Almost $600,000 – Pilot salaries in the United States are rising exponentially.

Frankfurt Pilots in the U.S. can soon become multimillionaires in earnings: $590,000 a year for a captain on long-haul routes with American Airlines, the equivalent of about 560,000 euros. That’s what American boss Robert Isom wrote in a letter to the airline’s pilots in early March. For short- and medium-haul routes, the CEO makes a salary of up to $475,000. That would be $135,000 more than before.

This is the temporary high of a wage spiral never seen before in aviation. For comparison: At Lufthansa, a captain with the most flying experience and longest tenure – known in technical jargon as seniority – can currently earn up to 287,000 euros a year, a good half. The backdrop for the US employer’s latest offer is a massive shortage of pilots in the US.