Dag P..s!
SAA pilot salaries are not where they are due to good luck. They applied a mutually aggreed apon formula based on various domestic and international carriers (yes we are an international carrier unlike the rest of you). We fly further, longer, in bigger, more advanced aircraft than the rest of the locals. We get paid more because we are the standard in this country. Our pilot group as a whole is the most experienced and professional this continent has. The pilots are one of the few things keeping SAA together. SAA pilot salaries whether high or low will not inpact on SAA's botton line. That's up to Mr Erwin and who of his friends he wants to run SAA.
PS. If anyone was surprised at the lack of modesty in this post.? Don't be.
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Divinehover, look at your text. Maybe now you can understand when we taxi past you you we greet you with "Dag P..s"!
The line I fly for earns a lot less than most other lines. When I taxi past them, I give a genuine hello-there wave. But "Spoories" with their condescending, better-than-you attitude, you get the middle finger!
So you believe you have "better aviators" flying for you. Kak!
If we are sent every 6 months to the simulator we would be exactly the same!
Oh yes, your point: We do go every six months, you don't. So we are better honed. The fact is correct, certainly. But, if you were privatized, there would no longer be every 6 months etc etc......you would have to make do like the rest of us MORTALS!
You use SITA, wow! Does Uncle Alec know what that costs?.......
The HUD systems........we can land when you can't. Is that the argument? Oh, do you mind refreshing our short memories about how professional you are, the George approaches, unlocked reversers, go around next to the runway etc.
The legions of aero planes SAA have lost over the years. Oh yes, it's not your fault! Sorry!! We knew what was on board but still went! We didn't know about the flap speeds, and it was night anyway....etc etc...... But compare us to X! We do..... to the Australian NATIONAL carrier. Bench-Mark in safety, for you anyway. Sum total of accidents: when she parked the nose of the 400 in the golf course......
We get paid more because we are the standard in the country.
What can I say?
I SEE NO REASON FOR A BLOODY FLAG CARRIER! Never have either.
The sum total of government involvement in commercial aviation should only be the ATNS and CAA. Intervene to guarantee that South Africans get the correct amount of slots. Stay out of commercial aviation as such! Concern yourself with "Brown-Aero planes", and leave the commercial stuff to the entrepreneurs!