When people imagine a pilot’s salary, they picture six-figure earnings and a life of luxury. But the reality? It’s more complicated than that. Garrett Ray, a commercial pilot based in New York, recently broke down his actual earnings on his YouTube channel—and the numbers might surprise you.
Ray earns $213.97 per hour as a first officer, or co-pilot. At first glance, that sounds incredible. But here’s the catch: pilots don’t get paid for every hour they’re away from home. Instead, they’re only compensated for flight time. That means long layovers, delays, and deadhead flights (where they’re transported as passengers to their next assignment) don’t count toward their paycheck.
For example, one of Ray’s favorite routes—JFK to Phoenix—takes 10 hours of flight time but includes a 24-hour stopover before returning. That’s 40 hours away from home, yet he’s only paid for the time spent in the air. To maximize his earnings, he now focuses on shorter routes with minimal downtime, like a recent trip from LaGuardia to Dallas and back, which netted him $1,556 for just over seven hours of actual work.
Even with smart scheduling, Ray averages about $17,109 a month for 80 hours of flight time. If he becomes a captain, that rate could jump to $350 per hour—nearly $27,199 monthly. But until then, the job isn’t quite the nonstop windfall many assume.
