Pay/Retention Bonus/QFI Pay

[captain_gash]

Ahhh yes the whine of the common bluntie........yes well........i think you may find people with the qualities required to do such a job in the air force (or navy or army..) don’t exactly grow on trees.

I think you may find that flying pay is actually what you may call professional pay, i.e. being paid for a certain skill-set that is difficult or expensive to attain in a similar fashion to any doctor, dentist or lawyer.

I think you may find that in certain circles people are getting pi ed off with working 12 hour days whilst the rest of the air force works 9 to 5 with a convenient one hour lunch break. (Guys and girls out of areas excluded in this rant, although war pay is a joke!)

I think you may find that having spent up to 9 hours in a sweaty cockpit urinating into a poly bag and flying at 100ft over desert whilst at 500 knots (and the rotary and multi boys that regularly fly in the threat zone) people feel justifiably pleased to get flying pay.

Bottom line if you were in a pilot’s shoes you would want flying pay too, because you would feel that you deserve it, and in an air force where people are increasingly voting with their feet, if you want to keep them in, you need to give them the incentive to stay, because believe me the love of the job just doesn’t cut it anymore.

If you want to do the job be my guest, oh wait a minute.......you can’t.......keep whinging and enjoy your lunch

rant over