I heard that, loud & clear!

20 years HAA. SPIFR pay but havn't been in the clouds since 2003. Aircraft AP unstable.

127K in 2022. One extra OT day a month.

Maxed out 401K for the last 16 years. Got to 1.6mil till the market dropped. 20% down now to 1.3mil

Retirement saving is the answer if you want to stay in HAA for location and schedule.

Wife makes about 60K which try to live on. Keep vehicles for 10 years and mortgage paid off.

1 Kid left in college and then we slow down. 5 more years to retirement at 55 years old.

Life is good!

2008 EMS starting Salary AMC 52,800K per union contract.

2008-2023 with a 3% raise per year - comes out to 83K ish.

Utility companies- 12/12/, 14/14, etc. similar outcomes.

Off Shore- 12/12, 14/14, etc. 2006-08 starting pay PHI,ERA 45K-55K.  After 15 years, starting pay is 70-80K.

No raises but cost of living adjustment's.  Which means no improvement of life is happening, just maintaining and loosing out to our fixed wing brothers and inflation.

This industry has a huge problem with level of skill, responsibility, danger, for the pay and time requirements. 

down the toilet.  Cost of business keeps going up and reimbursement rates going down.  Industry needs to shrink to alot less aircraft and bases  in order to survive.  Company profits for some are about 1/3 of what they used to be but with increased investment.  If you want to make big bucks EMS will never be anywhere close to the airlines. 

In the Northeast, with a great schedule, you can actually lead a decent life.

But at 200k, considering inflation, that is @35% below the average 25 years ago.  200k is certainly a good annual figure year days though.  Times change.

So I guess I am you 10-15 years ago. So tell me, what else would you have done differently? (Besides flying corporate, or going to the airlines, no desire for me there)

I suppose I'm also staying put for the very same reasons, schedule and location.

As for health and travel those are 2 things I'm prioritizing, although covid put a hiatus on travel for a while. In any case, thanks for your answer. Hopefully life treats us both well and we can enjoy the good life while we can.

121k in EMS 18+years, very little workover

49k in CW4 Drill pay 

18k in tax free VA disability

Not a bad living in Ohio/PA/Indiana area

Can't count military stuff and you should not to.

That is retirement and should not be counted by you as a source of income.

121K in the mid west?? I doubt it.  Your base salary is not that much.

200K in the Northwest.... highly doubt it.  LFN does not pay that. AMC in Washington does not pay that.

When discussing pay, that only thing that matters it the Gross Income with no other add on's.

AMC start paying for 2000hr pilot -86K

PHI -78K

GMR-86-92K

Metro-78-90K

Gulf- Era- single 80-ish/ Phi single 80K

Utility companies- Erickson co pilot 90K/ Timberline 130K Blackhawk/ HeliExpress 70-100K

First year SIC airlines- 100-150 per hour.  Free flights anywhere in the world, coffee and pee breaks while flying, no sitting outside in the cold at 1am...

Yah we are doing great.

Ok...121k EMS very little overtime

Base salary 115k

18+ years same company in Ohio

I was an ems pilot for 8 years. 

Started at 42k, left making 65k.

went fw, flew cargo for 1 crappy year, hated it, made 40k

hated it

was going to go back to ems or maybe flightsafety.

got on with AA 7 years ago. commute

2023: 290k

2022: 300k

2021: 250k

2020: 135k

2019; on disability for cancer, made 108k

2018: disability 108k

2017: 95k

so glad I left, going to upgrade this year and make even more. you guys can keep your every other weekend and kissing med crews butts

Considering the fact that the main reason the pay is so low is because for so many years people leaving the military in their 40's with a full pension caused the low wages because of an endless flow of qualified applicants willing to take any job where they could fly and live near their homes. And before you start, I am one of those retired military guys and yes you should take that income into account as its directly responsible for the low pay for so many years.

Light-utility and fire, western US, $139k for 180ish days worked. $735/day for extra days if I wanted more. Feels ok but could always be a bit higher.

Just retired 

https://i.redd.it/wubl9a5mn5b91.jpg

123k as a base mechanic.Same company 15 years. My base salary is more than most of my pilots.

CA Based?

No cost of living is cheap in the south LOL

Avionics

105K this year. Could have been more if I didn't dodge so much OT.

Years exp, 7 mil, from 93 to2000.  23 civilian from 2000 to present.

Yeah, could be tons more if I had gone airlines....but living/working at a major hub, major city.  f-dat.

3 more years And I'll be retired at 50.  Start looking for my replacement.

They had to mothball half the fleet of B1-B's when I left in 2000.  I imagine the same will happen here when I finally retire. 

Good luck.

for the last 23 years you thought you had to live in a hub or major city to fly for the airlines? OMG that's freaking hilarious.

Moron.

Reading comprehension must not be your strong suit.

Major Airline (avionics work) is indeed centered around major cities.

There, you learned something today,  mmmkkay douchaebag

Biggest regret after 30 years of HAA was not going with the Airlines.  I had many chances but never did it.  My buddy who did just laughs at the money he makes.

If you've got at least ten years left of flying you should really consider it.  You'll be making more in a few years then you'll ever make in most helicopter jobs, and you'll be treated way better.  

It's been a great career and I'm not crying in my beer, but geez, the money is way better on the other side.  Plus you're not standing outside at 3 in the morning in sub zero temps refueling your aircraft, picking up nasty idiots who make bad decisions, and listening to med crews complain about their lives.

If you are a mechanic make $123k, you might wanna keep your resume polished. That's prime pay to get let go for no reason, and your replacement is unwittingly $50k cheaper...

I know my worth and have never accepted the low pay standards that keep allow our industry to offer substandard pay.

Just quit airlines bc I hate commuting. It's a shyzing life as I was away 24 days a month in shyzhole hotels. Not everyone makes it into the majors, especially if you are late into the game like I was. Puddle jumping 14 days a month works just fine by me. If you started in your 20's then it may work out. But expect frequent furloughs. and job instabilities.

4th year at a legacy airline flying the 767 as a FO.  I average 18k per month gross.  Add the 16% 401k contribution and thats almost 21k per month.  Thats an easy 252k at the moment.  We have reached an AIP with the company and expect an 18% pay raise which will bring my income up to almost 300k.  If I pick up a few premium pay trips over the year I'll be north of 300.

Looking back I really enjoyed my time flying EMS.  Bit I couldn't justify making (at the time) 56k.  If the job had been closer to 100k I probably wouldn't have been motivated to move on.  But looking back I don't regret the decision to chase the airline dream at all.

stay safe

And yet here you are.....

I was a rotor head for a long time.  I come on here to provide information to other aviators considering the jump.  If it's not your bag, that's ok.  No need to be an ash tho

Must be Delta!   I too quit EMS now Captaing on 777 flyin freight.  Did 320k last year.  I'll never go back to helicopters if I can help it.

4th year at a legacy airline flying the 767 as a FO.  I average 18k per month gross.  Add the 16% 401k contribution and thats almost 21k per month.  Thats an easy 252k at the moment.  We have reached an AIP with the company and expect an 18% pay raise which will bring my income up to almost 300k.  If I pick up a few premium pay trips over the year I'll be north of 300.

Looking back I really enjoyed my time flying EMS.  Bit I couldn't justify making (at the time) 56k.  If the job had been closer to 100k I probably wouldn't have been motivated to move on.  But looking back I don't regret the decision to chase the airline dream at all.

stay safe

25+ years EMS

Started at 34k, 25% 401k match up to 5%

Current year with OT,  153k, will be less next year with full staff at base and OT reverting back to 1.5x

401k balance is 535k.   Only recently did the company start matching 75% up to 7%. I have been contributing 12% annually.  

Dual rated, every time I considered jumping over to FW, something kills it. 9/11, 2008 GFC, C19...  Now I am 54, just going to grind it out here for another 11 years.  If not, I have been practicing "would you like fries with that?"  and  "Welcome to Wal Mart"

on the flip side, it sure has been nice not having to stay in hotels, living 10 min from my base and going home on a daily basis.  I also have been one of the fortunate bases that has not experienced a vendor change.

Good luck to everyone! see you someday at the nursing home....

It would be nice to have a better 401k contribution.

What's sstarting rate at Air Methods on West Coast, fixed wing or rotor wing the same?