Challenging environment

Ok, as some of you have pointed out, not every pilot is driving a nice pretty car. I was not generalizing but rather speaking of my own experience. And as long time readers might know, Chuck and Julio get a lot of their ideas from some of my personal experiences and not the news.
Also, want to lay the rumors to rest that Chuck is done with his Corsair just to buy a car. Chuck can do both. Knowing Chuck, this car may be leased and if you think about it, he hasn’t spent all that much money on his Corsair quite yet. He is still missing a motor and has accumulated a bunch of stuff from junk yards so far, boosted by some gifts from his airline-pilot-uncle Ed. Don’t worry aviation fans, we were just working on a possible B-Story Line we can use every now and then.

One of you, a copilot of a regional airline, commented on the last strip that he was driving a tiny car with 280,000 miles on it. I feel like I want to address this post personally. The official Chicken Wings position (well, mine for sure, … so at least 50% of Chicken Wings) on what co-pilots are making in this country is a crime in our minds. We have addressed this many times in the past and it is near and dear to my heart. And one thing we feel we can do and have done is bringing more awareness to this issue. I believe that any pilot who put in many years of training and spent many years of eating Ramen Noodles taking out multiple loans in a lot of cases having peoples lives in his hands, should make more money than a teenager flipping burgers at Mickey D’s …

Tagged with: , ,
7 comments on “Challenging environment
  1. Trantor says:

    That´s turbocapitalism for you. Too much pilots – low(est) wages. Pork cycle galore.

    But the worst is the media, especially here in Germany: (Lufthansa-)Pilots are WAAAAAY overpaid (!) and GREEDY! When they were on strike recently this was rolled up and down the taloids ad nauseum. Worst thing was/is that no media highlightened the fact that they weren´t on strike for more money, but to save their own pension deposits. Black Rock, a murrican corporate raider (we call those “locusts” over here) is trying to get their hands on that money. Shareholder Value, F*ck, Yeah.

    So, yes, income in the lower ranks of aviation IS a disgrace, but what can you do when you have no lobby and the public opinion ridicules you as mere “busdrivers”?

  2. reynard61 says:

    Well, I *was* going to post a rant about how you might have some trouble getting higher non-senior pilot pay past the airline three-letter-Suits and bean counters; but I see that Trantor has already made my point.

  3. Commentator says:

    The last several strips read like pure product placement advertising. It devalues the integrity of the script. Hope you got a big $ check from Chrysler.

  4. stef says:

    @ Commentator: What integrity? And nope. I wish! If at all, we should be getting big checks from Cessna though. We’ve been “placing their product” for 14 years now, not just two strips.

    @ the general discussion: The video is 6 years old, but I just remembered the CNN piece about the JAL CEO, who makes less than his senior pilots: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qj7ZHrYL28M

    I’m sure that’s how most airlines handle it, haha! 🙂

  5. Trantor says:

    Just came back from meeting some friends out at a bar. One of them told us that his nephew recently joined Germania – on a Pay2Fly-contract.
    I didn´t even knew this was possible/legal over here.

    Jeez, as if the low wages weren´t already enough of a disgrace… P2F is really the perversion of it all.

    I can only hope for all of you out there that the pork cycle really rebounds one day and you´ll be able to capitalize on that.

  6. Landis says:

    That’s awesome, thanks for the shout-out! No, FOs and other entry level aviation jobs don’t get paid nearly enough to make up for the costs of getting to where we are. And, since my company is in the middle of pay negotiations right now, one of your strips was actually posted in a crew lounge (“What Do You Really Want?”) which fit the theme perfectly.

    All that said, first year pay is abominable, but it does get better. I have no regrets for the career path I finally chose (switching later in life) or where I work now. Sure I’d like a bigger check, I deserve a bigger check, but it doesn’t mean that I value my profession any less. The fact that 70 people regularly trust me with their lives means that I will never look at my paycheck to value my worth.

  7. Kopets says:

    Poor americans and europeans! In my country a pilot makes 1500-3000 dollars a month and, if not happy, gets fired))

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

*