Originally Posted by
Jet II
But what is this 'going rate'? - if the airline can find people to sit in the 2 seats at the front of the plane for £50k and £25k respectively then surely that is the going rate. £200k and £100k might have been the case 20 years ago but the industry has moved on. As a previous poster pointed out, it used to be the case where the airlines paid for training but at the same time they restricted access to that training so that only a few people were lucky enough to become a pilot and thus supply never exceeded demand - now the system is more 'democratised' and anyone with the money can fulfil their dream.
Is it likely that we are going to go back to the old system and wage levels? - I'd suggest probably not so I think people need to get used to the new normal and decide whether aviation is the career for them.
A fair point, which is why the outcome of the consultations / negotiations / call them what you will is so crucial. If the unions can succeed in securing the long term contracts now, that sends a message that the going rate is the current rate, as a minimum.
I hear Aer Lingus are on the cusp of of a deal with their pilots / IALPA that doesn’t see any changes to contracts, rather short term part time deals, and also no redundancies.