Originally Posted by
Icarus2001
I think that it is well worth quoting this from above...
I would work on 11 months not twelve as you may need a holiday. So USD$2774 for 11 months gives you USD$30,514pa which is about AUD$38,838pa
Just think about that for a minute...AUD$38K as a jet FO.
Perhaps the cost of living is a little less in the USA but not by that much!
You are quoting minimum monthly guarantee. All major airlines pay in a very similar way, including Cathay Pacific and all US carriers. Basically, if you sit on the couch and earn 5 hours or anything less than 76 CREDIT hours, then you are still paid the minimum of 76 hours at your hourly rate.
Your pay is based on credit hours, not block time, as with pretty much all airlines. As for the holiday, that's what vacation (annual leave) is for. Or you can do what most do, bid your schedule to have large blocks of days off in a row, no annual leave lost and no real loss of pay.
Many hard working guys average 110 credit hours a month. So first year pay is $37.71/hour. Even if you only do 90 hours, you are still making $3,393.90 not including tax free per diem which the company website clearly states is $1.90/hour. That usually adds up to around $500/month. So even taking it easy, you'll make just shy of 4k/month. If you want to fly more and work harder, I find 110 credit is easily achievable, thats $4,148.10 + $500 = $4,648.10.
Keep in mind, many regionals quote earning 50-60K in your first year, they are not lying. But they have to add your first year bonuses in to that figure to make it so high. I did not receive a bonus from Skywest when I joined and made 48k first year and will make over 60k USD this year. The issue is that once your first year bonuses are gone at other regionals, you loose that 20K bonus that kept you afloat in your first year.
As I've said previously, most Australian's back home looking online at all these regionals offering big first year bonuses to get you in the door, yet Skywest does not offer anything except for the $7,500 bonus if you have part 135 and typed. Why would they do that and still have a growing pilot pool twice the size of any other regional in the US? Would it be nice for Skywest to be hurting so bad that we need to pay massive bonuses? Sure, for joining pilots. But its pretty awesome working for a place with such awesome crews and strong company financials with a positive future outlook.