REALLY!!! ?? 
How much are you making right now?
If you don't mind me asking.... I have a few friends who are wanting to get into stuck wing and wanted to know what to expect....
I'll give you more than what you actually asked for since it's for people looking to get into it.
Probobly a little over half that. Keep in mind we are allowed over 1/3 more time here than in the lower 48. I can legally fly 1400 hours in a year while a 121 guy down south can only fly 1000.
If I maxed out on hours (1400) I'd be at around 28,000 a year. I'm looking at probobly averaging 1200 hours a year (probobly a little less). Now, after 6 months of employment I got a massive .50 an hour raise, but that is counteracted (in my own humble opinion) by starting to have to pay our part to get medical coverage so I don't even count it.
I'm not counting the 50 cent raise, so I keep my figure at $20 an hour block time (which is what we log as well). 1200 hours would be $24,000 before taxes. It'd be $20,000 max allowed in the lower 48 (meaning you probobly aren't going to get to that point) assuming the same hourly rate (which isn't as uncommon as you may think.
Generally first year at any company is going to be $20-$22 block time.
Examples: Air Wisconsin has a yearly guarantee of $21,600 (75 hours a month at $24 an hour) starting wage. Big Sky has a guarantee of $18,720 and you have a $10,000 training contract for a year (if you leave before a year you owe a pro-rated amount of that $10,000). Trans States is $18,480 on reserve, $19,536 if you have a line (most airlines give the same guarantee if you are reserve or line).
Guarantees can be misleading. Some airlines you will rarely fly past the guarantee while others you will always do it. Additionally, if an airline is in trouble, you will be asked by the union to not fly more than the guarantee to make sure the airline needs as many pilots as possible (so same pay over the company pays more crews and they either don't have to lay off or don't have to lay off as many).
Many airlines also have a daily rate guarantee. IE, if you go into work you'll get at least x hours even if you don't fly. They may also have a guarantee for trips (IE, you get paid at least the estrimated block time even if you manage to catch major tailwinds and get home an hour early).
Here we get slightly more money to start (simply because company has the exemption to allow us to work more), but have no guarantee of any type. If I come in and sit for 8 hours at the hanger with a broken airplane and then fly a 1 hour flight, I get paid 1 hour (fortunately that doesn't happen too often). If I don't fly at all I lost money since I had to drive to the airport and back (and sit around) for nothing.
You really have to enjoy flying to get through starting out. It can be long days for short pay, and some people never achieve the "dream job" of a well paying major. Captains do get paid a good bit better, and many companies will up the pay for F/Os as their years with the company go up (we might as well not for the amounts they use here).
Our duty day limit is 14 hour duty day and 10 hours flight in a 24 hour period, but once again that is an Alaska exemption and we're probobly the only part 121 carrier in the state that uses it (the other guys using those limits are part 135, and that's their standard limit).
I do have periods where I'll go for a while without doing much more than work, but I think being able to fly makes up for it. The schedule I run can have days (like today) where the first half gets canceled and gives me a partial day off to relax around and everything. This is nice when I get myself into situations (on my own accord) where I volunteer to cover for guys and end up working 3-4 weeks with just a few days off (I'm in the middle of doing that to myself right now).
The key is not to get glossy eyed about the initial flying job. Very rare is the guy who starts out making any type of money, and I know guys here where my company was a step up from their previous flying job. It's all about working towards a goal. I really enjoy the Alaska flying and wouldn't mind staying here a while. The captains get paid enough that some guys do make a career here. Just don't get into it for the money, if you're in it for the flying then it's not too bad and you can even enjoy it, but if the money can take a long time to come around and if that's all you want then it'll just be another job.
If you treat it as a hobby that you can make a living doing, it's a lot better than thinking of it as just another job. Other fields look a lot better on paper for careers, but I for one wouldn't be happy doing anything else. So don't think that it's bad because I whine sometimes. I am *happy* to be here and wouldn't trade flying for any other job in the world.
