Last summer on the A300 I probably flew 1-2 times a week max, flying to destinations such as Paphos and Iraklion. The rest was standby with the minimum 8 days off. My take home pay during this period was around £2300 after tax and max pension payments. However this summer is a different story with the A300 crews working relatively hard, but because there are no night stops apart from the Dublins or sector pay, take home pay won't change a great deal.
However, I spent the entire winter in Bahrain, (well at least 2 weeks per month). The £2.95 an hour away from base payment adds up, and I found I could add another grand to my take home pay during this period. The trouble is there is no Guarantee that the A300 will be doing the Bahrain/Goa shuttles next winter, as passengers are becoming more reluctant to tech stop in Bahrain on there way to Goa. (It doesn't have the legs to do it in one hop).
The A300 is a nice machine to fly, and certainly keeps you on your toes. If you join the A300 you will fly with some great people, who you will get to know well due to the small size of the fleet.
The A300 is good fleet to be on as you don't work too hard, and still have the chance of a bit of long haul. However as already stated by others, it is a dying fleet and you will be staring down the barrel of a 320 in 2 years. Certainly there are better terms and conditions to be had out there at the moment, and Monarch will need to do something soon to make their conditions comparable and stem the mass exodus that has started.
Cheers
TD
