Helicopter pilot wants to sell his PT Cruiser  

The market has changed. 

The military isn't pumping out pilots with 2,000+ hours anymore. Anyone going in is signing a 10-year contract and will be lucky to have 1k hours when they retire. It's not the GWOT era anymore. Most that got their hours during the GWOT are headed to the airlines. 

The civilian market is focused on feeding the airline machine. There isn't a deluge of new pilots coming up willing to take peanuts just to fly helicopters. 

Every EMS company is hurting for pilots. PHI is offering $100k signing bonuses and still can't fill seats. I get emails every week from every single EMS company trying to recruit me, including the one I currently work for. And it's not getting easier for them. 

Pilots are retiring or losing their medicals faster than they are being added to the industry.

Experienced Helicopter Pilots are worth more than they have at any point in the past, and it's time for us to realize that. We aren't ever going to make the same as in the airlines, but $150k isn't far fetched, and $200k+ isn't out of the question either. 

So you can sit back and complain that pilots are learning to capitalize on the current positions, while you complain about the "good old days" making $40k and living in mold infested quarters. Or you can be proud of the current crop of pilots who are actually making the most of the current market.