Describe the life of an airline pilot?

Question

Describe the life of an airline pilot?

Answer 1

--A ride from w***e to w***e.

Answer 2

Definitely not what it used to be unfortunately. Being an airline pilot nowadays is just above average. It's not as glamorous as you think.

Answer 3

United Airlines and Delta Air Lines, long considered the most prestigious and lucrative employers, have slashed their pilot payscales and benefits in the face of fierce competition from low-cost carriers. In fact, Southwest Airlines captains and first officers both start off with significantly higher salaries than the legacy carriers. As of May 2004, median annual earnings of airline pilots, copilots, and flight engineers were $129,250. [2] However, such salaries represent the upper level of airline pay scales. Salaries at regional airlines can be considerably less - though according to the Bureau of Labor statistics, median annual earnings of commercial pilots were $53,870, with the middle 50 percent earning between $37,170 and $79,390. [3] Pilots making very large salaries are typically senior airline captains, while pilots making very small salaries are generally low-seniority first officers. In practice, most pilots make reasonable average working salaries. A large variability in salaries can easily skew an average. Thus, the use of median wages to gauge such things as salary. Where large gaps are seen between a median figure, and a lower bound figure, this usually reflects those who don't stay in that particular field. Viewing this middle ground in context to the upper bound numbers can give a burgeoning pilot an idea of what to expect if they are able to stay with flying as a full time career. Based upon voluntary pilot reports, many US airline payscales are listed here: [4]. Most airline pilots are unionized, with the Air Line Pilot's Association(ALPA) being the largest pilot labor union in the United States.

In the United States, due to pay cuts, airline bankruptcies, and other industry problems there are fewer young people who want to make a career out of flying. First year pilots at AMR Corporation's outsourced operation called American Connection which is flown by Trans States Airlines, would only see $22,000 a year if they could pick up and fit into their schedule, all the extra flying allowed under federal FAA rules.[5]

Commercial airline pilots in the United States have a mandatory retirement age of 65, increased from age 60 in 2007

Answer 4

That is a pretty big question. Do you have any specific thing you want to know? Like days off, pay, how long does marriage last. E-mail if you have specific questions. To be general I would say it is still the best job in the world.

Answer 5

Getting paid to fly from bar to bar.