It has been calculated and benchmarked over and over, they are more expensive, end of discussion. And it hasn’t been difficult, their t&c has been made very public by CAE, cost of social security is just a search on google away.
And it is not really that strange when considering the following
1. Top of payscale equivalent from day 1, both for FO and CAPT. It takes a mainline pilot 14/24 years to reach the same. That is some serious compounded difference.
2. All pilots on fixed 5/4 in SAIL compared to over half of pilots (still, even after the strike) on variable roster in scandi. Meaning you have to hire more pilots to cover the same operation. Roughly 10% more according to SAS themselves when we try and increase the number of pilots on fixed roster.
3. Full time all year in SAIL wheras new upgrades in scandi are forced on part time in winter or there will be no upgrade.
And thats all even before getting into the whole discussion of setting up a new airline with all of its associated and duplicated costs. Offices, staff, operational support, post holders, permits.
Does anybody seriously buy the whole competitive salary structure argument?