How is the professional pilot outlook doing these days?

[C.R.O.]

50-60 flying tours? Are you high?

 

Maverick starting pay is $270 a day, which covers your first two flights. Additional flights are paid after that. Strip tours were about $30, canyon landing tours were $80.

 

When I was there I made about $85k/year in salary. Then there were the cash "gifts" from customers. I routinely made $15-20k/year in cash "gifts".

 

Can't tell you what Sundance or Papillon pay.

[Guest pokey]

 

 

So that's your bullshit insinuation? Get employees to pay you to "work" for them (not a job when you're paying for it; employees get paid). You insinuate that people who buy a "job" from you can make two hundred thousand flying helicopters?

 

You're a bullshit artist, and not a very good one.

 

 

Boatpix? Slander is not easy to prove on the internet, chat rooms, forums. However? i do know of 2 that have achieved successful results. The thought should cross your mind, i know it has mine--if for no other reason than to just rid ppls like this and their slanderous comments.

[Boatpix]

The original poster wanted to know the health of the industry. There are many well paid pilots. They are not on this forum. They are either enjoying flying or enjoying life.

[avbug]

You're not well liked here, despite sponsoring the site. You don't help your case by insulting people you don't know, many of whom are aviation professionals with decades of experience.

 

That you represent the filth that sullies the bed in which many of us must lay doesn't help your case much either.

 

Pay-to-play "jobs" in which "employers" sell not to customers but to "employees" are the bane of the industry. You are not the solution. You are the problem.

 

You've not boosted employees into two hundred thousand dollar helicopter pilot positions, either.

[r22butters]

If you're not on the internet, you don't exist!

[Guest pokey]

You're not well liked here, despite sponsoring the site. You don't help your case by insulting people you don't know, many of whom are aviation professionals with decades of experience.

 

That you represent the filth that sullies the bed in which many of us must lay doesn't help your case much either.

 

Pay-to-play "jobs" in which "employers" sell not to customers but to "employees" are the bane of the industry. You are not the solution. You are the problem.

 

You've not boosted employees into two hundred thousand dollar helicopter pilot positions, either.

 

this ain't no popularity contest. Let the man run his business as he chooses. WTF do you think you are to run yer mouth and try to say such slanderous remarks, but yet hide behind your keyboard?

 

There are 200k helicopter jobs out there, just because you don't have one, you have to be a D'head?

 

I'm getting my girl to research all the slander & if it does add up to a hill of beans? well?? there just may be others that i may wish to contact about this.

 

Let us know who you are bug? better yet? let us show your employer who you are. Up for the challenge?

[takefootoff]

Gosh I better pass the FAA academy. I don't wanna have to come back to all this

[adam32]

Not many people agree with or like the AvBug...but, he's completely correct about Boatpix.

 

Would I ever run an operation like that, nope! But he's doing it successfully and fully legal so...

[r22butters]

Gosh I better pass the FAA academy. I don't wanna have to come back to all this

Ah' yes the CFI turned Controller, choose your future,...?

 

 

[takefootoff]

Border Patrol is posting on Jsfirm now, the add spells out incentives and career progression....and now waivers for flight hours and the polygraph.

 

Very dignified.

[Pohi]

So you can lie about your flight hours and be ok?

[r22butters]

,...and I can lie about my age!

[ARM_Coder]

I already had a grim view of Brazil's rotary wing business landscape, now I see that things are quite hard in your neighborhood too.

 

Before attending the pilot's course, I had the illusion that jobs were easy to get and were *relatively* well paid, even for low time pilots. My mistake. Now I'm sure I will never fly for a living, I will just fly occasionally as a hobby.

 

Well, I don't regret spending a ton of money and a whole year by any means. In fact I feel grateful that I had the chance to graduate as a pilot. So many people sacrifice a lot and take several years to accomplish that. My deepest respect to them.

 

Cheers!

[chris pochari]

Offshore isn't doing very well, but offshore wind is a growing market.

[Carmelscene]

We are still finding that every cfi that graduates with my company gets a boat photo job with my company. They get 1000 hours in two years and all get hired away to fly more powerful helicopters as I have the connections. I know guys that make $200K a year and have great lives. Maybe you are talking to the wrong people? In 1986 I simply combined boat photo and R22's and this is simply a better mousetrap. We're still only $250/hour and guarantee you a job. Advertised here since 2001. Blue Angels airshow near our Far Part 141 Location of Hollywood, Florida starts tomorrow and all our available helicopters will be out photographing the boats spectating. Cinco de Mayo starts tonight at midnight. Free spending boat owners subsidize your training and guarantee you a job. Genius. Go with your passion and move away from the negativity and I make it easy with our free housing and free airline tickets to come take a free flight with us.

 

Thanks for the pos. Which companies are paying pilots 200k a year?

[Carmelscene]

So when all the "moving stuff" and "looking at stuff" jobs go to drones, I suppose we'll need 5,000 hours just to get on with Papillon?

 

lol, 5,000hrs to make 45k a year...ugh.

[Carmelscene]

 

This might be the best summary of how the professional pilot outlook is these days. I was going to apply to academy but the age cutoff is 30 or 31 I believe.

 

Edit:

 

To be clear, there are professional pilot jobs but in my opinion unless you fall asleep dreaming of flying the grind to get there isn't worth it. CFI, then Tours for years, low pay, by the time you get into the field you think you want to fly in you may be 7-10+ years into it and still not getting paid much.

From my looks on the industry as a whole we max out at 70-90 on average after 10 years experience.

[Whistler]

The Outlook... well... its not great and it's not grim. The truth about the pilot shortage is that its a lie, and it's also true. There is no shortage of people with a commercial pilot license or a CFII. And there never will be. However, there is a shortage of QUALIFIED pilots who have a proven track record of being safe and making good decisions through their career. Like most industries everyone wants an employee with all kinds of experience, and they want them to work for less than they are worth. Aviation is no different than any other industry in that regard. where we differ somewhat is in how critical our decision making is. We work in a life and death industry. Employers aren't hiring you for your stick skills, or even your many hours in the super impressive R44. They are hiring your brain. Unfortunately, those kind of pilots are a rare breed... they have to be smart enough to make all the right decisions, have the integrity to admit when they made a wrong decision, have all the skills required of a professional pilot, be motivated enough to keep their head in the books... they have to do all those things and still be stupid enough to work for 60-70,000 a year.

 

so if you're smart, hard working, motivated, and dumb enough to work for less than you're worth there are about 100 EMS jobs waiting for you to work your way up to them.

[r22butters]

... they have to do all those things and still be stupid enough to work for 60-70,000 a year.

 

so if you're smart, hard working, motivated, and dumb enough to work for less than you're worth there are about 100 EMS jobs waiting for you to work your way up to them.

Hmmm, 60-70k a year is all I ever expected to make when I decided to go to flight school!

 

,...sh*t, we're cab drivers in th sky, not doctors!

[zippiesdrainage]

Ditto R22butters.

 

Upper Middle class is 62K. An EMS pilot, even at the bottom of the scale, can easily get 70K when you add in all the freebies that come with the job like location bonus, paid training several times a year, paid travel, fuel reimbursements and an occasional OT day here and there.

 

I'm happy with it. I don't understand why people complain that they're only making 1.5 what the median middle class guy makes.

 

I've actually spoken to a couple of military guys who have their retirement at 37 earning about 30K/year, no student loans and working a job making 80K in EMS and still complaining about wanting more money.

[Whistler]

you're right. we aren't doctors. but our education costs just as much, our work is much more dangerous and our job secutiry is much much lower. don't get me wrong. I love my job. I wouldn't trade it for the world. But the return on investment financially speaking is abysmal.

[adam32]

Tell me where I can become a Doctor for $50k and I'll sell you some ocean front property in Arizona!!!

[zippiesdrainage]

I was thinking the same thing adam32. My brother-in-law just finished his residency and it was 8 years and about 200K and that's at an in-state school and living at home.

 

If you find a pilot out there who spent 200K and 8 years on training he's got bigger problems than his income in EMS.

[r22butters]

I was thinking the same thing adam32. My brother-in-law just finished his residency and it was 8 years and about 200K and that's at an in-state school and living at home.

 

If you find a pilot out there who spent 200K and 8 years on training he's got bigger problems than his income in EMS.

Could be a $500k Upper Limit Astar pilot?

 

Damn, that's two and a half doctors for the price of one pilot!,...but I'm sure he's one hell of a pilot!

[Hand_Grenade_Pilot]

Something positive worth noting is that the regional airline transition programs seem to be pulling in quite a few helicopter pilots. While I don't anticipate this creating a major shortage of qualified helicopter pilots, I do believe it will help to open up opportunities in our industry.

 

When I was a student pilot, the sales gimmick was that all of the Vietnam pilots were about to retire. "We're losing all of our pilots to the airlines" will probably become the new sales pitch...