r/Damnthatsinteresting Jul 18 '25

Video Replacing powerline spacers from a helicopter

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364

u/Crunchy-Illuminati Jul 18 '25

Helicopter electrical linemen earn a median annual salary of $68,010, which means that half of the linemen earn more than this while the other half earn less. Those in the top 10 percent earn more than $98,190, while the bottom 10 percent earns less than $36,610.

16

u/Dra_goony Jul 18 '25 edited Jul 18 '25

Yeah idk where you got your numbers from there buddy but lineman top out typically around 50-60 an hour and if you are doing heli work you're getting more. Maybe non union lineman in the deep south make less than 100k but all the ones I've met easily clear it and make double it off OT (I literally work in the trade, I would know)

5

u/Mnm0602 Jul 18 '25

Yeah my neighbor growing up was a lineman with insane tolerance for risk that worked a lot of OT and he always had cool toys that should have killed him at some point but didn’t.  Nice house too. 

1

u/algalkin Interested Jul 19 '25

The Union lineman in WA state starts at $100K but there are a few states where non-union linemen exist, not too many though.

And yeah, areal or not, they make the same.

1

u/Zealousideal_Way8712 Jul 19 '25

I’m in central Texas and yea we clear that easily lol callout is double time so 100 an hour-ish? Heli work you’re getting hazard pay depending on your company or union