It is totally meaningless to compare salaries as their are many more factors like hours conditions etc to bring into the whole picture. It is foolish. Why? Read on...
I dont care what the cleaner gets, its none of my business what the company chooses to pay a cleaner or tug driver or bagage handler, or for any other thing they pay for. Let the managers do the managing.
My salary and conditions are very important to me and my fellow pilots and we have every right in the open market to negotiate whatever the company and our reps can agree on. Putting pressure on the achieve it is normal business practice so dont scream about it. It is what the managers are doing and just what they should do. So why not the pilots too?
Guvnor, your figures are very wrong. Flight crews salaries are not 40 or 50% or even 30% of the total salary costs to the airline let alone total operating costs. Someone is pulling your leg I think. 5% of total operating would be nearer to the mark.
If Airbus or Boeing or Shell, BP or Exon can negotiate what they chanrge and get an increase when possible why cannot flight crew. Either we can use the market we are supposed to be subject to, or we cannot?