Pilot Shortage?

The normal path for a fledgling airline pilot is to build his/her hours-traditionally as a CFI for pitifully low pay-and get a job with a regional carrier. That new first officer had an average starting pay in the mid-$20/hour range just a few years ago, before the hype of the pilot shortage. Second-year pay jumped nicely, sometimes as much as 50%, but then it stagnated at a few percent a year. A fifth-year first officer might have been making into $40-some/hour.

Frank Bowlin

Sunday, September 16, 2018 at 12:00 AM ET

Verified

Key Takeaways:

The apparent "pilot shortage" is primarily a "pay shortage," as regional airline pilots endure very low starting wages (mid-$20s/hour) which translate to low annual salaries (mid-$30K/year) since they are only paid for flight hours.
Even after progressing to captain at regional carriers, pilot compensation often remains significantly lower than other professions with similar educational and training requirements.
While senior captains at major airlines can earn substantial salaries, this is not the norm, and many pilots, even at majors, earn under $75K annually.
Southwest Airlines, a low-cost carrier, demonstrates that high pilot pay is achievable even with competitive ticket prices, suggesting that airline management practices significantly influence compensation levels.

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The aviation press has covered the present pilot shortage in some detail. One aspect, however, that hasn’t received a lot of coverage is pilot pay. Some cynics in the know have long claimed that we don’t have a pilot shortage, we have a pay shortage, and there’s a lot of truth to that.

The normal path for a fledgling airline pilot is to build his/her hours—traditionally as a CFI for pitifully low pay—and get a job with a regional carrier. That new first officer had an average starting pay in the mid-$20/hour range just a few years ago, before the hype of the pilot shortage. Second-year pay jumped nicely, sometimes as much as 50%, but then it stagnated at a few percent a year. A fifth-year first officer might have been making into $40-some/hour.