nooby,
Having been in the front seat of too many offshore flights, I believe that GreenerGrass has a point. He says, quite pertinently, that the front seats are the
lowest paid people on the flight, not that they should be getting the same as the highest paid passenger (attractive as that may be!). Among the pax are the cooks, the stewards, the first time roustabouts: they're all getting better money than the drivers who have invested money, time and then years of experience to get where they are.
The forces of supply and demand dictate to a large degree what a profession gets paid. Our profession has beggared itself for years, with the appeal of being a helicopter pilot outweighing the ability to earn a good living from the profession.
Good luck to the Australian pilots in their negotiations
