I don’t know what the salaries for Flybe Q400 pilots were at the time when it went under, but when I left in 2006 the pay for a Captain was starting at about 50k, and F/Os in the low 20k’s, so on that basis the salaries are definitely low. However, you can’t really compare to other LCCs (presumably easyJet and Ryanair) as they are operating larger aircraft carrying potentially twice as many passengers per sector from which to earn the money to pay the pilots. Realistically, although it might not be what people want to hear, the comparison should be with with the likes of Logan air or Eastern on similar aircraft.
The good thing in the long term for some of the pilot community as a whole is that if Flybe2 do pay such appalling salaries then if the job market recovers they will once again become a “training airline”, wasting huge amounts of money on training pilots to replace those that move on to fly any sort of jet, but providing jobs and a stepping stone for those who for whatever reason don’t have the opportunity to go straight to the right seat of a 737/Airbus. When I was there they had a wide mix of pilots from ex airforce, self improver, integrated and modular, far more so than at other places I have worked for since; and I believe the working environment was sometimes richer as a result.
The people that isn’t good for are those who want a regional base and don’t want to or can’t relocate, as they will end up flying a turbo-prop forever, not a bad thing in itself except for the salary issue, of course.
Last edited by excrab; 7th Feb 2022 at 10:23.