I have now seen the relevant job ad in the Australian. For those that haven't, Skippers are offering "remuneration rates commencing at $95K for Dash 8 and Brasilia captains and $75K for Metro". The ad also states that these salaries are dependent on experience and qualifications (so whether that means the quoted figures are the minimum or the maximum is unclear).
My earlier post regarding salaries of this magnitude being impossible was based on the job having "conventional" terms and conditions.
But for salaries like this, I think you will find that the offer contains some decidedly
unconventional terms and conditions!
Some supporting evidence for my earlier post is contained in this quote from the recent Geoffrey Thomas article that was posted to another thread by freddyKrueger:
But while the airline industry is vibrant, it is under enormous cost pressures as the resource industry plays off up to nine players: Qantas, QantasLink, Skywest, NJS, Alliance Airlines, OZ-jet, Virgin Blue, Network Aviation and Skippers Aviation.
Sure, the mining industry has the money to fund contracts that could, by themselves, pay these kinds of salaries, but why would some mining company enter into such a contract with an operator that runs clapped out old turboprops? If the contract is for traditional FIFO, they could get a different operator, more cheaply, but for the same level of safety.
Mining companies are finding it harder to attract their own employees in the current boom. One way to attract them is via added safety measures that apply to the FIFO flights. Pilot salaries are not visible to the workers but the interiors and exteriors of the clapped out old turboprops are. If you were a mining company wouldn't you rather be spending the extra money on visible safety features?