Myth has been disapproved. And I am glad that our comparatively low pay gives you guys elsewhere something to be happy about. I sometimes look at the other people's grief for entertainment too.
Things are not so bad. I know a few A320 co-pilots earning more than 9k so the rumor is not 100% true. A330 co-pilots do earn a bit more. Maybe it's highly incomprehensible that an AirAsiaX cabin crew earns more than an AirAsia co-pilot but somehow it's true here in AirAsia. Unless they did that, cabin crew turnover would be high. Cabin crew retention has been a problem here so AK crew makes more than an MH crew does. But I agree that's not a pilot's problem. Pilots should be paid more than the crew, anytime anyday.
Loyal? A lot of the co-pilots are not. Mostly they are just there collecting hours, trying to ignore the problem and weathering the storm. And unless TF increases co-pilot allowances again, a lot of FOs will be leaving. 4-8 (this number changes according to who is spreading the news) will or has already left and soon more will go. This is especially true for the rich kids, direct entry FOs who paid for their training/type-rating. You know them. Some are sons/daughters of MAS captains unable to get a place in MAS. They can't seriously be loyal to AirAsia when they have seen much better pay brought in by their fathers. "Sudah biasa hidup senang". But I say let them leave as I know they're not happy. There's no point of staying if one is not happy. I myself have considered my other options and I have a lot of options. We shall see.
TF's explanation that he can't pay co-pilots more because they get command much faster than anyone else has been received coldly. Some start to actually think he's a d!ck for saying something like that. Well for someone with his vision and intelligence he is stupid for saying that. It's fine that he makes us work hard, lower costs so the company does well as we like it that the company does well. Heck, we're proud that the company is world class now but what we don't like is that the remuneration does not correspond to the work. It will take some time before people will be ready for command so in the meantime FOs need to be paid according to the work done. The point is "work done".
To the FOs contemplating of leaving, just go if the opportunity is there. And go if you are not happy with the current situation. While we have a good management team in place and I trust they have tried and are trying their very best to get things done for all, nothing will make TF change his mind or have a different picture unless something drastic happens. And a piece of advice if you're tired, it is your right to get proper rest. If you can't do it via rostering or crewing, MC is your friend.
By the way don't confuse the direct entry FOs with cadets. The 1st cadet batch still on the 737s while batch 5 still doing type rating. There are only 3 cadet batches on the Airbus fleet so the rest are soldiers of fortune.
PS - jetjockey696 you shouldn't be looking at the crews allowance advice by the way. Just do your paperwork and don't mind the crew allowance advice on the table. But thanks for bringing this amusing story up.