I can't understand for the life of me why these obviously experienced guys are still there earning such poor wages when there is a much better paid job out there such as SAPL Etc.
If you look closely at the people who have been with the RFDS a long time, they tend to be very succeful financially outside of Aviation! That eases the burden and allows you to make choices based on other criteria, I actually don't know how some of the guys can afford to support a family and live in Sydney on one income.
As far as other positions go, SAPL I think is one of those niche positions a bit like the RFDS, I suspect that given the type of flying and it's location, it is not something every pilot could do, nor would they want too.
When I look around my colleagues at the RFDS, the level of knowledge and experience that is still available despite recent departures astounds me! I hope the RFDS (all sections) wake up in time before this knowledge and experience is gone!
If you were to ask most pilots at the RFDS what their ideal job would be, the answer would be something like this...
-Aeromedical flying
-Salary somewhere North of $100K
If these were the conditions most would never leave, in fact we could probably entice a number of people back from the 'Nirvana' that is the 'Airlines'!
