From "Zero to Hero" (Student to Airline Pilot)

Over the last few weeks, I have been in the process of buying a house with my partner.  Once our offer was accepted, it was time to get the bank to send our lending request to the underwriters.  This is where I found out what seems pretty normal to the airline pilot, is completely abnormal to everyone else.  So, in an effort to help future pilots understand the pathway to a major airline or give you something to copy and paste when the lender ask, here is how this works...

Speaking in generalities, there are two pathways to becoming a professional pilot: military or civilian. Though I was in the military for nine years, I was not in aviation at the time and did not start flight training until I was discharged from the Navy.  I completed my flight training at a civilian university (you can substitute a university program for a Part 61/141 non-degree program in the example outlined below).  My path has a pretty standard career progression.

While in flight training at the university, as mentioned in other post, I completed the following:

• Private Pilot
• Instrument Pilot
• Commercial Pilot (Single & Multi Engine)
• Flight Instructor/Instrument
• Multi-Engine Instructor
• 1,000 Hours total time (R-ATP Qualified)

(There are many ways to build the required hours to apply to the airlines such as flight instructor, banner tow pilot, jumper pilot, survey pilot, contract pilot, etc.)

While attending university, I was able to get my required time to start at the airline by being a flight instructor.  This allowed me to have the federally required minimum hours to apply to my first airline.  These hours were completed prior to graduation.

Upon graduation, I accepted a position at the regional airline, Envoy Air.  Normally, regional airline pilots spend five to seven years at the regional before a mainline airline will hire them (barring any abnormal hiring needs).  However, since I continued my education to obtain a Masters in Aviation combined with my resume, I was able to accelerate this timeline.  I was hired by Delta Air Lines in under three years.

To recap so far, my progression to the airlines is standard: flight instructor, to regional airline (Envoy), to mainline (Delta).

Every aspiring airline pilot's ultimate goal is a mainline carrier.  Those are airlines such as American Airlines, United Airlines, Delta Air Lines, Southwest, FedEx, and UPS.  Once achieved, these are where the airline pilot will stay until they retire.

Here is where the lender (bank) had questions.  They were curious how my pay went from $52/hour to $206/hour in less than 18 months.  They were also confused why I left one airline for another.  Remember, the underwriters are assessing risk to see if you can afford the loan you are asking for and will be able to repay it.  Most banks require a full-time employment at the same employer for a minimum of two years (some banks are one year) to qualify the income for the loan.  So let's break this down.

Regional airlines are step two of three in the "typical" pathway for aspiring airline pilots (remember, step one was time building which I did via flight instructing).  Regional airlines, though some make it a career, are mostly stepping stones in career progression.  Anytime you get on a plane that says "American Eagle," "United Express," or "Delta Connection," you are getting on a regional airline and NOT the mainline operator.  Delta, American, and United own regionals or contract regional airlines to do their flying, in smaller jets that are painted in their colors.  [Regional airlines, at the time of this post, included: Envoy, Piedmont, PSA, Endeavor, SkyWest, Mesa, Horizon, Republic, Air Wisconsin, GoJet, and CommuteAir.]

Airline pilots are paid based upon responsibility.  The majority of this responsibility is how many lives they are responsible (number of passengers on their plane), if they are a captain or first officer, how long they have been at the company, and what type of flying they do.

(Pet Peeve time... We do not have Pilots and Co-Pilots at the airlines.  We have Captains and First officers.  What's the difference?  A Pilot does the flying.  While a Co-Pilot offers assistance at the direction of the Pilot, and does not fly- think Flight Engineer back in the day. Captains and First Officers are qualified exactly the same under the law, both fly the plane and both offer assistance.  The difference, the captain is "Pilot-In-Command" under federal law and the First Officer is "Second-In-Command" under federal law.  They both take turns flying, but the captain has the ultimate responsibility for the flight/plane, therefore his level of responsibility is higher.)

At Envoy I was a first officer flying the EMB-145.  So my level of responsibility was for 50 people a flight, as a first officer, on first or second year pay.  At the time, this was $52/hour. (I should note that most regional airline starting pay is around $100/hour as of this post.)

While at Envoy, I applied to Delta Air Lines.  Delta is a mainline carrier, and step three of three in the career progression. Hired by Delta, all first officers are paid the same rate during the first year regardless of the aircraft or type of flying they do.  This rate is $108/hour.  After your first year, your pay goes up every anniversary and is based on the plane you operate.  Since I fly the Boeing 767-400, this is the highest paid group, paying the same rates as the A330 and the A350.  Year two pay jumped to $206/hour.

So my lender was very confused about two things.  How I went $52/hour to $206/hour in less than 18 months.  They were also confused on why I left Envoy for Delta since they are both airlines.  Providing them the details above helped the underwriter understand the career progression and understand the risk they were seeing was not actually a risk at all.

Furthermore, I provided them with a timeline of pay increases for the next three years.  As airline pilots, we work under a union.  This union negotiates, amongst other things, our pay.  At Delta, we will see annual increases in pay on January 1st of each year, as well as the yearly increase on our anniversary.  So I provided them this table:

May 2022   $108/Hour

May 2023   $206.65/Hour

Jan 2024    $216.98/Hour 

May 2024   $253.91/Hour

Jan 2025    $264.07/Hour

May 2025   $270.46/Hour

Jan 2026    $281.28/Hour 

May 2026   $288.00/Hour

I let them know that after May 2026, a new contract will be negotiated with new pay rates that are above May 2026 will go into effect.  Additionally, that when I decide to "upgrade" to captain, that the pay rates will significantly increase from those in the table.  However, my pay will never be less than my current rate. (I also attached to the email the pay tables from the union contract, highlighting my plane and the rate for the given year the table was effective for).

To close my statement to the lender, I let them know that my career progression from 2018 as a flight instructor, to 2019 as a regional airline pilot, to 2022 as a mainline pilot is typical and standard.  The only thing abnormal was how fast I went "zero to hero."  Delta is my final goal and will be my place of professional employment until I retire at the age set by federal law.

The last hard part for the lender was explaining how we are paid.  I like to call it "salary-hourly."  I explained that under the union contract, I am paid for a minimum of 65 hours a month regardless of how much I actually fly (salary part).  However, I never credit less than 90 hours a month and most months I credit around 100 hours (hourly part).  If the lender pulls an "employment verification" from your company, that letter will have your dates of employment, currently hourly pay rate, and in the section for "hours per month," it will state the minimum guarantee.  Obviously $206/hour at 65 hours is drastically less than at 90 hours, and was not enough to qualify for the house I wanted to buy.  Therefore, I supplied them with every pay stub for the last six months, showing them I credit over 90 hours a month.  They then used 90 hours to calculate my monthly income.

So why was this so confusing?  Two reasons- first, the way pilots careers progress and our wage details are abnormal.  Second, my W2's for the last three years do not align with what I stated my current annual income is; 2021 W2 at Envoy was 52/hour and 2022 W2 showed first year Delta pay at $108/hour, but I was saying I made nearly $20,000/month.  If you have been at the major airline for 4+ years, this will not be an issue for you as your last 2-3 W'2 will have your higher pay rates on them with the correct hours you normally work, unless you recently upgraded to captain and then you'll be right back in this situation.  But since I needed to justify the loan based upon my current pay rate, it became very confusing very fast.

So, if you find yourself in this situation with the bank, feel free to use this blog.  Change out "Envoy" for your regional airline, change the dollar amounts to your history, and change "Delta" to your current airline. I really wish someone with a financial background that understand how airlines work would make a "go-by" for lenders.  Until that time, hopefully this helps!