J* cadets think $40k is good?
What is good pay?
When I started flying casually some 10-15 years ago all I wanted to do was sit at the pointy end of a 767/777. Back then I was under the naive impression that I, one day, would be on $250k; after toiling around for 6ish years in GA then X number of years building seniority (yes I was expecting to spend 6-8 years in GA flying **** heaps... because I'm dedicated to my career). A quick check of the QF eba and this is still achievable (at least on paper). That is, if I could sit still for 3-4 hours at a time, deal with only flying ILS-ILS, put up with decision making being a bureaucratic process, work more than 700hours a year, deal with not being home every night or put up with not touching the controls for 4 years before even becoming 2nd in charge!
The fact is I love making my own decision, flying black hole approaches, negotiating weather based on MY experience, conducting flare path landings, flying anywhere and everywhere each day. Maybe when I'm older and want to sit back in a cushy, boring job I'll look at QF but that's not on my mind. What is on my mind though is, what will happen to my lifestyle/future when my employer decides that since airlines don't pay 100k, I don't deserve 100k?