Krystal,
Just a quickie, not wishing to get too involved in this thread which seems to be getting quite angry.
I work for a UK charter airline, and my before tax salary is about 46k. It would seem to be about the norm for a senior licenced engineer (or tech whatever takes your fancy). A senior eng being one with the relevant type ratings and around 5-6 yrs type experience.
It comprises around 42k basic, a little overtime (never more than 2-4 hours a week) and the odd jolly. The shift pattern is 4 on 4 off, comprising 2 days then 2 nights. This I can assure you is a fairly standard package in the industry.
Several of my collegues are on considerably more than this on account of the vast overtime they do. One took HOME more than £3500 the other month. This from a permenant job with the usual benefits one would expect, not a contract.