cerbus
I don't disagre that the industry is not what it once was but that's market forces. EK is little different to any smart airline or Company for that matter, pay the least it can get away with for the highest return. They will keep dropping the hours until they find the critical point. We have to rely on recuitment and training integrity to maintain the standard. We have little choice in that.
Regarding salary, if you do take the trouble to look at the pay and salary, depending which stats you review, most UK comparisons are coming in at an 'average' of around 75,000 pounds for pilots/engineers. Assuming even the most optimistic scenario and we can double this to 150K for the most senior guys. That's before tax. An 8 year skipper will earn that net with housing allowance and flight pay so would require at least 250k gross if compensating for tax.
We go over this time and time again yet the facts are we're pretty well paid compared to most of our colleagues, widebody or not. I've never said life is perfect here but I do recognise a good apple when I see it!
Harry