Like many other civilian pilots, I started flying fixed wing, did a commercial licence, headed off to instructor land to build hours to qualify for the big iron. However, I had a revelation along the way and went into helicopters.
A few dual qualified friends have stated to me that they fly helicopters for the challenge and they fly the big iron for the pay cheque. However I've heard that some airlines have exclusivity policies that make this difficult since they won't allow their pilots to fly commercially for other revenue operations, but I'm only passing along this rumour since I don't have any firsthand knowledge on this... maybe someone out there can fill in a blank on that?
Too bad helicopter management are too busy cutting each other's throats in contract pricing and passing along the savings to the customer by paying a lower wage than our airline counterparts. There is, however a very fundamental difference between the basis of a scheduled airline and a contract as bid on by helicopter operators.
Just a thought, it seems that the more passengers you carry, the more you get paid, so maybe we should be supporting the development of a VTOL 747? Then we'd be in the big bucks!
There are lots of ways to make more money, I happen to enjoy my career of flailing about the sky in one of the most unique modes of transportation. I do it because I choose to, but if a primary consideration for employment is the pay cheque, stick to the airlines.
BTW, I haven't been PIC in a fixed wing in over 20 years now!
