4 ms·

Some quick math suggests to me that pilot pay is likely a small part of what you're paying for with your ticket. United Airlines employs 12712 pilots. [http://

by foota 9y ago

Some quick math suggests to me that pilot pay is likely a small part of what you're paying for with your ticket. United Airlines employs 12712 pilots. [http://www.airlinepilotcentral.com/airlines/legacy/united_airlines http://www.airlinepilotcentral.com/airlines/legacy/united_ai...] United has 143 million passengers. [http://newsroom.united.com/corporate-fact-sheet http://newsroom.united.com/corporate-fact-sheet] If we say that United has a cost per pilot of $200,000 (likely high) then the cost per pilot per passenger is $17.77

ars 9y ago
That's low to you? That's actually amazingly high, unless most of their flights are really long international ones. But I suspect most flights are 2 or 3 hours.
- foota 9y ago
  I always procrastinate when booking flights (anything). :)
nether 9y ago
It won't help save passengers money. It will help the perpetually bleeding airliners save $35 billion though, possibly: https://www.ft.com/content/00b23be4-b321-3dd5-af19-fd64c4f7cb9b https://www.ft.com/content/00b23be4-b321-3dd5-af19-fd64c4f7c...
jwilliams 9y ago
I was musing on that too. I did some (likely flawed) calculations and got a much higher number. But I was figuring training costs, hotels, per diems, medicals. All that stuff stacks up with a pilot. You can probably also factor in a large component of overhead just managing 12,712 people. Scheduling, logistics, HR, etc, etc. Even if you said it's in the range of $17-30 per passenger, that's pretty significant on many routes - particular high-volume short-haul. You can also probably fit a dozen more seats on the plane.
bhouston 9y ago
12712 pilots * 200K average salary w/ overhead = $2.5B That is not a small number. $354 average domestic fair x 143M passengers = $50.6B in total fairs. So $2.5B pilot cost is roughly 5% of their total costs. You can not lower gas costs nor airport costs nor plane costs much, but if you could eliminate $2.5B in salary, and add more flexibility, then yeah, I'd say there is massive incentive if the marketing and safety issues can be overcome.
- contingencies 9y ago
  Pilots also need (I would guess pretty frequent) (re-)training, hotels, lounges, long term parking, time off, health insurance, etc. They're not just $200K salary, they're probably more like $500K each/year in total cost once you get to 747 level, though they may only see $200k in salary themselves.
- kahnpro 9y ago
  Most pilots do not make nearly that much money... entry level is often below $30k. Maybe you'll break 6 figures at a top-tier airline after a decade of experience.

by foota 9y ago

ars 9y ago

That's low to you? That's actually amazingly high, unless most of their flights are really long international ones. But I suspect most flights are 2 or 3 hours.

foota 9y ago
I always procrastinate when booking flights (anything). :)

nether 9y ago

It won't help save passengers money. It will help the perpetually bleeding airliners save $35 billion though, possibly: https://www.ft.com/content/00b23be4-b321-3dd5-af19-fd64c4f7cb9b https://www.ft.com/content/00b23be4-b321-3dd5-af19-fd64c4f7c...

jwilliams 9y ago

I was musing on that too. I did some (likely flawed) calculations and got a much higher number. But I was figuring training costs, hotels, per diems, medicals. All that stuff stacks up with a pilot. You can probably also factor in a large component of overhead just managing 12,712 people. Scheduling, logistics, HR, etc, etc. Even if you said it's in the range of $17-30 per passenger, that's pretty significant on many routes - particular high-volume short-haul. You can also probably fit a dozen more seats on the plane.

bhouston 9y ago

12712 pilots * 200K average salary w/ overhead = $2.5B That is not a small number. $354 average domestic fair x 143M passengers = $50.6B in total fairs. So $2.5B pilot cost is roughly 5% of their total costs. You can not lower gas costs nor airport costs nor plane costs much, but if you could eliminate $2.5B in salary, and add more flexibility, then yeah, I'd say there is massive incentive if the marketing and safety issues can be overcome.

contingencies 9y ago
Pilots also need (I would guess pretty frequent) (re-)training, hotels, lounges, long term parking, time off, health insurance, etc. They're not just $200K salary, they're probably more like $500K each/year in total cost once you get to 747 level, though they may only see $200k in salary themselves.
kahnpro 9y ago
Most pilots do not make nearly that much money... entry level is often below $30k. Maybe you'll break 6 figures at a top-tier airline after a decade of experience.