How much does a Pilot make in a year????

[Busher]

I think anyone trained to take up so many souls to 30,000' and get them to point "B" is deserving of a good paycheck. Unfortunately its a cut throat, competitive business.

"Sully" didnt get lucky. He was ex-USAF and had thousands of flight hours under him. He was a mission commander at Red Flag exercises and was a top F-4 Phantom stick. Hell I might have seen him as our service coincided. He was also a flight instructor and safety officer. You couldnt have asked for a better Pilot when those engines failed.

I agree completely about Sully. Apparently you missed my sarcasm. He was trained like me, in the old days of the apprenticeship. Sadly, those days too are passing rapidly.

[Serenity]

Well, I make about $44K after taxes, lol, which is a LOT less than I thought it would be in college...

[ghi]

 The FAA classifies pilots as "occupational radiation workers." 
 I remember watching this video, made by NASA; about airline pilots exposure to solar and cosmic radiation; interesting the companies are still pushing flight paths through weaker protective magnetic field over the North Pole to save tens of thousands in fuel ,  higher dose is absorbed by passengers and crew; 

http://science.nasa.gov/science-news/science-at-nasa/2013/25oct_aviationswx/

NAIRAS website shows the dose daily;
http://sol.spacenvironment.net/raps_ops/current_files/globeView.html

[Traveler]

Alright, you win. Lets go back to the US mail flying days post world war I.

Let the boss dictate our pay. Hell, any money is better than none. Pilots are just over paid bus drivers anyway. The automation does all the work. Sullenberger just got lucky.

Let the boss dictate if the plane is safe and well maintained. The FAA watches them closely don't they? LOL

Let the boss decide if the weather is safe to fly. The airline even says "your safety is our top priority".

And if you don't like it, there's a ton of pilots at the door willing to do what you won't.

If the billionaire execs are always going to win, why fight it?

You got it wrong again, I never purposed that any Pilot wanted to give up the responsibility for flight safety, that always has and still remains in the cockpit.  I just stated  a fact, the International Association of Machinists (IAM) made it impossible for Eastern to operate, that union lost sight of the larger picture and forgot who they were representing.  Instead of helping their members, they continued to hold out long after the Pilots and Flight Attendants had reached agreements with Eastern.  As a result Eastern folded .  I and no one that I ever flew with ever flew in unsafe conditions, I always had the right equipment for the mission at hand.  I flew the shuttle for many years EWR , DCA, EWR, BOS, EWR and canceled or delayed trips when weather required it. No one ever said a thing. Did I feel a responsibility to the company, sure, that's why they paid me a very nice salary.  But Safety was first.  After all I wanted to go home at the end of the day.

[Rich46yo]

I agree completely about Sully. Apparently you missed my sarcasm. He was trained like me, in the old days of the apprenticeship. Sadly, those days too are passing rapidly.

I must have. Actually I agree with you that pilots of people movers arent as good as in days of yore. To much automation. Once the plane is up it damn near flys itself and there just isnt a whole lot of "flying" done anymore.

[Traveler]

I must have. Actually I agree with you that pilots of people movers arent as good as in days of yore. To much automation. Once the plane is up it damn near flys itself and there just isnt a whole lot of "flying" done anymore.

That's an issue that's been building for many years.  Most of the majors have very capable auto-pilots with auto-throttles and company rules that insist that they be engaged very soon after takeoff and not disengaged until just before landing or perhaps not at all.  That leaves very little time for actual hand flying which can become a problem for guys needing to do annual or six month checks. 

[earl1937]

I must have. Actually I agree with you that pilots of people movers arent as good as in days of yore. To much automation. Once the plane is up it damn near flys itself and there just isnt a whole lot of "flying" done anymore.

My feelings are one of the minority I suppose! People who fly the "left" seat with anyone but himself on board, should be one who is flying because he loves to fly, not fly just to make X amount of dollars!
the problem comes from identify those people!
I spent my time as a CFI, just like a lot of other people and this is what I found:
People who  want to learn to fly fall into 3 categories!

1- Those that are trying to prove something to themselves

2- Those that are trying to prove something to everybody else

3- Those that loved the challenge of flying successfully

It pretty easy to see which of the three made the "best" pilots! Of course the hardest challenge is to decide how each would handle a "real" emergency, after all, most everyone can fly as long as things work like they are suppose to!!! 

[Flench]

FED X Pilots , make $250,000 a year .

[Rich46yo]

Actually Earl my comments were made about the technology of the new airliners and the insistence on the companys to get them from A to B using as little fuel as possible. Ive met ex-Pilots who quit flying the new Gen and moved on to other spots because the automation just was sucking the Love of flying out of them. I'll add these types always end up in a personal prop plane of their own, or maybe co-owned with another. In your day Pilots really "flew".

Be that as it may it still amazes me they can pull off what they do in a major airport with so few problems. A testament to the men and woman involved.

[Golfer]

FED X Pilots , make $250,000 a year .

That's a very broad brush.  You don't hire on at that amount and I wouldn't be so sure about that number for anyone with less than 15 years of service.

[Flench]

That's a very broad brush.  You don't hire on at that amount and I wouldn't be so sure about that number for anyone with less than 15 years of service.

I did a brick job for a man who was a pilot there in Memphis and that's what he told me . I would not think he would lie to me . He had been there 10 year's at that time he said .

[Golfer]

I did a brick job for a man who was a pilot there in Memphis and that's what he told me . I would not think he would lie to me . He had been there 10 year's at that time he said .

The higher seniority folks who hold Captain spots and the longevity that comes with it will make that much.  It'll take a little while to get there.

[Flench]

Got a friend that drives one of there trucks just around town and he started out at 50K a year .

[SysError]

Got a friend that drives one of there trucks just around town and he started out at 50K a year .

He'll be OK until Google takes his job.

[Flench]

He'll be OK until Google takes his job.

No joke . I quit using them . Price for shipping is to darn high .