I'm not usually one to contribute to threads but JG1's constant hacking at overpaid SAA pilots is starting to really p!$$ me off.
SAA pilots are well paid and so they should be. Most of the pilot body have been with the copany for over a couple decades which equates to a fair amount of experience. Airline pilots are professionals, in the same likes as surgeons, engineers and other field specialists of various other professions. Why should a 30-year service captain be happy with taking R80K home a month? Look at what other major international arilines are paying their crew and then stop whinging about the fact that you could never make it to the interview.
Drop the salaries and you will see pilots starting to leave for higher paid jobs elsewhere. The crisis-management solution will be to hire contracted guys from Parc and the like who will obviouly not have the best interest for the company at heart.
10 SAA pilot's alone could save the company more money in reduced fuel burn than the 3000 excess workers who sit at their desk, picking their noses while trying to figure out what solitair is all about. Eisshhhh...
Oh and BTW, I am not an SAA jockey. I was once a wannabe but thanks to the fair BEE system, am forced to fly for an airline north of the Limpopo. I still get excited like a little boy when flying accross the Indian ocean on a dark night and in the distance can hear "Springbok" calling Bombay HF. I look at my captain and say, "isn't that an awesome callsign, It's from my national carrier."
