4 ms·

Awesome, another industry that was paying living wages will now stop doing that. Minimum wage aircraft mechanics and pilots. I guess flight attendants are alrea

Awesome, another industry that was paying living wages will now stop doing that. Minimum wage aircraft mechanics and pilots. I guess flight attendants are already there.

0xfaded 6y ago
Pretty much every entry level pilot job is near minimum wage.
- tyingq 6y ago
  It's a pretty interesting space. Pilots can make good money with seniority, but if they switch to another airline, they start at the very bottom again. On the other hand, they do have collective leverage, as airlines can't quickly replace them.
- fennecfoxen 6y ago
  My understanding is that American Airlines doesn't actually hire many entry-level pilots, and by the time you're experienced enough to be hired by any major passenger airline, you'll be making okay money. The regional airlines, on the other hand — the ones running those little connector flights with CRJs and the like, branded "American Eagle" or "Delta Connection", with a four-digit codeshare and inferior snacks and entertainment — those are a lot less picky, and their pay is a lot more questionable.
  - LargeWu 6y ago
    This is absolutely true. The university I went to is known for its commercial aviation program, and draws students from all over the nation and world to learn to be airline pilots. So many of them end up with huge debts, because flight school is crazy expensive, and eventually take non-aviation related jobs out of school because they just can't afford not to. Only those that were probably already very well off, or have connections, or are extremely driven, will ever sit behind the stick of a commercial jetliner for one of the bigs.
fennecfoxen 6y ago
According to Glassdoor, American Airlines flight attendants paid hourly average $30/hr, and $38,500 when salaried. (Their pilots average ~$167,000 a year. The mechanics make ~$70,500. Reviews say the health insurance is pretty good, there is a modest 401(k) match, and of course you get to fly free on standby). Please bring only meaningful in-depth critiques to HN, and leave the fact-free axe-grinding elsewhere.
- tyingq 6y ago
  "paid hourly average $30/hr" I wouldn't make a direct comparison of that with other jobs. There are many work hours they aren't paid for, or are paid at a lower rate. Oversimplified, but they are paid nothing or almost nothing for waiting around for late flights, security, etc. Full pay for "block hours" where the plane has pushed back, less for pre/post flight work. And lower seniority f/a folks can have a harder time getting hours at all, and they are well below average pay. Seniority is everything. It's not a bad job considering the fairly low qualifications, but it's not really $30/hour. New flight attendants generally end the year around $20k gross. And that's at the majors.
  - fennecfoxen 6y ago
    Maybe not! However, our poster upthread said that he guessed flight attendants were already at minimum wage it would need to take literally half their time before we're even to the $15/hr level that was pitched as a "living wage" in New York City, their hub city with the most expensive cost of living. (Other AA hubs: Charlotte, Chicago, Dallas, LA, Miami, Philadelphia, Phoenix, Washington, DC/Arlington. Some of these are cheaper than others.)
- slumdev 6y ago
  This is technically correct but dishonest. These numbers are true only for American Airlines. Every time you step on to an "American" plane that is "operated by xyz", you are not flying American Airlines. You are flying an American Eagle branded subcarrier like Republic or SkyWest. These subcarriers fly a very large percentage of "American" flights. The pay and benefits at the subcarriers are dismal.

Awesome, another industry that was paying living wages will now stop doing that. Minimum wage aircraft mechanics and pilots. I guess flight attendants are already there.

0xfaded 6y ago

Pretty much every entry level pilot job is near minimum wage.

tyingq 6y ago
It's a pretty interesting space. Pilots can make good money with seniority, but if they switch to another airline, they start at the very bottom again. On the other hand, they do have collective leverage, as airlines can't quickly replace them.
fennecfoxen 6y ago
My understanding is that American Airlines doesn't actually hire many entry-level pilots, and by the time you're experienced enough to be hired by any major passenger airline, you'll be making okay money. The regional airlines, on the other hand — the ones running those little connector flights with CRJs and the like, branded "American Eagle" or "Delta Connection", with a four-digit codeshare and inferior snacks and entertainment — those are a lot less picky, and their pay is a lot more questionable.
- LargeWu 6y ago
  This is absolutely true. The university I went to is known for its commercial aviation program, and draws students from all over the nation and world to learn to be airline pilots. So many of them end up with huge debts, because flight school is crazy expensive, and eventually take non-aviation related jobs out of school because they just can't afford not to. Only those that were probably already very well off, or have connections, or are extremely driven, will ever sit behind the stick of a commercial jetliner for one of the bigs.

fennecfoxen 6y ago

According to Glassdoor, American Airlines flight attendants paid hourly average $30/hr, and $38,500 when salaried. (Their pilots average ~$167,000 a year. The mechanics make ~$70,500. Reviews say the health insurance is pretty good, there is a modest 401(k) match, and of course you get to fly free on standby). Please bring only meaningful in-depth critiques to HN, and leave the fact-free axe-grinding elsewhere.

tyingq 6y ago
"paid hourly average $30/hr" I wouldn't make a direct comparison of that with other jobs. There are many work hours they aren't paid for, or are paid at a lower rate. Oversimplified, but they are paid nothing or almost nothing for waiting around for late flights, security, etc. Full pay for "block hours" where the plane has pushed back, less for pre/post flight work. And lower seniority f/a folks can have a harder time getting hours at all, and they are well below average pay. Seniority is everything. It's not a bad job considering the fairly low qualifications, but it's not really $30/hour. New flight attendants generally end the year around $20k gross. And that's at the majors.
- fennecfoxen 6y ago
  Maybe not! However, our poster upthread said that he guessed flight attendants were already at minimum wage it would need to take literally half their time before we're even to the $15/hr level that was pitched as a "living wage" in New York City, their hub city with the most expensive cost of living. (Other AA hubs: Charlotte, Chicago, Dallas, LA, Miami, Philadelphia, Phoenix, Washington, DC/Arlington. Some of these are cheaper than others.)
slumdev 6y ago
This is technically correct but dishonest. These numbers are true only for American Airlines. Every time you step on to an "American" plane that is "operated by xyz", you are not flying American Airlines. You are flying an American Eagle branded subcarrier like Republic or SkyWest. These subcarriers fly a very large percentage of "American" flights. The pay and benefits at the subcarriers are dismal.