That’s funny! Since the demise of Ansett, it’s been embarrassed Aussie pilots fattening up their annual salaries by quoting compulsory super contributions and per diem.
Airline pilot wages can be a complicated assessment to undertake. For instance, when I was an Ansett pilot for near a decade, OT was virtually guaranteed and never was there a month I didn’t surge beyond 55 hours where it kicked in. It was fair to say I was paid 130K a year in the 90’s. Not including Super and Per Diem. The States will have reasonable assumptions too and granted, cargo pilots quoting wages during COVID may require a bit of scrutiny if coming Stateside.
Cost of living is now so high in Australia ( housing especially ) I just don’t know what to make of wage assessment. It’s grim. Pilots I’ve met since repatriation are not leading enviable, Aussie lifestyles unless well established at the likes of QF. Explaining investment strategies to defeat inflation and corporates inevitably eroding your wage isn’t a courteous flight deck topic in Australia- many pilots have no money. Living pay to pay, I get the vulnerability and coupled with horrendous industrial legislation, I also understand the status of Aussie pilots being industrial eunuchs.