By: Matt Meltzer
Credit: Shuttershock
We've all done it. After sitting in traffic for an hour while driving to the airport, standing in line behind 14 families with 25 bags to check your one suitcase, shuffling through security and seeing your plane delayed three times, you just snap. And that poor guy behind the Starbucks counter who spelled your name with one too many E's is now bearing the brunt of your air-rage.
And it's unfortunate, because most of the men and women who make your local airport run don't earn enough cash to deal with your crap. To prove it, we used data from the Bureau of Labor and Statistics, Glassdoor.com, and Payscale.com to compile the AVERAGE* annual salary for a bunch of airport jobs across the United States. From shuttle van driver to airplane pilot -- and everyone else you encounter along the way -- here's who's taking home what from the airport.
*Again, these are AVERAGE salaries. We realize that some people in each job will make more, others will make less.
Credit: Shuttershock
Flight attendant
Average annual income: $42,750
Think about THAT number the next time you want to press the call button to request another copy of SkyMall or a pillow.
Pilot
Average annual income: $118,435
It's a lot easier to be chipper when saying, "We're going to be on the tarmac at least another hour while they come and replace this toilet" when you're making six figures.
Cargo handler
Average annual income: $35,016
They probably handle large containers leaving from Miami every day that are worth more than they'll make in a lifetime.
Skycap
Average annual income: $25,893
If people realized $5 a bag is a bargain compared to waiting in that 400-person line at the Southwest counter, skycaps would take home a lot more money.
Credit: Flickr/ResoluteSupportMedia
Air traffic controller
Average annual income: $109,308
You'd think the guys who keep planes from crashing into each other would make a little more than a Peter Luger's waiter. Ronald Reagan would not.
Airport manager
Average annual income: $49,416
According to Glassdoor.com, running an ENTIRE AIRPORT only makes you about $400 a year more than managing a local Chili's. Then again, worrying about everybody's chips and salsa refill can be stressful AF.
The cop screaming at you to move your car
Average annual income: $54,817
They may be the best-paid people on the planet who ride Segways.
Credit: Carolina K. Smith MD/Shutterstock.com
TSA agent
Average annual income: $40,452
Contrary to popular belief, there are no bonuses for confiscating the most 4oz containers of facial cream and souvenir cheese knives.
Baggage handler
Average annual income: $35,457
Before you start calling them "tossers," find the nearest 50lb object. Now lift it. Put it down. Lift it. Put it down. Now do that for the whole day and tell us whether it's worth $16 an hour, before taxes.
The lady who sells the newspaper and "I Heart NY" shotglasses
Average annual income: $19,406
Perhaps you should buy some candy or gum.
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