[pgkdan]

Starting pilot salaries at 14 U.S. regional carriers average $22,400 a year, according to the largest U.S. pilots union. Some smaller carriers pay as little as $15,000 a year. The latter is about what a full-time worker would earn annually at the $7.25-an-hour federal minimum wage.

That's crazy!! School bus drivers make more than that!

[Yo-Yo]

That's crazy!! School bus drivers make more than that!

No, that's economics. When you're flying a 14 seat regional commuter turboprop, any single flight has a typical revenue generating capacity of 14x$99, or $1,400. A typical commuter aircraft may make eight trips a day (four each way) from a small regional airport to a major airport hub. So that makes the daily revenue potential (if flying full, both ways, every trip) at $11,200 per day.

You have fuel, aircraft maintenance, gate fees, and capital equipment costs that eat up most of that. And the planes don't fly full both ways every trip, and many trips are lower than $99 per ticket, so the actual revenue is lower than the $11,200 figure. How much is left for pilot salaries?

And the school bus drivers are paid by the taxpayers, not by paying customers, so what they make is not relevant to the discussion.

[staytrue]

“School bus drivers make more than that!”

School bus drivers are paid by the govt. and their budget for their wages is co-mingled with the “for the children” edumacation budget.