How would you describe a pilots salary?

[Coffeebuzz]

There are a lot of variables to that question. A lot of people who gave you an answer at the high end were referring to the top pay one could expect before retirement. There are a lot of lower paying pilot jobs that people take as a means to get to other higher paying jobs. Many times, there is a tradeoff between pay and lifestyle as well.

Here is a "typical" career progression:

Note: This outline is for the civilian progression. The steps will be quite different for people who learn to fly through the military.

Prerequisites: A college degree is not required, but it is highly recommended and certainly helps with getting any kind of competitive job.

Training, training and more training. Before you can make money as a pilot, you need to have the proper licenses (called "certificates" and "ratings" in the industry). The normal progression is:
(a) Private Pilot certificate (min. 40 hours of flight time)
(b) Instrument Rating (allows to to fly in clouds and reduced visibility conditions
© Commercial Pilot certificate (min. 250 hours of cumulative flight time) - allows you to get paid to fly
(d) Multiengine Rating - a fairly quick add-on to learn procedures for flying an airplane with more than one engine

At this point training costs have probably totaled between $20,000 and $60,000 depending on the hours it took, the type of aircraft used, the experience of the instructor, etc. With the certificates and ratings outlined above, you can start making money to fly. What kind of job it is at this point depends on the market. Generally speaking, don't expect to climb into a jet as soon as you have these certificates and ratings. MOST jobs at this point will have a starting pay of less than $20,000 a year. These jobs include flight instructing (with additional certificate), traffic watch flights, pipeline inspection, skydive flights, and banner towing.

As experience builds, so do options. Here is a sampling of different jobs and their starting pay:

Regional airline F/O (First Officer or copilot): Around $20,000
Charter F/O: under $20,000 to around $40,000

Regional airline pay starts low, but progresses relatively quickly based on years with the company. When you have the experience, other jobs become available:

Regional airline captain: Starting $40k-60k depending on plane. Top pay currently around $100-120k with 10 years experience at the same airline

Major airline pilot: Starting F/O pay $30k-40k. Captain with 10 years experience at the same airline: $95k-140k (some airlines and cargo carriers are up to $200k).

Corporate: F/O starts $35-60k. Average $45k-70k with experience. Captain pay averages $50k-100k depending on airplane size.

Fractional and Charter: Similar pay structure as corporate, but about 20% lower.

In general, if nothing changes (nearly impossible), somebody starting training today can expect to be making $20,000 in 2-5 years, $50,000 in 10 years, $70,000-100,000 in 15 years, and $100,000-150,000 in 20-25 years to retirement. These are all in today's dollars, not adjusted for inflation.