For $40 an hour I'll move my family out there and I'll wash your cars on the weekend for free. WTF

Supe, the fact that you think $28-$43 per hour is fair pay proves my point perfectly. Thanks for making it easy ;)

I was thinking along the same lines and hell with a college degree can we expect more? :D

is $40/hr more than 28K/year?

Off-ramp, if you don't know that without having to even think about it for a second, then you should be happy to make $28k a year.

My God this is funny!! These two are just digging their hole deeper and do not realize it!

With benefits and such these "low paid union workers" are close to $100k a year at the upper end!

I live within the pattern area of a (busy) small airport in the NE, have owned a home there for more than 30 years. They have no commercial flights but plenty of training flights, both helicopter and fixed wing. Some of my neighbors object to the traffic but mostly just afraid that a plane will hit their house. I have never objected to the noise, even when jet medivacs would come and go in the middle of the night. By the way, we have never had an accident that resulted in any personal property damage or injury.

My son has flown S-76's for the past 9 years and is currently flying a Falcon 900 for a large NE company. Had it not been for the airport, I'm not certain what he would be doing for a career. That is where he started his career and developed a love of aviation.

I fly for a hobby and love the freedom of flight as well as the sound of the aircraft. Many years ago while on active duty in the military I was fortunate to spend some time in UH-1's. I can't think of anything that can elicit more of an emotional response in my mind than the sound of an approaching Huey (a very unique sound). That was the sound of "help on the way" in SE Asia.

As a kid, my father was in the Air Force and we lived on SAC bases where it was a daily event for B-47's w/ Jato assist taking off. It was always an experience that would send shivers down my spine to see and hear those things. And yes, it was the sound of freedom.

While I'm not overly pleased with some of the executive compensation packages that we see today, I have been the benefactor of using corporate aircraft throughout my business career. They offer safety, security, efficiency and economy that the public will never fully comprehend.

Are there abuses, you bet, but in the big scheme of things corporate aviation plays a major role in business. It also does it's share of Angel flights and emergency transport of critically ill patients. I worked for 30 years for a Bil$ company and I can say that my company always put the health of it's communities, residents and employees ahead of business schedules. There were many flights during those 30 years that took folks from remote Canadian border locations to Boston or NY city for the best medical care available. Never a penny changed hands.

I hate to see people criticize something when they don't have all the facts.

As 'muricans with the right to have all kinds of guns, and shoot anybody who puts even so much as a little toe on your property........ can't you shoot down the Choppers for invading your airspace? :).

Tried that once. Got sued by the neighbors whose houses it crashed into.

Was so not worth it.

You should have done a deal with the pilot & sued the neighbors for having put their house there. On the grounds that the pilot could have landed safely in that space had the house not been there.

Nope, not if you only work 700 hours (17.5 weeks) a year. So yeah, I see how a union worker could make $40/hr and only gross 28k/year...

On the other hand, if it is a typical job, $40/hr = $83.2k/yr. Not what you could call poor.

I feel I can add to this discussion...

I live within one mile of one of the busiest private airports in the country. I also know many of the top execs at some of the top corps in the US. They happen to be local to this part of the state.


Observation #1: Many of these people do benefit from the time savings a jet or helicopter offers. That translates to profits for the company...both private and public. While some may abuse the "perk", most do not.

#2: If the noise from aircraft is bothersome then one will need to take it up with local officials as the flight patterns are governed by the FAA (As far as I know) and negotiated by local government. When purchasing a home you need to research all aspects of local living conditions.

I've given a good number of speeches, and I always hope for a heckler like you.

The construction season is about eight months long.

A construction CAREER is perhaps twenty. Sure, they are sometimes stretched longer, but all my fifty year-old Carpenter friends' bodies are BEAT UP. These are "industrial athletes" and it's not that much fun erecting steel a hundred feet in the air with sleet hitting the side of your face at 30 mph.

It's pretty easy to get killed on a construction site. VERY easy to get hurt.

Construction jobs are not unskilled jobs. It takes years to become a journeyman, and there is good reason for that.

Et cetera.

If these jobs were overpaid, we'd not be having this much trouble getting people into the trades. We have lots of trouble finding people to take these careers. If you're itching for one of these jobs get yourself a plane ticket. I'll get you on a job site.

I think the median home price here is $800,000. Try paying that mortgage by working eight months at $35 per hour.

And finally........I've got no problem with the idea that a guy who works hard and stays out of the hospital, who learns a craft and uses those skills to build our infrastructure.....Iv'e got no problem with the idea of him being able to afford a decent place to live, a family and perhaps even help a kid through college. Quite frankly, my job sites are littered with guys working substantially harder than the helicopter riders we're discussing. I've got respect for those construction workers, and I'm saddened by the notion that some folks don't.

Yes, I go to bat for those guys. I feel honored by the opportunity.

I have to disagree with the "productivity" argument. Odds are the CEO would be on the phone and/or at his computer. Both can be done from the back of a limo...and in fact are much easier to accomplish there than in the helo. I do agree that it will generally save time, and depending on scheduling, could be make or break.

This isn't 1980...but flying in a helo is cool and gets him bragging rights with the other CEOs.

For a job? Are you serious?

In Auburn?

My wife will tell you that life was simpler when I relied on physical labor for our income. I often come home much more worn out when I'm making important decisions all day. Decisions with real consequences for my family's future. It's not often I make big changes, but the times I do are by far the most stressful.

Ain't that the truth. I used to work on the floor 10 hours a day and would actually be dripping sweat we were pushing so hard... Eastest job I ever had.

I just did a cost of living calc from here to Tacoma Washington and it's 5% more expensive HERE. Homes are cheaper there as well. I'll try another city.

Correction, I had the wrong city in there. It's actually 8% more expensive there. Just being honest.

Sup, just a bump. Were you serious about the availabilty of $40 an hour construction jobs in Washington?