Why Are Pilots Paid So Much?

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You might’ve heard that there is currently a pilot shortage, but you’ll never believe how much pilots are actually making. The median salary for an airline pilot itself is $202,000. Meanwhile, the highest-level captains at the legacy carriers are able to make much more thanks to high-paying overtime opportunities. The top captains at Delta are making $526,000 per year. The top captains at Southwest are making $549,000 per year. And the top captains at American Airlines are making over $700,000 per year. On top of this, airlines have some of the most generous 401K plans in the world given that many of them contribute 16% worth of your paycheck to a retirement fund without you even contributing. But, despite these insane perks, the pilot shortage is only getting worse, and it’s expected that the pilot shortage will grow multiple folds within the next decade. This means that pilot salaries will only go up even more and the top pilots will probably be making 7 figures in the imminent future. This video explains why pilots are paid so much and the future of the aviation industry.

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Timestamps:
0:00 - Pilot Salaries
2:58 - Barrier To Entry
5:50 - Paying Your Dues
9:02 - Pilot Shortage
11:18 - 7 Figure Incomes

Resources:

Disclaimer:
This video is not a solicitation or personal financial advice. All investing involves risk. Please do your own research.

[LtColDaddy]

Actually, not a terrible video as far as the facts go. A lot of attention is given to the higher rates the wide body CA’s are paid, but the hustle culture newer carriers like SW and JB will give you even more opportunities to make money.

I transitioned from a partially paid LOA during COVID to an unpaid one due to my own business growing, and health concerns my wife is battling. Not sure I’m going back, but if I were flying now, with the seniority I have, I could literally book a line that all paid double. I’ve always been able to structure 3 months every year where I only fly a few days. It accommodates the times the farm needs me 24/7. On the 3rd month, I flew and collected vacation pay.

Another thing is my airline pays on a basis called “trip for pay.” It basically means you get paid about 115% of the actual time you fly. This is how you get guys like me who have been over $500k for years, and with the pilot shortage, this year some will hit $750k at my airline, maybe $800k.

One thing you have to remember, the hustle culture airlines work you (safely) a lot more. We turn our planes quick, and our overnights aren’t mini getaways. Often, when subtracting the tide 2 and from the airport, doing the 3 S’s, you can sleep 7-8 hrs. If it was a longer over night, 1w hrs or so, I did office work I’d normally have to do at the farm.

The good thing about that, is you can make that money working 12 days per month on the months you fly a full line. It’s a great career. But I always told all my girlfriends I was a baggage handler to avoid the gold diggers, and when I met my wife and things became serious, I explained to her that she would be living the life of a baggage handler and dirt farmers wife. She actually loved that about me. Together we built a great farming enterprise

Have a side gig, something you and your spouse can work as a team. Investments, real estate, insurance.

As far as the big investment in training, latch on to a salty pilot who is a CFI, but doesn’t train many students. In my case, it was my dad, but what gets you your credentials is passing the written and the rides. It doesn’t matter if Donald Duck trained you. That signature from the FAA is the same either way. I built the rest of my experience in the military. Active duty, then the reserves. I let the govt pay for my college as an enlisted reservist as well, along with free state school tuition in my state. So college was a net profit for me.

Hope this is helpful.

[generalrendar]

I'm an airline pilot who went the civilian route. I borrowed $90k and worked close to 80 hours a week as a CFI in order to get my 1500 hours in order to apply to get a job, which I didn't get until 1600 hours. It took me 4 years start to regional airline. I'm currently living as modestly as I can because my loans take $1, 000 a month off the top. With the industry all about seniority, the new pilots are paid peanuts while the most experienced rake in the dough. Seniority doesn't make a safe pilot, but there are few objective standards that make safe pilots. Until that seniority standard changes and training costs are lowered you won't see a decrease in pilot salaries. Plus it is a highly technical career with catastrophic consequences for mistakes, so the high pay makes sense to me.

[fastfiddler]

I'm a pilot, and a dad. Let me tell you how I deal with the whole gone from home a lot thing. It is a different lifestyle. But follow the lifestyle of doctors who make similar, and often way less money, and you'll quickly see. At Southwest, you have on average 15 days off STARTING on reserve. Going worst case, which is commuting (in my case). I commute to work (meaning I have to catch a space available ride on any airline to get to work) because I love where I live and it is close to family for my young kids. This certainly adds time. I typically leave by 2pm the day before, but I often (not always) get home around 4pm my last day. So let's just say that the average day of reserve I work is 24 hours away from home, plus 2 hours (leaving at 2, getting back at 4). Let's look at September. I worked three 4-day reserve trips and one 3-day. I did this math several times to be sure, so here we go. 24 hours x 30 days in Sept means 720 hours. Based on my timing, that puts me at being home 352 total hours. My wife was home 530 hours. OK... yikes. Or is it? The way I see it, eight hours a day (ideally), you sleep, or are committed to it. Let's omit that, because you can sleep anywhere. Now we're at 290 hours at home for my wife vs 224 for me as a brand new First Officer on reserve. You would have to have 19 days off to really match, which isn't extremely likely, but if you are willing to or able to move so you do not commute, and once you're not among the most junior pilots, there's no contest. I have a short commute, and it would still buy me back 40-50 hours/month at home.

But even with that 290/224 (waking home hours) split between my wife and me, you have to consider something else. In my wife's 190 gone hours, she is wholly committed to being at work. That's 8.6666 hours/day between working and driving. Then she has to get groceries, diapers, feed herself and the kids, maybe find time to exercise. Then hope the kids get to bed on time so she can have the precious hour or two to herself. Meanwhile, even if I work a 12 hour day, all I have to worry about is finding food and getting enough sleep. I often work less than that in a day so I do get time to do what I want. Wander around town, work out, play video games, go to a movie. As long as you can show up for work properly rested, it is your time. Obviously, it sounds like wife is getting the short end of the stick here. But let's imagine we were both working 40 hour (or more) work weeks (as is the case with so many families). Would our kids be better off? When I am home, there are no reports or phone calls to make (usually). I walk off the plane and it stays behind me until I come back. I am effectively a highly paid stay at home dad for half the month. I don't always do as much as I could, but I generally try to tackle most of the large chores in addition to maintenance while taking the kids to the park, or the museum, or wherever the hell else I want to take them because I have all day. Sometimes I am home seven days in a row because that's how my schedule turned out. Nobody else gets to do that unless they have vacation or catch covid. It's the best, and highest paid part time job there is.

[itz_haris]

One of my friends got a really good deal, he became a captain at All Nippon Airways with 122, 000$ in training, and his salary is around 87, 000$ a year, (B737 Pilot), and got hired 2 years back, due to a massive shortage, he got promoted to Captain in just 9 months, and only 2 years later, he is a 787 Captain with a salary of 250, 000$ a year from overtime, so in just 6-7 years after graduating, my friend is a Boeing 787-8/9/10 captain, making 250, 000$ a year.

[splinky]

Dad is a pilot, also have to remember that to become a FO or captain requires years and years to get into the big companies. Hence why many are seasoned Air Force or have spent a decade at regional airlines. That being said I’m a nurse and certainly wish we were paid more for what we do.

[watchdealer]

My neighbor is a pilot he flew fighter jets and then became a flight instructor and then regional airline then Emirates, and now he's at Delta pulling half a million+ retiring in the next few years!

[arnonymous]

70% of my flights were operated by carrier airlines whose pilots don’t get paid nearly as much.

[Kalashniky]

Really good video my friend, lots of correct information the major media outlets overlook or misinterpret. I currently have got 600 hours and should be starting at the regionals within about a year. My mentor who got me into flying at FedEx is at top captain pay and cleared over 770k last year without even trying hard.

[Funked_Up]

Another reason why most people go the CFI route is that on top of the 1500 hours needed you also need cross country time, night time, instrument time and multi engine time. All stuff you don’t get flying skydivers or crop dusters.

You theoretically could have more than 1500 hours but if you don’t meet the other hour requirements you still can’t get hired

- former skydive pilot and CFI

[johnr]

My father has been a pilot with United for 30 years...one of the best pilots out there for sure. Triple 7 Captain. He got his pilots license before he could drive and ended up being an F-14 Top Gun graduate spending a total of 12 years in the navy! He told me he lost his pension after 9/11 which is a real shame.

[xspritegodx]

I’m currently training to become a pilot it is very expensive and a long road with lots of studying and hard work. You definitely have to want it and be very committed to get it done.

[cessnaident]

I wanted to become an airline pilot when I was young but my parents said no. I ended up working for the U.S. government as a civilian employee at a military base. I made it to a upper mid level career path so I could make a 6 figure salary. It's a decent job in that it is hard to get laid off when economic times are bad such as during the recession and pandemic, but I get paid less than what the private sector equivalent would make. I did end up fulfilling the pilot dream by earning the private pilot license.

[sullyharte]

Great informative video. Regarding compensation you forgot to mention Per Diem which is money earned for time spent away from base. At my current airline Per diem is $2.15 for every hour spent away from base. This is non taxable and it adds up very quickly. It is a nice supplement to base income

[CallsignMunch]

There was a pilot surplus up until 5-7 years ago and pay was crap. There was a time when regionals payed $15000/year for entry level FO. These things cycle every 10 years or so. This is the biggest pilot shortage we’ve seen but we also are the first and biggest impacted industry during a recession. If you haven’t been through furloughs, layoffs, or bankruptcies just wait.

[DiamondOrPoor]

I've been trying to find what I've wanted to do for a career for awhile as I'm near the end of my high school career and becoming a Pilot has always been one of my top choices, especially because I love the airport and planes, but I could never really choose between that and Cyber Security. But I think this video might have helped me decide, along with all the great comments from experienced pilots! Thanks a ton!!

[andrewryder]

Quick update on this. Regional airline pilots have gotten significant salary increases. Pilots have received some of the largest salary increases in US history over the past couple months.

[zacharytaylor]

That part about most pilots doing it out of passion is understated. You need to have a passion due to the pay you are reffering to. Even with the occasional scholarship, the loans are massive, and the time commitment is even crazier.

[LoveHandle]

Because they’re trusted with peoples lives and do a good job with it.

[solomonkoigi]

Our pilots here in Kenya earn an average of $ 2, 000 per month or $ 24, 000 per year which is Kshs. 200, 000 pm or 2.4m/yr. That is serious money here and gets them a life that is high class compared to the ordinary citizen. It's incomparable to the salaries in the industrialized world but affords them a high status life.

[brianbeach]

There is a mistake regarding failing the First Class Medical... Air Traffic Controllers in the US require at least a Second Class Medical, and if you fail the First Class you are likely to fail the Second Class as well, so it's not likely to become an Air Traffic Controller for that reason... aside from the age limit on new Air Traffic Controllers, which you are likely over if you already put in the time to become a pilot for the major airlines.