Thanks WWW
Oops! WWW is closer on sector pay than I was my pevious post ...sorry. Sector pay is about £25/sector for capts and £15/sect for FOs - so roughly £12K pa and £7.5K pa respectively (based on an average 3 sectors per day, in a 15 day month, for 11 months).
My apologies for misleading info - finger trouble on the MS calculator - my fault entirely!
That still means a capt will be on ~£86K plus any bonuses (5% for up to 5 years and 10% after 5 years service - inc time as an FO) and post-18/36pension - not that far off £100K. SFOs on £45K basic will therefore get about £52K, plus pension. FOs now also get a 5% bonus after 3 years service.
However, the Type-Rating Sponsorship Scheme (TRSS) is probably the way most ex Service guys will get in. Basically, you use some of your gratuity or a loan (~£25k) to pay for the type rating, which the company then pay you back over a period of 5 years (~£400 per month or ~£5K pa ). Your salary is reduced accordingly to about £40K pa so you end with the same as a DE SFO. So, effectively, you still get paid £45K pa - you just lose out on the interest and the immediate usage/investment of your £25K 'bond'.
It may sound a lot less interesting than BA/Virgin - 'dunno and don't care!' - but it was all about lifestyle and location for me. Everyone will have a different perspective!
Hope that clears any confusion
Flip