No offense to cab drivers, but airline pilots should earn more than they do. Right now, many don’t.
Uber drivers in New York City make $90,000 a year, while first-year pilots for regional carriers earn an average of $22,400. A pilot with a family could be on food stamps or working two jobs. A once-glamorous profession, commercial aviation has been battered by terrorism, poor management, and cost cutting.
After losing billions of dollars in the decade after 9/11, the fortunes of U.S. airlines are improving. They collected $7.3 billion in profit last year, thanks to lower fuel costs. Instead of giving passengers more snacks, they should invest in their safety with better pay for pilots.
Pilot compensation has declined 10 percent since 2000, even as the training required of pilots has increased, along with its cost. The Federal Aviation Administration now requires pilots on commercial airliners to have 1,500 hours of flying experience, up from 250. The cost of obtaining those hours, plus a four-year aviation degree, exceeds $100,000.
While seasoned captains at major airlines earn more than that, more than half of the flights in the United States are through regional carriers. With their comparably dismal pay, a lot of men and women in the cockpit worry not just about wing icing, but also how to pay their heating bills.
As the United States loses experienced pilots to better-paying foreign airlines, a Government Accountability Office report says fewer people are entering the profession. They can’t reconcile the cost of training with years of low wages.
U.S. airlines lost $63 billion in the eight years after 9/11. It will take years of profit, not a few good quarters, to recover from that hit. They’re hindered by consumers who revel in cheap flights booked online. The average fare in the third quarter of 2014 was $396; in 1980, it was $600.
Even so, airlines are expected to earn more than $7 per passenger in 2015, up from $5.42 a year ago. Improved pilot pay is up to them. No matter how skillful the landing, cramped passengers in economy class aren’t going to leave tips.
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Pilots’ low pay - Toledo BladeUber drivers in New York City make $90,000 a year, while first-year pilots for regional carriers earn an average of $22,400. A pilot with a family could be on food stamps or working two jobs. A once-glamorous profession, commercial aviation has been battered by terrorism, poor management, and cost cutting.
After losing billions of dollars in the decade after 9/11, the fortunes of U.S. airlines are improving. They collected $7.3 billion in profit last year, thanks to lower fuel costs. Instead of giving passengers more snacks, they should invest in their safety with better pay for pilots.
Pilot compensation has declined 10 percent since 2000, even as the training required of pilots has increased, along with its cost. The Federal Aviation Administration now requires pilots on commercial airliners to have 1,500 hours of flying experience, up from 250. The cost of obtaining those hours, plus a four-year aviation degree, exceeds $100,000.
While seasoned captains at major airlines earn more than that, more than half of the flights in the United States are through regional carriers. With their comparably dismal pay, a lot of men and women in the cockpit worry not just about wing icing, but also how to pay their heating bills.
As the United States loses experienced pilots to better-paying foreign airlines, a Government Accountability Office report says fewer people are entering the profession. They can’t reconcile the cost of training with years of low wages.
U.S. airlines lost $63 billion in the eight years after 9/11. It will take years of profit, not a few good quarters, to recover from that hit. They’re hindered by consumers who revel in cheap flights booked online. The average fare in the third quarter of 2014 was $396; in 1980, it was $600.
Even so, airlines are expected to earn more than $7 per passenger in 2015, up from $5.42 a year ago. Improved pilot pay is up to them. No matter how skillful the landing, cramped passengers in economy class aren’t going to leave tips.
Read more at:
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