If only it was as good as you say it is
I'm a senior F/O on the A330 with QF. Gross is about $210k all done and dusted. I pay about 40% of that to the govt in tax. Those are the headline numbers.
I pay for my own medical, dental, income protection and all other insurances. I pay for 100% of my kids education and my housing. I pay all the fees to renew my medical and licence.
Meal allowances vary but are about 15k per year. They are the rate that government employees get when they travel, which is about $4/hr on a domestic trip and the cost of eating meals in the cafe restaurant at the hotel we use in each city. There are no additional payments of any kind on top of that except for superannuation, which on the current scheme is no better than the average Australian worker gets. Oh, and I got an ipad to keep my flight library.
I have been in the company for 19 years and have averaged 2.5% in pay rises per year. This is the 3% AIPA normally negotiates minus the pay freezes we have taken over that time. This is just under the average inflation rate over the period and about 1.2-1.5% less than AWOTE earnings increases over the period. We do pretty well but at first glance but living in Australia eats more out of a salary that has no living allowances than most places. That is what makes this thread so complex, apples and oranges.
Flyboat North is playing games with most of his facts and seems to be looking for a rise out of the QF guys. I think he may be OW in disguise or someone similar. The 25-50% extra he speaks of is unfounded. There is no such thing as overtime on the twin fleets, they don't go anywhere that pays those rates! The QF A380 is a unique case in world aviation. Nearly every sector it does is ultra long haul, meaning that it carries a large overtime payment. To put up with the prune inducing time you spend on those sectors, they can have the money. The 744 is similar in that it does huge overtime sectors.
For those who want this thread to be just about numbers, life is not that simple.