Controller
To drift yet further from the thread.
Anyone earning 25K a year as a helicopter pilot is doing so because they don't yet have substantial background as a pilot, or the right type of qualifications.
What those qualifications are, is open to debate. Depending on where you want to be in the industry 10 to 15 years from now.
Many people on this forum claim to be helicopter pilots. But I've found few job's of any value that look for a generic helo pilot...The ones that are available are basically college job type employment, until you grow up and get a real job...
Nobody flying tours, charter, joyrides, race meetings in small singles etc. is ever going to kick on with real life Without deciding where you need to be down the road.
This is about the most bouyant the industry has been for a long time, last I remember was around 1987-88 or so.
Then, as now! Qualified people were bumping around, looking and finding better deals...
I don't know any qualified and competant working pilot who is ' out of work'
in Europe.
If anyone's out of work right now, and by work, I mean a real job with a real salary. He/She has more than the usual skeletons in the closet...Or they're low timers with nothing to bring to the table from an owner/operator perspective.
For low timers. Life's tough when you still have to go thru the hoops...Your in a kind of apprenticeship stage and I appreciate that it's frustrating as your particular apprentice ship seems open ended. But that's the price you have to pay for not getting a military somewhere to pay for your services.
We all pay one way or another for our choices in life. I chose to let my government pay for my flight training. You (generic self improvers) chose not to. But inevitably, balance is restored further down lifes path.
But it would be unfair for a self selected, self improver with a few bucks. To study for a year and a half and then be on an equal employment basis to someone who served for several to many years as a mil pilot.
You don't earn much because your not worth much at this point.
A hard but accurate fact.
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This thread started with comparisons of degree/ tertiary/further education.
I think there's an element of jealousy in some of the responses. Trying to belittle the qualification of an ATPL.
Anyone who's done both would be hard pressed to choose whether to resit the ATPL's or resit the Engineering degree I sat (Having 4 years to play with the BSc degree makes a difference, and in fact is just a memory test also)
Also the ATPL is not just theoretical. You have to fly to the standard and then maintain that standard (more or less) thruout your career.
Salaries are really moving at the moment if you have solid IFR/Offshore/SAR/Utility background...
The problem is many people are still trying to 'make it' in their late forties.
Still taking jobs based on the equipment, more than the salary.
Surprise people, but salary is everything once the shine has gone from the apple.
I presently work for a private owner earning €140K plus accommodation when on duty, flying a late model medium twin...
He's got more money than sense. So I'm helping address the problem. This is the easiest job I've ever had...And I mean easy! All you need are not too many skeletons and to have paid your dues...This job paid €85K only 2 years ago. He asked me to come on board at that time, and I declined because I was already on 75K and the move wasn't worth it to me. 200 bucks a week doesn't make up for the stress of changing jobs.
He said I had a crazy idea about the value of my skills and I said fine...
He hired a guy who signed on for €60K plus a type rating (FSI)...The guy scared him on the first couple of flights, and the owner called me back.
I went on board and I've been here for 19 months.
A standard wage for someone who can just pole it around from A to B in VFR is around €70K..Additional skills they have to pay for...
Make 'em!
Hunter.