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Course: Careers > Unit 15
Lesson 1: Commercial airline pilot- Commercial airline pilot: What I do and how much I make
- Commercial airline pilot: How I got my job and where I'm going
- Commercial airline pilot: My budget and planning for the future
- What does a commercial airline pilot do?
- How do you become a commercial airline pilot?
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Commercial airline pilot: My budget and planning for the future
Angelo Bautista, a 29-year-old commercial airline pilot, shares his journey to financial stability. He discusses his early struggles, managing a $60,000 loan from flight school, and how his income has grown from $15,000 to $90,000 per year. Angelo also outlines his monthly expenses and savings, highlighting his goals to pay off his parents' mortgage and save $100,000.
Want to join the conversation?
- I hear people say in the career videos that they went to school or the academy for their jobs whether its airline pilot, police officer, or firefighter. I was wondering if these programs are offered at four year universities as post-baccalaureate programs (like medical school or law school) and how do you pay for tuition? Where is the best place to find out about training? I do understand information may vary from state to state.(7 votes)
- Where is the best place to find out about training? book an introductory trial flight which is 30- 45 mins of flying and 30 mins of briefing,ask your questions from the instructor and go see the flight schools as many as u can , talk with instructors and students.
how do you pay for tuition? some flight training schools offer student loan, get the loan.(3 votes)
- How do you make money work for you?(3 votes)
- For example, you buy a house and rent it out, then eventually the money you earn is more than the price of the house itself. You get money from people paying rent but you don't have to work as hard.(3 votes)
- is it hard to fly a plane that my future plane(3 votes)
- Not hard if you know what you're doing(2 votes)
Video transcript
My name is Angelo Bautista. I'm 29 years old. I'm a Commercial Airline Pilot and I make $90,000 a year. Right now, I feel very financially stable. I think that I can afford to go out and eat if I wanted to. Compared to five years ago when I was starting in the airlines when I was making around $15,000 per year, I think I'm a lot more financially stable now. I knew that I was gonna be financially stable that's why I took this route even though it was hard five years ago and it's only gonna get better from here on out. I paid for college by working as a waiter. I could only put half of the tuition fee. My dad put the other half. I left college without any loan and through flight school, I actually acquired a $60,000 loan that I was paying off and has now been paid off and with the help of my dad and now I'm just repaying my dad without the interest loan. Typically, it costs about 60 to $120,000 to attain your flight certificates. It just depends if you want a Bachelor's degree with it or not. I fortunately already had my Bachelor's so it only cost me 60,000. There are programs out there, four-year degrees, that you attain your Bachelor's degree. And after four years you also receive 250 hours and all your flight certificates but it will cost you $120,000. When I first started in the airlines, I was receiving $1200 of net pay. 800 of that went to my student loan which left me with $400 a month. I allotted $100 a week for food. That left me $200 for rent and gas. I really didn't have any savings at that time. I really didn't have any emergency funds. But I knew that if I had an emergency that I'll be able to call home and have my family take care of me. The cost of living here in Los Angeles is very expensive. For what I'm paying for rent here, you can buy a house or mansion in Mobile, Alabama. My monthly gross income is $7,500. Usually 35% of it is taken out by taxes which is Federal, State taxes, Medicare, health insurance, and life insurance. I am now left with a monthly take-home income of $4,875. My monthly expenses are rent which is $1,460 for a two-bedroom, gas and electric, about $100, TV, internet, about $100, phone, $50 a month, car payment which includes gas and insurance, about $700. Fortunately I do not have any student loans as of right now. Food, about $200 a month. Other stuff like gym plans, subscriptions to Spotify, Netflix, about 200 a month. Discretionary, about $500 a month and I use it to treat my crew for a coffee or dinner because I know how much they make because I used to make what they're making right now. I also buy things for myself like clothes just to keep myself up like socks or other stuff. That leaves me about a savings of 1565. I usually use 1,000 and give it to my parents as they helped me out through college to pay their mortgage so they don't have to pay for it. My financial goals is to be financially stable and be able to pay off my parents' house, have $100,000 in savings, and hopefully be paying for a house here in Los Angeles, California. I've personally learned that money comes and go. I know taking a 60 or $120,000 loan looks really really massive in the beginning but look at it as an investment for yourself. If you are looking to better yourself, look at the 10-year plan, 20-year plan of what that $120,000 loan could achieve or that $60,000 loan could achieve down the line. Early on in my career, I was financially constrained and I've learned to prioritize my needs versus my wants. There are certain things that I need which is gas in my car, food, and clothes. Versus the things that I want which is not necessary at that point in time because I wasn't financially stable and I couldn't afford those things. Now that I'm making more money, I am able to buy those wants but I'm also learning that I can actually make my money work for me by investing it or saving it, doing IRAs, and having that financial stability and freedom much later on in life.