Originally Posted by
CW247
Supply Vs Demand and cadet labour are all valid arguments, but increasingly our poor situation in Europe in the face of increasing living costs is due to freedom of movement in Europe.
Wet lease/charter operators like Smartlynx, Avion, Enter Air, TravelService and previously Small Planet (combined 100 aircraft) pay a fixed circa €90k (that's Euros) or GBP75k for captains. They simply wouldn't be able to crew their flights out of UK, Germany and Scandinavia (where they do 90% of their business) if it wasn't for the thousands of Eastern European pilots from Bulgaria, Serbia, Romania, Latvia, Lithuania and Poland who take up those jobs. Those guys pay next to no tax and have their hotel accommodation is paid for wherever they operate in Europe. When they return home for their blocks off they usually retreat to a mansion in the countryside. The Western European pilots usually already live close to their bases so don't get an accommodation allowance and pay about 35% tax on the €90k / £75k. It's not a level playing field.
I don't see this changing after Brexit, if anything the CAA will give these operators the green light to continue operating as it would be seen as a Business to Business agreement between the tour operators or the airlines sub chartering work. We are a completely divided and de-unionised workforce thanks to Big Europe.
While probably the most level headed post about cross-border pilots on the site, still widely off mark TBH. It is quite sad to see how little understanding there is of what you guys are up against. Not judging or claiming anything, just pointing out the information deficit. Not that a thorough understanding would change the downslope.
FWIW, in the above pool (2018 figures - paperwork all done, all boxes ticked at the revenue office): 76k € net, on a 14/5 commuting contract with
plenty of time the company did not take outside the peak months. LHS A320, 3 months LTC assignment included. Ended up with 350 block hours, total at-home days 205 plus 15 off somewhere downroute, nice places.
t took me quite long to become that schedule-smart and contract savvy to get it, mid-May resignation and re-entry on better terms included. Truth be told that is the maximum in this job market. Crew food and 45 EUR/m phone allowance, not a penny more. .
Comparison for 2020: Smartwings B737 PIC offer stands at 13500 EUR gross (self-employed) on 18/12 contract, 6 months term. A fair expectation is 400 fh at 53k € NET based on yearly total 120 duty / 240 home, assuming staying put and doing completely nothing for the rest of the year. Which puts
Racetobottom's 52k for a full year of the pink jive into a very ugly perspective.
I'd be happy to see the Volotea, Laudamotion, Eurowings A330 (!), Vueling, Titan or AirPost numbers.