Magnificent news, I certainly didn't expect that much. It certainly helps to put us closer to where we used to be. A friend and I were discussing the numbers last week and they make interesting reading, the exchange rate is the big killer and the 'cost neutral' scam; otherwise we would be doing pretty well.
In 2000 a starting Captain made (including pension 12%):
315840 AED Salary and pension
21692 Profit Share (4 weeks)
337532 Total = $92,000 or 59,000GBP (1.55 rate)
In 2008 the same guy got:
399840 AED Salary and pension
96115 Profit Share (14 weeks)
36000 Flying Pay (800hrs/year)
531955 Total
The 'cost neutral' cost 20% credit so this factored for the same work in 2000 (In 2000 at the current workrate we would have had serious O/T):
425564 AED = $116,000 = 58,000GBP (2.0 rate)
If you worked on conservative average inflation of 8% since 2000, the dollar amount to match 2000's salary would be:
$170,000, in comparison the starting guy actually got $145,000 for 20% more work. So even with the bumper profit share, if you came from a dollar based currency, the decline over that period was 17% salary for 20% more work, or from GBP neraly 30%.
So whilst I am delighted to take the profit share, I still would have preferred our base terms and conditions to have returned to 2000 levels rather than the one off bonus which will probably not be repeated. Other sectors have had raises of 70% this year or more (including ATC) to try and make the package truly competitive at todays prices. That is why the old timers are cynical; they know that the 14 weeks has been generated by increasing their productivity and pay lagging inflation over the last few years.
I see there was no profit target set for next year, does that hint at an IPO? Maybe this is all part of the
PR ramp up for the listing. Now if we do get a great payrise, that would change the picture entirely.
Ghost