...And here I was getting to feel kinda bad because Desert Dude seemed to have a job that made him deliriously happy. I figured he really must have hit the motherload! I mean, in a previous post, he said:
"I'm not trying to rain on your parade here Bert but I'm getting:
1. Adequate pay,
2. Retirement,
3. I own my own place and when I'm away from la casa the crew quarters are top of the line, (I even get a company car)
4. Can't do anything about the hours - that's the nature of "the beast", but I do get compensated accordingly,
5. I get to fly fairly new and extremely well maintained aircraft,
6. Job security? Who has job security - anywhere? Be honest?
7. Within reason and actual conditions, no one exceeds either their personal or the aircraft's operational capabilities. In the same context we are expected to operate to our (and aircraft) limits when called upon to do so.
And I've never considered myself to be an underacheiver. I happen to like what I do and I choose to stay in the business (for thirty years now)..."
Wow! Thirty years! He must really be making some coin by now, eh? But wait! Then he posts...
"Just so you know when you start throwing stones at me; I am considered a line pilot. In this position, I am making $48K and will "top out" at around $55K USD..."
Oh. My. God.
This guy has been in this industry for THIRTY YEARS and he's only making $48,000 per year?!?!
I'm really, really, really glad that Desert Dude gets such personal satisfaction out of his job. But I would suggest that if he ever attends a dinner party at which a psychologist or psychiatrist is also invited, he doesn't admit his salary. The aforementioned health care professional might take him on pro bono.
Hey, you know what? "Job satisfaction" has to weigh-in there someplace. It's not 100% about money, I know that. I didn't spend nearly twenty years as a line pilot for nuthin'. (Oh wait...or did I?) But I really have to wonder about someone who would spend thirty years in an industry and only be making $48,000/year. When I quit PHI - not my first flying job- I was at the thirteen-year level and had just clicked into the $50,000/year level. Good-bye!
In closing, Desert Dude ain't exactly a poster boy for how great this industry is, no matter how much he enjoys it. At least, let's hope not. I sincerely hope that Rob Powell (the original poster) hasn't picked up on this thread. He'll run from helicopters faster that an altar boy from Fr. O'Brien.