I just had a cuppa with one of my mates in Air Asia recently. This is what I gathered from him as an A320 line skipper based in KUL:-
1. Basic salary - MYR 12 000, taxable and escalating up to max 28%.
2. Productivity Allwnce - MYR 195/hr, average flying hrs/mth is 80 hrs and this is non taxable. TRI/TRE may get higher allwnce and non-taxable as well.
3. 95% of the time there is no overnight/layover anywhere outport. So you may disregard the per diem.
4. Basic medical coverage, unable to quantify how much is the Loss of Licence insurance. Certainly there is NO income protection plan.
5. No transportation allwnce and employees are expected to arrange own transportation to/fro working place.
6. Accomodation in KUL varies from MYR 1000 upwards depending which area/facilities/furnished or unfurnished/size etc. A normal 1200 sq feet furnished apartment in Subang Jaya/Nilai/Putrajaya/Cyberjaya/Seremban could cost from MYR 2500 upwards. KL city center is very much higher rates.
7. Beer/alcohol are expensive and starts from MYR 15 a pint (beer), depending which pub you are patronising. Ciggy - MYR 9.80/packet of 20 for an average brand like Dunhill/Benson.
8. Provident Fund - I think employer will put in 15% and you put in 10% per mth fm your basic salary. Stand to be corrected on this fig.
9. Working on 2 shifts system per day. Morning shift will start as early as 0400 and finishing at around 1400, Afternoon shift starts at 1300 and finishing at midnite/early morning. You can't choose your preferred shift but you will get a different shift after every off days.
10. Normal pattern on your roster would be 3 on 2 off and 3 on 3 off.
11. Chicks are cheap if you are Macho enough ........
12. Govt of Malaysia will not issue any work permit to foreigner applying for FO position due to surplus newbies in the market. So don't bother applying. However, DEC are welcomed, on local term. Sorry, I don't have any info WRT training bond.
13. With that gross income, you should fall into mid-upper class society in Malaysia.
14. I don't have any info WRT to international school fees but certainly cheaper than SIN or HKG by virtue of lower cost based.
15. Petrol is cheap, RON 95 is just MYR 1.80/ltr countrywide. Car prices varies from MYR 40k (locally made) to MYR 1.2 million for Porsche Cayenne Twin Turbo or Merc S500 class. A brand new Honda CRV will cost you MYR 150k on the road price.
16. Malaysia is pretty much a liberal Muslim country as long as you observe local sensitivities. It has 2 laws, secular and syariah laws. Syariah law is applicable to Muslim only WRT family and common offences. Other offences such as criminal, everyone is subjected to secular law.
17. Politically, it is a stable country compare to Thailand, Indonesia or Philippines although the crime rates has gone up lately.
As of today, the exchange rate is USD 1 ~ MYR 3.1, to 'flytoparis' BD 1 ~ MYR 9.50
Hope it helps
VR