I doubt framer is right and the savings including super,hols,accommodation,sick leave amount to a considerable amount.....
i may well be wrong, I'm just trying to feel this out.....wouldn't the "remote controller" in the bunker still have to be paid super, hols, sick leave etc?"
If that is the case you end up with a small savings in salary assuming he is cheaper than a pilot in the flight deck. Surely this is off-set by the costs of things like (in my scenario) the ground radar for birds, the comms set up to provide acceptable redundancy, the cost of whatever magical system tells the a/c on finals that he needs to go-around and then determines his intentions and conveys that to the other a/c etc etc.
As for the salaries, I was talking yesterday to a chap who is stumping up $10k USD as a training bond to fly right seat on a B737 on $1700USD a month......which is to be taxed. That is not a training wage....that is it. I kid you not.
A while ago I talked to a B737 Captain who was earning the same gross salary in 2009 as he was in 1981 doing the same job on the same a/c type.
I can't remember what the Colgen F/O was earning but I'm pretty sure it was around or below the national average.
In a developed western country I recently worked in the Flag Carriers turbo prop link operation (considered a prestigious job)had pilots flying for about 10k more than the national average wage......
I did say "approaching" .
I think that is the trend. All four of those examples are from different countries. I stand by the statement at this stage.
Framer