Maui,
I think the PM's salary is a totally moot point but it's actually $336,000 and then there's a whole heap of perks that go along with it that add up to a whole lot more. (Not to mention it sets you up for an extremely lucrative post-political career.)
Not quite sure how you came up with $260,000+ either. Level 3 Check captain flying 1000 hours a year with each additional hour flown on rostered days off and every performance bonus paid in full? (Is super INCLUSIVE or additional, anyone?) I don’t think that any line driver is going to come close to that, particularly with the frequency of long haul flights to leisure destinations. When a lot of places are 2-4 flights a week it’s just not possible to get your annual total that high. When I ran the Barons figures on reasonable numbers I came up with closer to $210,000 which seems to be what most of the Jet* guys are saying as well. For the record I’m only arguing your figures, not whether I think it’s a reasonable salary.
Nuf.