you are not.

Do not go into this career because of the high paycheck, because it may not be there. I'll say it again, either you are hooked or you are not.

At the top. Our imaginary pilot, soloed in 1992, and about two years later was flying for an express carrier. By 1997 he was flying for the right major airline. Today, he is barely hanging on to his Captain seat in a junior base, works about 18 days a month, but he still makes about 160K. Within 5-10 years, he can probably hold Captain on a wide body and up that paycheck to well over 200K. Assuming that he got out of college in 1991 at the age of 22, he is now 40.

In the middle. This imaginary pilot did all of the same things that the pilot above did, but he chose the wrong major airline. He has been furloughed twice since 9/11, and is still furloughed. He hopes to get called back in the next few years, and then will be a bottom reserve FO, completely at the control of scheduling. When he comes back, he'll be making about 50K.

At the bottom. This imaginary pilot chose a really bad major airline. He is furloughed, has little chance of coming back, is still saddled with 50K of college loans, and 70K of flight school loans, and has a useless Aviation Technology degree. In this job market, he has finally found a job driving a truck. Think I am kidding, I am NOT.

Let's suppose that you have a decent job with a major airline, and have no career worries.

The good:

1) To some degree or another, you control your schedule. The more senior you are, the more that this is true. A junior wide body pilot (Captain or FO) is at the mercy of scheduling, so has no control; however, if this pilot wants that control, he/she can give up a little money, and bid down to equipment/seat where he/she regains control.

2) Pretty good money.

3) Don't like the guy that you are flying with, bid around him next time. Try this with your cube mate at any office in the country.

4) See a lot of the World, albeit often through bleary eyes and on a short layover.

5) Fly and work with some truly dedicated professionals.

6) Believe it or not, a lot of people place airline pilots on a pedestal.

The Bad:

1) You will miss many important events because of flying: birthdays, Christmas, first baseball games, etc.

2) If you make an incorrect choice of spouse, then you will be divorced, maybe more than once. We call this AIDS (Aviation Induced Divorce Syndrome); many pilot are divorced multiple times.

3) It can be lonely on the road. What is there to do on a 15 hour layover. Most go workout, and then go to the bar. I have seen no statistics, but I'd bet that alcohol abuse is high among pilots.

4) The job is very unforgiving. In almost any other endeavor, you can make major screw ups either professionally or in your personal life, and recover. Major screw ups in the airplane, and people die or aluminum is bent. Bent aluminum is almost always a career ender. Personal screw ups can also end your career.

In the end, it is either in your blood or it is not. If it is not, then stay away---you will be one miserable SOB. If it is in your blood, then you just gotta be there. I'm reminded of an an old joke:

The guy who empties the honey buckets (lavatory) on the airplanes comes home from work one night covered in "honey" and dog tired, complaining about the long days, the heat, the stench, and his maniacal boss. His wife says, "Why don't you quit that job?" His response, "What, and get out of aviation!"

Hope this helps.

2

Its a great job, but there aren't very many openings at the moment with all of the budget cuts, and cutting back on the flights. There has been pilots who work for several companies just so they can get paid enough. Not to crush your dream but i would find something more readily available.

Well, that could really depend.

There are many jobs you can have as a commercial pilot.

Jobs like regional pilot, flight instructor, and jump pilots can bring in as low as 25000 dollars yearly!

However, as you start to log time you will get to move onto bigger jobs and can go as high as 200,000 dollars.

Hope that this helped!

YES. It is fun, and you get paid to see the world. Flying domestically for Air New Zealand pilots get paid at the lowest about $70,000 NZD. As the routes increase, and plane size increase, the pay increases as well, to about $200,000 NZD and even MORE!!!!!

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Most pilots barely earn any money.

Apparantly they make pretty good money, the starting wage is not bad, and it steadily increases as you gain more experience.

You probably have to have a lot of patience, and be able to handle a lot of pressure.

I don't know I always hear about them going on strike for more money...

IT WILL MAKE YOU ABOUT $50,000 TO $100,00