Comair pilots overworked/underpaid?
 

Comair pilots overworked/underpaid??

Any comments..

Apparently theres a mass exodus of pilots to greener pastures. pilots are being worked to the bone, multiple sectors and morale is low..



The Grinch
Greener Pastures..

Yep, I think it's a case of the F/O's being badly paid for the amount of work done. Most of the guys that have left, have left for financial reasons and have heard that salaries might be raised due to the mass exodus.

You okes have the hotest hosties in the business
in SA. All you need is a salary increase and then
nobody will ever leave! ;)

Funny, the boys and girls I know at Comair are largely a happy bunch. Only gripe is time to command.

Guys seem to be popular with the emerates, which is funny, cause that lot are overworked.

Comair have always had relatively good morale, and most blokes are happy. From the bottom you have low-timers getting a break, senior f/os with the prospect of command (eventually) and the senior capt's who have no intention of leaving for Emirates, or SAA. Guys do leave, but its not normally because they are extremely unhappy, it normally has to do with finances...and the attraction of a new shiny widebody.

Currently 800-850 hours per year....doesn't leave a lot for family life remaining

Underpaid..???..salary adjustment for 2007 brought 2004 salaries forward to 2007 standard with inflation etc...no true increase for improvement of lifestyle.

Many F/O's came from "command-salaries" at previous employers and find that they just cannot get used to the lowering of life-style standard that Comair F/O salaries bring...thus leaving for beter salaries ... or doing extra-mural work to "make ends meet"...but 800-850 hours per year leads to "burn-out" rapidly.

CPA have done an extremely proffesional salary scale study...awaiting HQ reaction.


Time to command has been about 5 years for a long time and still is, only problem with the need for command sooner is for the F/O's to "re-attain" there previous quality of life that they enjoyed whilst at Commanders at Link etc..

Whats with the rumour that some "Link" short listed pilots have now turned down Comair employment due to the lovely 20 "odd" % percentage salary increase they recently attained...???

Having worked for the Novick’s in a previous life I can say only one thing with certainty- the relationship is very one sided financially! That’s why most people who work for them, and who have any ambition in life, hit the street in search of greener (excuse the pun!) pastures. The crew can stand on their head and whistle Dixie out theirs b*ts its not going to make a difference. I enjoyed my time there- great folks who have all since also left and gone to such places as Mango, 1Time, SAA. In fact the whole story of 1Time is linked to this issue!

Always thought Comair was one of the better-paying airlines (by SA standards). How do they compare to the likes of 1Time, Mango, Express?

what is the bottom line
 

what exactly are the FO's earning?

Rands (ZAR) and maybe a few cents as well...:}

1 Time and Mango....???
Problem with Mango is no "perks" ie medical aid and Pension fund
SAX and Airlink get about 20-30% more for the comparable year service Captain vs Captain and F/O vs F/O than the same at Comair.

Comair
 

FO's at Comair take home between 15K and 19K on a good month, including S&T, depending on seniority.

Sorry, I'm sitting with the scales in front of me, and that is not true.

SAX SFO's are slightly better off, but that is because you go to Cap1 when you get command and not to Cap(years service) as in Comair.

Some "unofficial" numbers doing the rounds..
+/- 11 resignations in April
possibly another 2 resignations this last week

recent new F/O is 25% down on "take-home-pay"at Comair, coming from F/O on local "Turbo-prop" airline.

rumour as I have heard thrown around is "Link" got +20% and that makes them beter off than Comair....any body confirm this ??

this is afterall a rumour network....any truths out there.

:=

Maybe if they got 42%+....:oh:

Romeo ET says it taken 5 years for F/O to take Command , is this always happening or sometimes takes longer ?

If it is true than COMAIR must be a place to go for, as long as you can bear the consequences as F/O for 5 years.

I have seen most of the places take more.

I have seen ComAir Pilots during our sim training there and most of them seem to be happy and jolly, not many F/O's though that I have come across.

Whats the difference between Capt and F/O take home ?

Heard via the grapevine the Link increase was 23% immediate, further 15% in September, which would put FO's between 22k and 26k/month plus 13th cheque, pension, medical aid (Linkers please confirm). Would be interesting to know how far this is off Express pay.

JCO7...your statement validates the comments made by Romeo E.T. about the salary gap being up to 30% difference for F/O's at Link vs Comair....as noted 19k to ...thats reason enough to turn down employment offer at Comair.

Comair also don't get a 13th cheque either...only a bonus which is at the discretion of the directors and linked to the performance and profitability.....no guarantees of any amount or percentage....spin doctors say things such as "yields are under pressure" and "difficult trading environment" always hang over the employees like a sword of Damocles.

I "think" that Link salary is now (or will be once all the increments are realized...as mentioned by JCO7) very similar to SAX...thus both well in lead when compared to Comair.

I think there are a few apples and pears here.

Take home pay of 15 to 19k equates to 23 to 31k before tax and that happens to be the Comair FO range BEFORE bonus and S&T.

I have not seen the new Link scales so I can't comment on that, but Comair captains are better off than SAX captains by about 18k per year for the same command time. This is also before bonus and S&T, and I know that Comair pays better S&T than SAX.

Like I said before, SFO's at SAX are better off than their contemporaries at Comair, but that is only because of the different captain's pay structures.

So this statement:
is just completely wrong.

I "think" you are Trawling...:}

Also remember that Link is not the only Airline getting increase(s) in 2007.

:O