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Flying For a Regional Airline – Is It Worth It?

In the United States,Guest Posting and else where around the world, salary is usually dependent upon one major factor. That is, how many people can perform that particular job. The fewer the number of people that can perform a particular job, usually the greater the salary. In many cases, salary is not dependent upon how much money was used in order to obtain the skill.

A good example of this can be seen if we look at the salaries seen in professional sports. For example, in the NFL, professional football players can make millions of dollars per year, yet the preparation does not cost much money in relative terms. To play in the NFL really comes down to hard physical work, developing mental toughness, extreme dedication, and having the physical attributes and ability.

Not to many people can play in the NFL, and therefore most players enjoy airline CIO consulting a pretty good salary. The minimum salary of a rookie in the NFL is $285,000.00 per year. The highest salary for an NFL player in 2008 was seen in the form of quarterback Ben Roethlisberger, of Pittsburgh at $27,701,920.00. It also should be stated that the average length of a career for an NFL player is only around 4 years.

Regional airline pilots on the other hand will spend anywhere from $50,000 and up in order to be properly trained to fly an airplane. This includes Private Pilot License, Instrument Rating, and Commercial Pilot License, plus specific training needed for the regional airline they wish to fly for. Military pilots on the other hand have their training paid for by the American tax payer, which really is the ideal situation for those who aspire to become a professional pilot.

Keeping with the analogy of the professional football player, we need to ask the question, how many people can fly an airplane? Statistically, not to many. But if trained, most people with a little better then average intelligence, can learn how to fly. It really comes down to having enough money to learn.

So becoming a professional football player, most would agree, is more difficult and fewer people in society are able to do this, and the professional football player salary reflects this. The salary of a professional football player should be substantially higher then that of a pilot, and it is. Most aspiring professional pilots understand this. The question really should be, is the very low salary of the regional airline pilot worth it to the aspiring pilot who wants to fly for the major airlines, where the higher salaries exist?

From a purely financial perspective, if you always wanted to be a pilot, and you have the money to train, then it probably is worth it. But there are other considerations which must be looked at if you desire to fly for a major airline some day.

It really comes down to being able to withstand the rigors of regional airline flying. To start, some regional airline pilots only make $16,000 a year. These are the new pilots, and they usually need to supplement their income with other work in order to make a living. Some regional airline pilots just starting out, can make $20,000 to $25,000. But no matter how you slice it, the regional airline pilot salary is low relative to other occupations which require a high level of responsibility.

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