Retired from Singapore Airlines. If you’re going into this profession for any reason other than sheer love of and passion for flying, I’d tell you to find something else to do. Don’t do it for the money, don’t do it for the travel, don’t do it for any reason other than you just simply love to fly. It’ll save you a lot of grief. It’s the greatest job in the world if you love it. 42 year career, B747, L-1011, B757/B767 and B727 Captain. Just my two cents.
@AFO33105 ай бұрын
This. I'm at a part 135 with a 5 on 2 off schedule getting paid less than my friends working at an office. I'm getting my ATP here shortly and will hopefully get a job with a nice pay increase but yeah you gotta love flying or you'll burn out.
@georgiathai49615 ай бұрын
@@AFO3310 It’s true. The money, etc., comes much later. Not as late as it used to, but later nonetheless. And those office friends? Well, they’ve got their view out of the window (if they have a window) and you’ve got yours. If you truly love to fly the money isn’t the most important thing. Keep going and don’t give up! Keep the faith, ok?
@michaeld41345 ай бұрын
@@georgiathai4961 thanks for the tip captain! got my instrument checkride next week, wish me luck!
@solarpoweredafricanvegansp1785 ай бұрын
Respect your wisdom and perspective!
@TB-um1xz4 ай бұрын
@georgiathai4961 as a 747 pilot i get paid pretty well. I've met other 747 pilots that do it for the money. I don't blame them, flying the 747 is pretty boring. So the paychecks makes up for that.
@FlyingwithBigErn5 ай бұрын
Man that was a great time Bill. Thanks for the hospitality🤙🏽. PS, I loved the 850. It’s on the replacement list now😁
@Pilotrick866 ай бұрын
Great video Bill, really enjoy Big Ern, good knowledge,good stuff
@BillAllenREI6 ай бұрын
Glad you enjoyed it, thanks for the support! He’s a great dude!
@haroldbridges94055 ай бұрын
Bill, you asked AMAZING questions and I truly enjoyed the conversation. However it was numerous times where I felt that BigErn was going to drop a golden gem but you cut him off and he wasn’t able to finish his thoughts.
@etrimbleable5 ай бұрын
Big Ern. Coolest pilot in the skies
@cesarm13473 ай бұрын
Hey man! I'm new to your channel and love BigErn. One little tip i'd give as a viewer is to let your guess finish his story. You cutting him off was a little annoying. Other than that it was great! keep it up!!!
@josh-ed7je5 ай бұрын
Great vid. We definitely need a deep dive about the spousal being a real estate pro to offset active income with passive losses.
@PilotDaveAviation5 ай бұрын
Awesome video Bill, following you also now ...thanks for sharing this video
@paulcobb87655 ай бұрын
Big Ern!!!
@samuelcarstens61525 ай бұрын
Good conversation
@trilogy3x5 ай бұрын
I can’t wait til I switch careers and get back to flying. The airlines have a way better schedule then us truckers lol I’d love to be home half of the month and making good money instead of having to be on the road 6+ weeks and home a few days making average money.
@WinginWolf5 ай бұрын
Big Ern! Who’s big Ern 🐦?
@Historyfreak-f7o5 ай бұрын
Six figures is what they paid pilots in the 70s
@user-hh9vo2jc2w5 ай бұрын
You know “six figures” ranges from 100k to 999K right? Plus being a pilot in the 70s is way harder than the 2020s In terms of workload, qualification needed.
@davidcole3335 ай бұрын
too many interruptions and not enough listening.
@invest21155 ай бұрын
You love hearing yourself talk. Jeez!
@deonbraho63775 ай бұрын
You better listen to him
@deonbraho63775 ай бұрын
Big ern,next holg Hogan,
@SnoDawg4 ай бұрын
I’m confused. It looked like you were flying in circles. Were you in a hold? No ATC audio. Was this a fake movie like flight? With just video playing in the windows :-) Very strange.
@Xmacknp5 ай бұрын
Thank you for this, do you think it’s worth taking out $100k in loans to pursue this career?
@Steven_ologist5 ай бұрын
If you’re young and smart. If aviation is your passion and want to see the world from your office.
@BillAllenREI5 ай бұрын
I went into the military so it was free for me so that’s what I usually recommend but I’m not a commercial pilot. You should reach out to Ernie on Instagram I’m sure he could give you an answer!
@georgiathai49615 ай бұрын
@@BillAllenREI Military training is hardly free. I hear young people parroting recruiters spouting this nonsense all the time. While you’re serving your time in the military accumulating very little actual flying time, other youngsters who got hired by companies like Envoy, etc., and were given seniority numbers at their parent major airline based on their Envoy hire date. Meanwhile they are flying hundreds of hours a year. That seniority number will result in hundreds of thousands of dollars of income over the course of a career that their friends who joined the military won’t get the benefit of. Military training is far from free. It costs you a fortune over the course of a career. If one aspires to be a military pilot that’s one thing. But to say military training is free is just nonsense.
@Thatbluerunner5 ай бұрын
Should be more like 70k and if you work you can do it without loans
@solarpoweredafricanvegansp1785 ай бұрын
@@georgiathai4961 With the post 9/11 G.I. Bill and VR&E at a part 141 school, you don’t have to spend a dime. Speaking from experience, 100% funded. Maybe that’s what he meant.
@williamarner46375 ай бұрын
It is hard to believe that SWA is still bidding lines.
@LEVELGAZANOW5 ай бұрын
Why? Nobody in their right mind wants to contend with PBS
@johnh25275 ай бұрын
Does Southworst Airlines ever do maintenance?
@LEVELGAZANOW5 ай бұрын
@@johnh2527 You’ll never know but I guarantee, considering your statement, you spend a lot of time on your knees blowing your Boss to get “A Head!”
@davidgree15 ай бұрын
Gotta be out of your mind to go to medical school.
@realdeal80785 ай бұрын
Hey Big Ern.. Im guessing you're married.. How do you juggle work with married life.. ?
@couespursuit73506 ай бұрын
Because the Delta Pilots had leverage in the negotiations that brought aboard PBS it was a system that the pilots had control over. Turns out it was in many was a better bidding system than was anticipated. Line of time bidding is about as archaic as it gets and not efficient, nor does it get you days off or vacation as easily as a good proper pilot designed PBS.
@LEVELGAZANOW5 ай бұрын
Delta Pilots hate PBS. SWA has the most versatile scheduling for pilots.
@couespursuit73505 ай бұрын
@@LEVELGAZANOW If you say so. I used line of time bidding at Delta for 20 years and Delta PBS for 10 years and I found that PBS gave me much better control over my schedule. If you are junior PBS is not quite so nice because line of time has a randomness that a junior pilot can get lucky now and then, less so for PBS.
@LEVELGAZANOW5 ай бұрын
@@couespursuit7350 Well, I’m 25 years at Delta and I hate PBS. My wife, who is a SWA Captain, has much more flexibility with bidding her schedule than I do. Keep in mind, SWA pilots voted down PBS because of the inflexibility. Given the fact that she earns equivalent, if not more than me (767 CA), I truly wish I had gone to SWA. The 2006 bankruptcy screwed many of our careers.
@JustMe002575 ай бұрын
Hate the title. Nice conversation.
@tylercampbell60585 ай бұрын
There is a different Big ERN in the Financial Independence community. His blog is Early Retirement Now. Karsten Jenske.
@Heyemeyohsts5 ай бұрын
I don’t understand bidding on a schedule. You bid on an item in an auction. How can you bid on a schedule? They are not using the word “bid” as it is used normally. Kind of like the word “stall” in an airplane is not how you use “stall” in a car
@LEVELGAZANOW5 ай бұрын
Actually, the term “bid” is used appropriately in this situation
@devenmoorehead58365 ай бұрын
They use the word bid because it's just like auction bidding. The airline puts out the avaliable schedule and the pilots that want that day bid on it. Whoever is more senior wins that bid.
@Heyemeyohsts5 ай бұрын
@@devenmoorehead5836 its aviation industry lingo. It is not proper use of the word. But they are free to use words however they please, just as I am
@Heyemeyohsts5 ай бұрын
@@LEVELGAZANOW Okay! Tomorrow - go and ask a stranger on the street to bid on a schedule. Let me know what they say
@LEVELGAZANOW5 ай бұрын
@@Heyemeyohsts I really don’t care what people who are clueless in regard to the industry. Bids are submitted and are awarded on your seniority based on the highest bidder. There is a “bid program” used to sort your bids and to submit them. It’s really not a hard concept to understand. My wife’s company uses a bid program and my company uses PBS or Preferential Bidding System.
@michaelgranger71136 ай бұрын
Get real, man. You're contention is based on ideal location and economy. If you have a wife and kids, and youre a beginner, you can probably say goodbye to family life. Six figures without many years of experience and building connections...in what universe?
@LEVELGAZANOW5 ай бұрын
Not necessarily
@LEVELGAZANOW5 ай бұрын
First year FO’s, who do not commute, typically make between $150-$200K/year.