Aviation Career Salaries

Aviation is a diverse field with many career opportunities, such as pilot, airport manager and airline manager. In order to enter one of these career fields, you must earn a college degree. In addition to formal education, to work in the aviation industry you must undergo recurrent job-related training, allowing you to continue your professional development.

Types

• Straight salary and flight-hourly pay are the two primary pay structures in the aviation industry. Flight instructors, airline pilots and corporate pilots typically earn a flight-hourly wage. In addition to their flight-hourly wages, airline and corporate pilots receive "per-diem" stipends, which are small amounts covering living expenses (such as food, hotel, incidentals) while on the road. Similar to most executive or managerial level employees airport managers, airline managers and other nonflight aviation professionals earn a yearly salary.

Experience

• Like other industries, salaries for aviation positions are largely determined by related work experience. Entry-level aviation positions such as regional airline co-pilot, regional airline flight attendant, airport operations technician and flight instructor typically pay less than senior-level positions such as major airline captain, high-level corporate or cargo pilots and major airport manager. Senior-level aviation professionals often made more than $100,000 per year as of May 2008, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Time Frame

• According to Avjobs, an aviation career information website, aviation professionals often see yearly increases in their salaries. This is especially true in the airline industry, where pilot and flight attendant unions have negotiated a yearly schedule of guaranteed wage increases. Although airline managers, corporate pilots, cargo pilots, airport administrators and flight instructors do not benefit from airline-style guaranteed yearly raises, the vast majority of these professionals see significant pay increases over the course of five years.

Considerations

• Although aviation industry wages typically rise over time, companies may decide to cut pay during times of economic need. For instance, many airlines "furloughed" (laid off) pilots and cut pilot wages during the 2000s to save money during the decade's recessions. Non-airline aviation professionals such as airport managers, flight instructors and cargo pilots may also see their companies attempt to lower wages during tough economic times. However, the Bureau of Labor Statistics states that aviation industry wages were on a general upward trend as of May 2008.

Misconceptions

• Many misconceptions exist regarding aviation career salaries. For instance, many people believe all airline pilots earn handsome salaries. While airline pilots earned an average of more than $100,000 per year as of May 2008, most entry-level airline pilots earn a fraction of that amount. In fact, first-year regional airline co-pilots often earn less than $20,000 per year. Entry-level major airline pilots (typically with years of regional flying experiences) garnered average annual pay of between $21,600 and $49,572, according to the Wall Street Journal.