"After the 1st year their salary then jumpe to around 38,000!" I live in a small midwest town, $38k is almost enough to live comfortably here, key word is Almost. As a computer sys admin that would be a $16k/year pay CUT. And as someone who has thought strongly about a career change to become a pilot the BS they have to go through early on and the amazingly low wages has prevented me from looking into this career change. I have been told by more then a few people I make a great pilot with natural stick and rudder skills, yet here I am flying for fun because of antiquated pay practices at the low levels.