pcm,
I'm not sure where to start with this one, but making such a bold statement as to imply EKs pilot wages are bringing down the profession is ill-informed. I'm not here to advertise my salary, but with less than 10 years of seniority with Emirates my take home is quite a bit more than your estimate of "just over $100,000". You would have been closer if you said just under $200,000.
Although I'm not at all versed on the ins and outs of the Air Canada contract, a quick check of
www.airlinepilotcentral.com says that had I joined them instead of Emirates, at best I'd be an EMB190 Capt making $99,600 or perhaps a wide body FO pulling in $111,600. I am sure there are some additions to this, and I could include a few extra dollars to mine as well. No matter which way you slice and dice it I'm comfortably above both those amounts and no I don't, by the laws of the land, have to pay tax.
Having specifically mentioned the EK types in your post, perhaps you are making a direct comparison with an AC widebody Captain and are surprised at the results? I am sure that you are aware that Emirates pays us all the same amount regardless of type (they're all more or less the same anyway). Therefore, my salary is a relatively good indication of the average salary that Emirates pays pilots in this profession. The AC 777 Captains salary of $190,700 is NOT the average that Air Canada pays. With more than 70% of the fleet being single aisle, it appears that the vast majority of AC Captains make around $120,000.
This thread seems to continue to swipe at Emirates for it's poor salary structure, but I think we may have lost a bit of perspective. Although we are not the best paid and we have all seen cutbacks over the past few years, if we consider the backbone of
professionals in an airline, Emirates costs are competitive:
MANAGERIAL STAFF: Very well looked after from what I see and hear (VPs, SVPs, airport/region/country managers and the like).
PILOTS: We work harder than most, but the salary is okay.
ENGINEERS: From what I've heard, they've had it worse than us in terms of more work for less pay, but I still hear some of them say "there are no better options".
CABIN CREW: Maybe not professionals, but certainly a large and essential group. Given the demographic that we seek to employ, I think most are happy with their packet and with housing, transport etc thrown in it wouldn't qualify as slave labour.
DISPATCHERS: There may be a few skeletons in this closet, but there are a few senior guys (ex LH) who I'm guessing wouldn't stick around for peanuts. Even if I knew their salary I wouldn't know what a dispatcher made in Canada to compare.
My argument is that the cost to Emirates for it's group of airline
PROFESSIONALS (although I probably left some groups out) is not an unfair advantage. Do you know that a Captain at LAN Ecuador makes around $3,000 US per month? Imagine what they pay the rest of the staff. Why isn't there a NO TO LAN thread on here? All the third world airlines are the same. The majority of their staff live in the third world (obviously), and therefore make a sub-Canadian standard salary. Air Canada doesn't seem to have a problem going head to head with these carriers. Emirates is the target because it has been so successful. They have worked hard, and spent millions to develop a brand that the consumer wants. EK also benefits geographically as it is located on the doorstep of 2/3 of the world population, most of it without a reliable local airline. Would Air Canada like to come and harvest some of this bounty? Apparently they would rather just limit Joe Public's access to his/her airline of choice (i.e. Emirates). It is draconian. Perhaps all you NO TO EK types would like to go back to the days when Bell Canada was the only game in town?
Yes, Emirates does employ thousands of workers in the organization who by Canadian standards are poorly compensated. With 30 million Filipinos making less than a dollar a day at home, the UAE has welcomed almost as many to it's shores as Canada has. Perhaps you can welcome these 300K into Canada and show them what a real wage is like? Oh yeah, many of the Filipinos in Canada come in as Private Nurses or Nannies and don't make a "real" Canadian wage do they? Much like the Caribbean farm workers in the orchards and vineyards of Southern Ontario. Should we boycott Canadian fruit and wines?
Emirates is not lowering the standards of the profession.
The fact that the guy slinging the bags into the back of the jet makes more than the pilot is lowering the standards of the profession.
The fact that the Purser makes more than the FO is lowering the standards of the profession.
The fact that you are expected to pay for your type endorsement is lowering the standards of the profession.
The fact that guys are killing each other to fly for free is lowering the standards of the profession.
The fact that the flag carrier of the country has a fixed salary for the first two years that is lower than that of a garbage man is lowering the standards of the profession.
These things are not happening here, they are happening in your backyard.
By the way, while on the subject of the garbage man, please continue to write to your MP about us expats. I would gladly pay a certain amount in taxes if it meant that I could start to re-establish my ties to the homeland. Obviously, I wouldn't benefit from the daily visits by the sanitation department, snow plow, ability to visit the local doctor/hospital etc... so don't think I should pay the full whack "for the benefit of the infastructure when (or if) I return" as you say, but given the current rules I think many of us would consider a small payment for the ability to keep a house at home or to have the medical cover for emergencies for instance. Or is that not punitive enough for you?
As for calling your CP a CSer......well if that's not lowering the image of a pilot and therefore the profession then I don't know what is. Grow up.