Hey folks
Since this is the month we see the results of the new pay raise... I have just had a look at my June 07 payslip and have done some calculations. Since I started here in '03, I have received a grand total of about $300 CAD raise on a monthly basis. This is about 3% over nearly 4 years taking in to account the AED - CAD exchange rate.
That's no duff... on basic salary. Even with the new hourly flight pay on a 78 hour month I am still only up a total of $1300 CAD per month over nearly 4 years. That's only about 15% over nearly 4 years. In that time the price of everything in Dubai has skyrocketed... car gas +33%, food +30%, school fees +25%... its easy to see that we are slipping backwards in real terms. The cost of rent is high, and the "utiliities allowance" is pathetic, the company allowance is approx 35-40% below market value on equivalent properties... Ugh!
Since there is no credit for vacation time or reserve duty, you can wipe out 11 weeks worth of pay... 5 for the reserve and 6 for the vacation... (if you can get vacation). That's two full months with no flying pay, plus 3/4 of another month... nearly a quarter of the year... Crap!
When you average out the increase mentioned in the first paragraph, it starts to look pretty small overall.
So folks, I know this is from a Canuck perspective but with the increased cost of living here, we just aren't getting ahead. I don't know how FOs do it, especially the ones whose wives don't have a job. It's frickin' brutal...
It can't be any better for folks from the USA. We're getting hammered in the nuts by this company. But Flight Ops manglement will blithely blow sunshine up where the sun don't shine and whistle their merry tune that we are getting a good deal.
You can of course volunteer to be one of the chosen to attend a meeting to discuss issues with Flt Ops manglement... oh, but they choose the location, set the date, set the agenda and then select the attendees for a meeting! How absurd is that? What a bunch of cowards!
As my Brit friends would say: BOLLOCKS!
Fly safely
k-o-t-s