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Old 22nd April 2003 | 23:44
  #18 (permalink)  
Airbus Girl
 
Joined: May 2002
Posts: 981
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From: In a nice house
In case the guy actually wanted an answer as opposed to people bickering.....

A new FO on a jet, working for a British schedule or charter airline will get somewhere in the region of £35-45k plus allowances, which will be somewhere between £3k and £10k.

However, most people start on turbo-props for the (are there any left?) regional carriers. They will probably start on around £20k+.

After a number of years (varies hugely) if you pass a command course, and there is a vacancy, etc.etc. then you''ll move onto the Captains scale.

For turbo-props its probably in the £35k+ range and for jets, £55k+.

There are annual increments which in effect mean that the more experience and loyalty you have with that company the more money you get.

If it IS a journo asking, great, I am fed up with reading that pilots all earn £150k. I don't know of anyone earning that, although I do know someone at BA, a senior guy, manager, training captain, etc.etc. about to retire, and I think he was on about £100k including allowances, etc.

However, note also journos, that much of our work involves having no life.

Many pilots work 6 or 7 days on, 2 off, and often work 12 hour days. They get a small handful of weekends off per year if they are lucky, leave of 4-5 weeks and are often expected to spend their days off recovering from the previous flights (ie. from nights/ unsocial hours flights and jet lag). The food is often poor, we are classed as radiation workers and must pass a medical every 6-12 months, 2 days of sim check every 6 months and a line check every 6 months. Fail any of these and you can be out of a job. Plus there is ground school, security, wet drills, fire and smoke, technical ground school, CRM, etc.etc.

Flying a short flight on a nice day when everything works is great.

Flying long hours, multi sectors, in !!!!e weather, with an aircraft that is not 100% working (it is legal) is when we really earn the money. When the weather is so appalling outside that you wouldn't walk your dog, bear a thought for those pilots who have just flown all night and are now doing an approach right at the limits of the aircraft.
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