If a kid talks to me about commercial aviation I almost always refer them to helos. Their pay is going up while mine is going down. Technology is moving faster in vertical flight and their capabilities are expanding. They are home more often and fly shorter legs with more landings, where the real fun and challenge is. Just my two cents. Don't make me turn in my Tailhook card.
The funny thing is when I was starting in aviation (pre-Navy) helos were expensive as hell to start in, there was a lot of "PFT" crap going on with news/traffic choppers and the like and such.
The actual "paying jobs" at entry level paid similar or better than regionals/charter gigs, but had a lot more $$$ invested to get a Helo Commercial with IFR ratings and the minimum hours to get hired. (especialy turbine time).
The problem I saw with being a comm helo guy was that while I made decent $$ for what I did, the glass ceiling was a lot lower on the cash end. While I could have mad $30-40 full time right away, it was hard/impossible to make much more than $70k as a helo guy even with more hours than god, unless you owned your own outfit.
Granted there were a few execptions, but "being rich dudes personal pilot" is a lot harder to come by than "Captain at SWA/NWA/United".
When we were talking about the pay differential then, a lot of the retired/former Army guys (mostly VN era Huey drivers) said the lower pay/pay cap they thought was because the of the relative glut of Army guys either getting out as a W2 with no degree, and they were estatic to make 50-60k and not have to deal with the Army while flying, or were retired and were not counting on flying money alone to pay the bills.
There was
VERY LITTLE USN/USMC/USCG represnentation in the smaller regional outfits from my limited observations. The same crusty ol warrants explained that as by the time a "Naval" guy gets out, he's an O-3, maybe up for O-4 with a degree. As much as a lot of the guys wanted to stay flying, the pay cut (lets face it, a senior O3 with big flight pay makes upper 5 figures) was more than most of them could stomach, and they were able to make more $$ using their non-flying experience and degree than their flying skills. That, and I'm not sure what the Armys' committment is now, but then it was not uncommon for a W2 to get out at 26-27 years old. Most Navy/USMC guys are going to be 5 years older than that when they can get out.
I love flying, but a love of flying don't pay my alimony payments and car insurance. Or put food on the table, or pay Sallie Mae. I'm trying to set myself up so when my current contract is up, I can walk if I want and take a low paying job, but who knows what will change between now and then.
And I'm not even that senior, but I'm pulling down over $110k (DH Bonus included) and a good chunk of that's tax free. There is a value on not having to deal with the suck side of the USN, but I'm not sure it's worth a 60% or more pay cut either.
... and then they want the "best & brightest" in the cockpit.
