Pilot shares screenshot of exactly how much they earn and people are gobsmacked

A pilot has shared just how much they get paid to fly people around the world.

When you think of jobs that pay a lot, there's a few that probably come to mind - high profile lawyers, doctors, CEOs.

And another which you may not be surprised to learn pays very well is airline pilots, and now a pilot has shared just how much money the highly-skilled job pays.

Given that a pilot can have the lives of hundreds of people travelling across the world in their hands at any one time, making sure they're paid well is probably a good idea.

The precise pay check does vary depending on a few different factors for any one individual pilot.

For example, different airlines might pay different rates, and the hours they've flown over the year will also impact how much they take home.

The pilot shared the pay stub which the New York Post reported was from Miami-based American Airlines Boeing 737 captain, and was shared on social media.

And the annual salary? A whopping $458,000.

Pilots have a high hourly wage, around $360 an hour up to $450 for an experienced pilot flying a larger jet such as a Boeing 777 or Airbus A350.

However, pilots also have to abide by strict regulations about how many hours they can fly according to federal regulation.

A Miami-based American Airlines Boeing 737 captain has posted their salary pay statement on reddit, leaving many people speechless.

The pilot’s total year to date compensation was $458K, with the hourly pay being $360+ (flight hours only).

Some comments suggest the pilot isn’t… pic.twitter.com/3yH1Z5zB1s

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For a job like this, it makes sense for them to have rules guarding against being overworked and burnt out.

Nonetheless, according to Flying an average pilot flies approximately 900 hours in one year, equating to around 75 hours a month.

Of course that's not accounting for the time between flights, but nonetheless means a monthly pay check of $27,000 to $33,750, and remember this is average.

And in fairness, it makes a lot of sense for a pilot to have such a high pay check given how difficult it is to become one.

The process to qualify for this is reassuringly difficult, including passing medical checks, so it's not just the tests but also keeping yourself fit and healthy.

First you get a private pilot's license, before carrying out additional training in instruments to get a 'Commercial Pilot Certificate'.

You might think that's the qualification you need to start doing airline flights, but no, that actually just allows you to get paid for flying.

To get to the big airline jets, in the US you need Airline Transport Pilot (ATP) Certification, which includes a whopping 1,500 hours of flight time logged, or 62.5 days - more than two solid months at the controls.

This also includes other factors, like a minimum requirement of flying at night, across country, and at the controls of the kind of aircraft they want a license in.