As it was written above by Jet II, what are the chances of getting this US major Captain job nowadays or even in the near future. All the US major carriers are overwhelmed with legacy costs and have been outsourcing all the flying they can to the regional airlines. Even if you get hired by a US major airline, what kind of job stability can you be provided with?
How long will it take to upgrade to this 200k USD position? how many rounds of furloughs will you have to go through before you can feel the left seat under your butt?
during all these years, you will be an F/O, and as you know the payscales are far from being impressive. Actually Etihad's payscales for F/O's blows away most F/O payscales in the US. with or without housing. Nevermind a US LCC.
"Compared to flag carriers, the pay is poor. But they say its "Tax Free". Well it isn't. "
You didn t really explain how the salary is not "tax free" I am curious to see how it is not. Obviously, you could not be talking about how citizens from certain countries get taxed above a certain threshold (around 87k USD for USA). Companies could not possibly be held responsible for tax systems in other countries.
"Lets take a US Capt. on a widebody. I am guessing his pay would be close to US 200,000. Maybe a bit less, maybe a bit more. His company PAYS that much, yes the government takes some away, but that is still what the airline is paying for his services"
Are you certain that Delta, American,etc.... would still be paying 200K if they were in a tax free environment? I am not sure either way but nothing tells you they would. Regardless it does not matter. What matters is how much money you get in your bank each month.
Payscales are determined according to the law of supply and demand. When there will be a surplus of pilots in the Gulf, you will see the salaries decrease, just like it did in the US. Until then the payscales will stay the same as long they can get pilots to man their ships.