Originally Posted by
Gnadenburg
I took Hong Kong over Dubai 25 years ago. I was already flying in the Middle East and I had found the culture revolting and that extended to the flight deck. It wasn’t for me. EK would have been different but the pay wasn’t. A little assimilation and an open mind and with your big pay check, Hong Kong was a wonderful experience. One year in HKG was financially equivalent to working 3 in Australia as a QF Captain. The package would have required a 900K wage in Australia and then there was no tax on your investment wins and financial packages were amazing ( CBA Private % rate was RBA plus 1% ). So 20 years in HKG was like a 60 year career at QF financially.
Now? HKG is more expensive and the wage a fraction. It’s great still but different.
Middle East? Why? I’d be asking that very seriously.
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You forget to mention the time it takes to earn a wide body command and wage at QF. When comparing to someone who earns the same amount from when they are 28 with a Jet command in the Middle East to a Qantas A380 captain who typically upgrades in their late 40s or 50s. This difference highlights a multimillion dollar gap. The situation is even more pronounced at ANZ, where a 777 skipper might have a mere decade in command before aging out. This underscores the significant financial sacrifice one makes to work for the likes of QF or ANZ, obviously they fail to mention this at their careers fair.