Right now seems like a great time to talk about the perks and benefits of being an airline pilot. Let's get into it!
Note: this mainly pertains to those in the United States.
Travel Benefits
It's pretty cool to be able to catch a flight to go on a day trip to a new city and not pay a dime, or to be able to go overseas for a week and pay nothing but the taxes for the airfare. Flights are pretty full these days so it's not always easy to do, but choosing places during off-season times of the year can be a good way to avoid many standby travel headaches.
The travel aspect applies to when you're actually on the job as well. Sometimes we have overnights that are long enough to allow us a bit of free time to explore wherever we happen to be for the night. At my current job, I've been able to explore many different places that I otherwise might never have even heard about.
Most airlines give their employees access to better rates on hotels for leisure travel as well which has come in handy a few times already. Many of us also have accounts with the different hotel rewards programs so that we can accumulate points for hotels simply by overnighting while on the job (although not every hotel allows us to do this).
Great Pay
This is a topic that has been in the public view a little more these days, but flying for the airlines has finally become a career that can start being fairly lucrative from your first year at a regional carrier (at least if you're in the US). Most of the regional airlines have recently updated their pay rates so that a first year first officer is making about $90 an hour. Depending on how much flying you do each month, that's between $75,000 and $90,000 per year before taxes. Only a few short years ago, first year first officers were making about $20,000 a year. Mighty big difference! The biggest advantage here is for those who required loans for their training; the new rates will allow loans to be paid off that much faster.
Another incredible opportunity in the way of pay comes in the form of 401k contributions. Airlines used to do pensions, but that's no longer the case. As a replacement, many major carriers do direct 401k contributions (or B funds) for their employees. While the regional carriers don't offer this (at least at the same level/rate), the major carriers do and the average direct contribution is about 16% as of the time of writing. What that means is that every year, the company puts 16% of whatever your yearly income is into a retirement account without requiring any contribution on the part of the employee. Put another way, if you make $100,000 in a year, the airline puts another $16,000 in your account for you and does not require you to contribute anything. It's an insane opportunity that - depending on your goals - frees up more of your paycheck for alternative forms of investment.
It's A Great Challenge
On a surface level, it may seem like we just shuttle people back and forth from city to city and do the same thing over and over again day in and day out. It is true to a degree, but flying can actually present some great challenges. You might have a strong crosswind landing that tests your ability to fly (or "stick and rudder" skills as we call it), or have a problem arise that requires you to use all your available resources to solve (we call that crew resource management). The plane I fly is much more manual than many others, so calculating how to fly an arrival is always fun and requires some forethought. No two work days are identical either; there's always something new that keeps you on your toes and flying at several hundred miles an hour means that you always have to be thinking ahead about what's next.
Living Arrangements
If you're alright with commuting, you can pretty much live wherever you want. I once worked with a flight attendant who lived in the UK. I myself live in a completely different state than where I am based. The flexibility is unparalleled. Commuting can sometimes be a drag but if you live somewhere where you have options, the ability to live where you want is awesome. If you're interested, follow this link to read my article on the pros and cons of commuting and this link to learn how to do it.
No Micro Managers
This isn't like most jobs where you've got management hovering over your shoulder all the time. I don't hardly ever talk to my boss because I don't need to. We are trusted to handle our flying safely and efficiently on a daily basis, and we all understand the level of responsibility that we are given. They know that we know this, so they let us do our thing without really ever getting in the way.
It's Awesome
I've never thought of flying the same way as the other jobs I've had in the past. It's a ton of fun, and the view from 36,000 feet doesn't ever get old. Particularly when the sun is starting to come out. I've also always gotten the impression that most people think that aviation is pretty cool in some form or another, and people always seem to be curious to hear about the job. You're literally flying a fast-moving hunk of metal through the sky with people on it. What's not to like? The majority of people that I work with on a daily basis got into aviation because they love it too, so it makes for a great environment. Obviously not everyone is always in a good mood as with any job, but I can count the number of times I've flown with a grouch on one hand.
So if you're interested, I encourage you to look into it! It's an amazing career that doesn't ever get old. If you've been bitten by the aviation "bug" as we say, the only remedy is to get out and start flying.
Obviously there are some cons to this life, so I'll do up an article on those eventually as well.
Notes
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