FRONTLINE "Flying Cheap" | Sneak Peek 1: Who's Flying Your Plane? | PBS

[dogeatsdobash]

I work for the airlines and make $18,000 a year. I can't even afford a place in Newark. I'm pretty much homeless and divide my time between crash pads and the homes of friends around the country. I'm always tired and it takes everything in me to stay awake.

[BigEdDunkel]

Questionable tan on that pilot spokesman. Dude, switch off your sun-lamp.

[TalksWithDirt]

That douch bag Cohen says he found a hotel in Newark for $50 a night. He thinks that's cheap because that prick makes $100/hr. Take home pay after taxes at $20,000 a year is friggin $50/day! He's asking pilots to lose money after covering room and board for the day, and he does not even have the basic info and math skills to know what he's saying. And he does it with such conviction too. Asshole.

[TheWarbirdPhoenix]

I'm starting to crap myself. I'm living better then a pilot in my little $8.50/hr 3:30pm to 11:30pm private school custodian job?! This is not too different then my past trucking career,even then,at least my truck doubled as my home. I want to punch Cohen in the face for some reason.

[JackMacyntire]

Working hard long hours. Yep, they must be the only people who do that...

[DreaminofFL360]

@JackMacyntire AND NOT GETTING PAID for those "long hard hours"

[dnbpimaz]

can anybody telll me a link of the full documentary?

[TheRealTaco87]

I wonder how many people here are actually pilts and have a clue?

[TheRealTaco87]

Thats the business though. Once you have enougfh hurs you can become a captain or first fficer on a bigger plane. ThaTS where the big bucks are made.

[DreaminofFL360]

@TheRealTaco87 Wrong. If you make it to a "Legacy" airline, the starting pay is $35,000 on average. This may take 15 years or more to get there.

[HoverTime]

This Roger Cohen, President of the regional airlines association gives off a sleeze factor I can't put my finger on. When he says that the average pilot in Regional Airlines gets $73,000, he's factoring in the Chief pilot's salary and the multi-million dollar salaries of the CEOs. What about the poor slob that actually flies the crappy red eye routes? $15,000 per year and paid only for the time actually flying.

[dingoklectos]

I love Miles O Brien...when he says.."I am not talking about average...i am talking about human beings flying my grandmother to Buffalo"...lol you go Miles! I doubt though that this will change anything.

[dingoklectos]

I want to plant a few punches right in the face of Roger Cohen @ 1:59. This asshole probably makes 500K or more and treats pilots like cookie cutters. Its scary that cab drivers / greyhound drivers earn more than pilots. We should boycott this industry until they are forced to pay a decent yearly wage to pilots.

[dingoklectos]

who really would wanna be a pilot??

[Renegen1]

I love how pissed off the spokesman is when he is rebuffed. Don't they love to monopolize the conversation and information provided, he didn't get to this time!

[spooja7]

Captain Sullenberger said it beautifully...the revolving door management running these airlines treat airline crews pay like ATM's. 19k for an airline pilot is a joke. "almost scary" indeed! Commuting is exhausting when you do it day in day out. Flight and Duty limitations don't include time spent commuting and pilots are spent by the time they even start work.! The suit quoting average pay doesn't care about anything but the bottom line and safety comes a distant second, pilot morale last.

[crabby636r]

to pancho: Unfortunately Colgan is not the only airline doing this. No matter where you go you are going to make that your first year.

Funny how all these people are talking about the lack of wages for pilots, but the same people continue to complain about how expensive their $250 ticket from JFK to LAX is. 

If you are truly concerned about your safety and the ability of the people in the front seats maybe you should consider paying more for airfare. Just going to throw that out there.

[dingoklectos]

@crabby636r

I totally agree. Deregulation is dangerous. FAA / Federal govt should start imposing REAL fees on the passengers.

[HVACSoldier]

@dingoklectos Are you kidding. Look, it takes me 10.5 hours to drive from Colo. Spring to Iowa. If I were to fly, it would take two hours to Denver, two hours to wait before I fly, two hours to Omaha, an hour to pick up bags and rent a car, and another hour to drive home to Iowa. That is eight hours driving and flying and renting a car, or 10.5 driving and NOT renting a car. More government regulation might make it that more difficult to fly.

[pibada2]

I wouldn't even let him drive my car, let alone a damn plane full of passengers.

[mcgra8bc]

I am so glad that I quit the profession. Being an airline pilot is terrible.

[toddyrr]

"Change" starts when no one applies to Great Lakes, Colgan etc, power to the pilot!!

[pancho1576]

Hey Toddyrr...I agree with you 200%..as long as there are pilots willing to work for these "sweatshops" of the skies ...they will keep getting away with paying the pilots crap.....PILOTS TAKE A STAND .....HAVE PRIDE IN YOUR SELVES ......DON'T GIVE THEM THE SATISFACTION OF EXPLOITING YOU!!!

'

[dingoklectos]

@pancho1576

Totally agree with you! We need a revolution like the Civil Rights in the aviation industry.

[JetRanger0007]

That Suit and Tie idiot needs to be FIRED !

[boschpilot]

What I meant is that -in response to pclowns comment is that employees are typically paid when they are at work, on break etc... If u dont want to pay go fly yourself. The criminals are the guys like fake tan dude pretending to represent the profession.

[boschpilot]

Go fly yourself then azzclown

[Tacticalgearhead]

I'll be watching this stuff!

[ns81]

Unbelievable. It reminds me of crop pickers in california. Make no mistake nobody should have to live like this but don't you think the people entrusted with our lives deserve sufficient conditions to be at their peak when they're in the cockpit?

[rrpalk]

the thing most people don't understand is that airline pilots fall under railway labor laws... which means they get away with things like unpaid training, no split shift or standby pay, things of that nature

[anmoose]

Almost too scary. Think about this the next time you book a flight...

[JixMa]

What a sucky system we got going here! Truly slave labor conditions is the norm in America. And we're really supposed to think that slavery has been abolished! Pffft! What bullshit!!! All that those with the money (and hence the power) have done, is pay their slaves peanuts (so as to not *call* it slavery) but demand a hell of a lot of work for those peanuts out of their servile little monkeys. You don't like it? You're fired! They'll simply get another monkey to take your place. What a racket!

[TheGiantRobot]

Precisely.

[mcgra8bc]

To put it in perspective my aviation degree and training cost $120,000 that's about $12,000 a year in student loan payments. My first year at the airlines was $19,000 a year before taxes were taken out.

[speciesamused]

Madness. No one is protecting the people anymore. We are disposable to the corporate vampires. Until our regime is cleared out of corporate lobbyist running our country, it is business as usual.

[pclown]

though i think the salaries mentioned are horrible, i wouldn't pay that one guy to eat lunch and read a book either!

[zachattackoorah]

His point is w/ lunch & book readin is the amount of on duty time they spend in airports not doing a thing. They're not paid but they still have to be on stand by & ready to go. This creates chronic fatigue. Fatigue causes lapses in judgement leading to planes fallin out of sky. My bro is a pilot & his descriptions mirror some of my experiences in Iraq. Our CO's knew we needed mental downtime or we're useless. Airlines aren't givin my bro that time b/c ppl aren't willing to pay for his services.

[mcgra8bc]

Would you pay him to pre-flight the airplane? How about get the airplane ready for departure? Would you pay him to check the weather? Because pilots are not payed for that either. Next time you are sitting in your seat while the plane is loading look in the cockpit; all of that WORK they are doing, they are doing for FREE.

[rickbar123]

Corp. America screwing everybody once again.

[flameskin]

@rickbar123

Same shit over in mexico! We regional pilots, are screwed by the airlines too!

[runswithscissorsalot]

geeez!