Self Loading Freight
I beg to disagree with you. Obviously you have no idea of the spending capability of the people I mentioned. Please look at the profits of the airlines serving these passengers. $100s of millions of dollars in net profits is the norm. They have quite a bit of spending power, a lot more than mom and pop who travels on Thanksgiving expecting French Wine with their $29 ticket!
Airbubba
Unfortunately you do not understand what the guys in DXB do. No they do not withhold their services as you suggest, they simply take them to someone who pays them appropriately. EK currently has about 1500-1800 pilots however, they have averaged hiring about 30 pilots a month for the last 5 years. In 03 we had about 900 (my seniority was 896.) Now you do the math. 30 a month for 4 years+ is 1,440+ pilots. Add that to 900 and you have 2,300 pilots. WHAT HAPPENED TO THE OTHER 500-800 PILOTS? THEY QUIT!
They took their services to other carriers. In 2006 we had about 30 TRIs (check airmen) leave the company and take their services elsewhere for personal reasons. The Chief Pilot, the Fleet Manager all took their services elsewhere. So unlike your thinking it is not about “withholding your services” and seeing what it will get. It is about taking your services to the carrier that will give you what you deserve. People change carriers the way you change your underwear – and that gives you POWER!
As for the salary, please look at my example correctly. I did not say EK paid that much (although they are close) but I said airlines paid that much. Personally I feel EK is a shinny apple; nice on the outside and rotten to the core on the inside. Bite into it and you get a mouth full of worms. However, there are many other carriers that do pay that much – EK is loosing it shirt to them on a daily basis. Look at some of the other carriers, I sent you their web pages, which clearly show their pay scales. Take a look!
At tiny Air Arabia a Captain with 2000 hours in type can make 40K+ AED per month for sitting at home – that’s $11K US. Flight pay is paid differently than in the USA for it is paid ABOVE your basic. That means you do NOT have to fly a present number of hours to reach that minimum. You fly ONE hour and you get paid ONE hour above your minimum. It is a progressive scale so the more you fly the higher your hourly rate. Once again look at tiny ABY (a small fish in this ocean.) Fly over 50 hours and you get 120 an hour, over 75 and it is 240 an hour. And that is CREDITED time, not actual. A 5hour 10 minute night flight pays 9 hours credit. It is easy to make 130-150 hours pay time a month – AND REMEMBER THIS IS THE SMALL FISH.
While I agree EK, with its arrogance does not match the rest that does not mean the rest do not exist. The mentality you portray is that which existed in72 when Southwest started – tell me about those 70s guy’s retirement today!
Now you mentioned the housing. That is a problem each pilot has to deal with. You mention villas that you imply are lousy. Well I completely disagree with you but that is personal so I will not argue your personal needs. I will say this. Obviously you have some information on the housing allowance received here. Do you know that EY give the pilot the option? He can take 120K AED (about $33,000 US) a year and apply it to his personal home. I mean BUY IT! Get an extremely low interest loan and buy your own home. So if your home is a mess well that is what you choose. NO WAY DOES EK, EY, G9, or anyone else REQUIRES YOU TO TAKE THE COMPANY HOUSING! But the housing is not all that bad either. As for furniture, well you can take the company furniture or YOU CAN TAKE THE CASH AND BUY YOUR OWN STUFF – or bring it from the USA – they pay for that too.
Please guys and gals I do not want to make it sound like nirvana, but compared to what you argue it is. We can’t get two pilots to agree on when to put the gear down so there will always be dissent. Except for flying airplanes, bitch is what we do best! However, I stand by my points!
You have the lead, burners and out!