Merlyn

Twenty some years ago one of my first aviation jobs was flying tourists through the Grand Canyon from Las Vegas. After an exhilirating flight below the rim we would land at the Grand Canyon airport where they would continue with a bus tour and lunch at the south rim.

I remember an obnoxious bus driver coming up to our crew and thanking us for our flight. He then flashed a thick wad of bills, all tips, and said he was grateful for our "priming the pump" and putting the passengers in such a good mood. His tips were greater because of us.

We figured the bus drivers with tips were making about 4 times our salary.

gone till november

Myself and the captain got €100 cash each the other day but thats corporate for you Paid for diner and a pint or two

Slack

Are you saying that you dont tip waiters and waitresses as well.

I believe its between 15% to 20% now in your neck of the woods and when I've got good service I pay up happily. Why shouldn't a passenger if they're happy to do it.

We dont beg for, need or even expect them. But when it happens it's great and shows that they've enjoyed and appreciated the service we've given them....who am i to tell them that they cant.

nina wang

I was standing in the lobby of a hotel in Leeds many years back waiting for transport and in uniform. An american hotel guest pointed out his suitcase and said " room 305 ". Well why not I thought. The 5 pound tip bought drinks for the crew when we finished work.

rmiller774

Is that North American, Central American, or South American?

Homer_J

I used to do air taxi work, I'd average about £150 a month in tips. Bit of a shock when I joined the airline world.

ray cosmic

Maybe learn to play an instrument or something to entertain pax while you wait 2 hours for yer departure clx at JFK..

RAPA Pilot

I remember a while back I had 15 pax on and we were delayed for some reason so to pass the time I got talking with them. For fun I told them I was doing a survey for the company on Public perception of pilots and asked each one how much they thought pilots of this type of aircraft earned. the lowest figure was £90,000. I cant remember the highest amount but I do remember the average was 120,000 quid. Shit I was only on £19,000.I would have needed a sombrero to get tips of that magnitude.
Although a punter we dropped off in the emerald isle last week passed us a pony each. That was a nice dinner and a Guinness or two.

Bobbsy

I'm sorry, but even as a lowly piece of SLF, I can see that, while you may be great at flying planes, you have no idea how to get a good level of tips.

In the second post of this thread you were almost there but...

Instead of going through the cabin before starting descent, you should start the descent (or is it more properly called a plunge according the press?) THEN go to the cabin and tell them you'll only return to the flight deck when your bag is full of cash.

Mention of a school someplace beneath you is optional.

Bob

peacekeeper

I believe TIPS stands for 'To insure prompt service' So maybe tips for on time performance should be normal custom.

redsnail

Got another €100 tip this tour. It doesn't happen often, but it's nice.

gone till november

Hey Redsnail

That €100 should just cover my dinner

westie

On all seriousness though, why shouldn't the cabin staff get tips? Their pay is on a par with waitresses and they have a lot more responsibility.

redsnail

Hey GTN,

If you ate €100 of food in one hit, you won't get that niiiiiiice £50 off the "metro" in September.

Dupre

Flying a light piston single:

Place a jar on the dash with a sign on it "Tips Reduce Turbulence" - just remember to take it down when the boss is coming :P

If that fails, you can never go wrong with a flip around the Victoria Falls before landing at Livingstone.

winkle

good tips in the marine world, thought i did ok in nj but for my employee its a huge amount more.

whatdoesthisbuttondo

Great news guys, I got my first tip the other day!

Yes, a great old codger gave me one pond sterling as he departed the aircraft. "here you go sonny" he kindly offered as he passed me his gratuity.

It was curious though, as another old bloke told me the same flight had been "worse than Dunkirk!"

glider

Good stuff everybody. To bad I haul newspapers and other dead stuff. They tend to leave lousy tips...

Otto Throttle

Have a whip round to pay the 'landing fee'.

If they don't meet a pre-set limit, no landing. Tell them that the aerial refuelling fee is 5 times higher.

Basil

Back in '73 just out of RAF, Aztec passenger (the 'plane, not the passenger) insisted I have £5 tip. He was my only pax ever to offer so I guess it wasn't that common.
Had it been however and £5 then = £40 today, say two tips/day, five day week gives 40x2x5x50 = £20,000 Engross @ 40% = £33k Better than being an MP.

Of course the owners would then want pilots to pay for the privilege of operating their aircraft - but wait! Some do that anyway

Mister Geezer

I got the odd tip after doing a trial lesson in my instructor days. Brings back happy memories of even happier customers!

I recently did a trip where the only passenger with us was extremely generous and slipped all the crew a 'few notes'. It was comical to find during the next day that the sole member of cabin crew with us had gone on a designer shopping spree in Geneva, whilst us pilots were determined that we were not spending any of it!