FP, came to the pit more than 15 years ago, got my envelope out and did exactly the same numbers as you. I was going to get a pay rise on joining and be golden. My only luxury would be a club membership because I had to be able to fill my downtime but had to give that up because there was no choice.
So what happened? As an FO I had saved only what was in my provident fund. Where had the money gone, still can't work it out! The big question is whether I will have enough money to retire on leaving and the answer is maybe but then I have had a few dodgy property deals because there was no choice.
Probably the one cost I didn't factor into the equation that hurt at the outset was the cost of keeping in touch with my home. I went back occasionally on trips but rarely saw the family, we as a family seemed to spend any leave I had off traipsing around the home country as nomads trying to catch up with friends and family. Eventually I came to resent the time and money it cost, but there was no choice.
The single biggest issue with being an expat for me is having absolutely no choice in where you live. I don't mean a Jumeirah vs Meydan, I mean San Diego vs Minneapolis, actually working close enough to your roots. As your family grows and your family at home ages you struggle to keep up. Eventually you let your roots die or you leave. The accommodation is palatial if you come from an appartment but otherwise rather disappointing but we all made do because there was no choice.
As to the package here, the issue is that it spirals downwards and that some in the leadership seem to want to turn aviation into a 24 hour office job with 2 days off a week. They do not understand from their First Class seat on a vacation why anyone would get tired. This means the rosters are artificially destroyed even though there is no additional benefit or cost to the company but we all made do with it because there was no choice.
The root cause of all of these issues is a disrespectful culture that views employees as liabilities. A vindictive attitude to crew from people that are not in their positions due to innate competence. When anyone tries to make a positive change or raise an issue that costs nothing, they are told directly in these precise words in front of their peers, "if you don't like it, leave" but we all made do because we had no choice.
Note "had" and that is why people have started to leave. I do not regret my time here but I am very disappointed that the culture inside the airline does not match the positive brand portrayed to the outside world. It could easily change to a positive respectful culture, the executive board have that choice.
As a young lad come along and see you may well love it but just remember one thing; you still have a choice.
Last edited by ekwhistleblower; 25th Mar 2015 at 02:28.
Reason: Eng