Originally Posted by
thelizardking
I get that, and from an individual point of view, that's absolutely fine. However from a service point of view it will only add to the discontent and decreasing numbers of people actually wanting to stay on in the service. The flying isn't as good as it was, the conditions are getting worse, the benefits are getting worse, the pension is worse ( back on track) and you earn as much as your admin/eng counterpart (In truth, less because they are probably promoted at that point) for the first 6 years (actually you don't start flying training the day you graduate you usually hold for a year or so, so actually more like 7 or 8 years).
The numbers are telling, FL pilots are actually leaving ( COVID might have done some 'good' for the numbers but its still true), more telling is that people are turning down promotion and removing themselves from QWI courses before they even start as they don't want to get tied into a longer RoS.
I fully concur with you and I am on your side of the fence in the crew room complaining, but allow me to play some devil's advocate if you will (I'm bored in isolation.)
Flying pay is a recruitment and retention payment. Was I "recruited" because of it? No, I didn't even know it was a thing when I filled out the application paper. The retention part is the bit that I disagree with, but understand, from a tax payers point of view. As a pilot am I more likely to stay in if I'm paid better from day 1 of being qualified? Probably, I can feather my nest from a younger age, holidays, cars, Sqn Breitlings and Bremonts, home etc etc but from a tax payers perspective, why is someone being given a retention payment when they don't
need to be retained for the first 6 years as they are on a RoS contract? Add don't forget they will begin to receive Tier 1 after 6 years from starting flying training so could be getting RRP(F) before they're even qualified and useful, which upsets those that worked hard to pass the course to get the reward.
Perhaps it will take a generation or so to see if the change in flying pay is working as a retention incentive. I'm sure the closer to the 6 year point people get, the more they may become "I'll see how it goes".
And who knows what state the aviation industry will be in in 6 years time!