Originally Posted by
WHBM
Just curious how did it work for pay in those times with such disorganisation to plan. Was it all just for basic salary, and you just had to accept what was needed ? Was Sector pay significant, and was it therefore a loss if your planned sectors were cancelled ?
Was uniform compulsory on positioning ? I recall a BA 747 LHR-LAX where an MEA full crew were positioning from Beirut to Santa Barbara to pick up a 707 which had had the Q engine modifications done there, four quite beefy blokes very squashed into a 4-seat middle at the back of Y, and looking decidedly travel-weary and uniform-crumpled by arrival in LAX. They also repeatedly got mistaken for BA crew by passing pax, and plied with irrelevant questions, which the skipper handled very patiently (including mine about the Q mods).
Allowances were a important part of the income. The basic pay might have been low, but this was compensated by the allowances, which were generously paid. In the early days in cash. Later, those, staying overnight, were paid cash allowances at the hotel. The benefit for the crew member was payment in local currency, which could be exchanged in to UKL at the best possible rate. If I remember it right, the allowances were even tax free. With aircraft getting bigger, with more crew to be entiteled to allowances, cash payments were discontinued. This was by agreement with the crews.