Co-Pilot Salary

Video Transcript

"Your average starting salary for a co-pilot in a regional carrier, is going to be anywhere between twenty to twenty five thousand dollars a year, in your first year. Potential earnings over a career, if you were to stay as a first officer, depending on if it's a Legacy Carrier, or anywhere into your cargo, is going to be anywhere from a hundred and fifty, to a hundred and seventy thousand a year. With any job, it takes time, and the longer you stay at a position, just like most any other job, you're going to earn more each year. Most first officers, if they decide to stay in that position, I'd say over the span of a career, are going to top out somewhere in the hundred and fifty, to a hundred and seventy thousand dollar range. Nowadays, for a co-pilot, it's an ever expanding industry. Flights always going to be something, that is going to have to continue, and most co-pilots are basically stepping up the ladder, to get to a captain, so the spots are always opening up for co-pilots. Starting from their first year up, most people are going to be trying to transition into a better spot, where they can make more money as a captain. As a first officer, as far as scheduling is concerned, the benefits are once you do build up some seniority, at the company you're with, you're going to be able to pick and choose your own schedule. You're going to get first picks at what lines or what flights you want to fly for the week, or for the month, and that's the benefit of being first officer, is the longer you stay there, the better your schedule is going to get. At first, sometimes the schedules aren't as nice, but as you step up the ladder, you're going to get a better choice, of what you want to fly. Most co-pilots for any company, are going to have the benefits of any other company, as far as your health insurance, and retirement, things like that are all going to be covered, just like any other job. The best part about being a co-pilot, or a pilot in general, is you're getting paid to do something you love, and a lot of people got to sit at a desk all day, and our desk is sitting in an airplane, flying across country."