pilot's pay

[kichwa tembo]

hello people!

like most of us i'm very interested to know how well or poorly african pilots are "taken care of". this has probably been asked before, but the problem i have with past posts is that they don,t really give a break down of the actual pay and conditions.

i believe that we can learn a lot from each other. my airline like many in the region is going through a period of transition and the working conditions are changing everyday. we work longer hours and spend many nights away from home, pushing our flight and duty times to the limit, but the way in which we are paid hasn't changed in years.

the aim of this post is to see fellow pilots pay is structured in an attempt to get new ideas or improve on past ones. hopefully it will also help wanabees gauge their future employer's and make wiser decisions before sending out cv's.

below is a breif description of my terms:

first officer b767( quoted in kshs. 1US$=80kshs.)
basic pay: 157000
house allowance: 15000
transport allowance:6000
night stop allowance: 85000
layover allowance: us$ 165(tax free) per night( minimum 7 nights)
productivity: 1500 per hour over 60hours.

benefits and leave: medical and limited dental for self and family( inpatient 3000000 per year for all and outpatient 30000 per person per year). 30 days paid leave per year( excl. public holidays and weekends). usual airline travel benefits

on average i fly 88 hours a month and get 12 nights layover. tax in kenya for this pay bracket is 30% and everything except layover is taxed.

thanks in advance for any response.

[Amabokoboko]

To save everyone the hassle of hauling out the Excel, kichwa's package appears to be $US 3812.50 per month with an additional tax free 1980 per month.

Or around ZAR 22875 with about 12g's of tax free monthly allowance. That for 88 flying hours per month and 30 days paid leave per year!

If he's doing his tax properly he also probably isn't paying full tax on his housing or transport allowance.

I know I'd take that.

[George Tower]

There is this website that some of you may find quite useful:

www.ppjn.com

There is no data on it though relating to African operations.

[Peter Davidson]

The guy that runs the ppjn website will include african information if you submit it, it's just that no one has yet.

[kichwa tembo]

thanks guys. amaboko's right shs. 1000 from the transport allowance is tax free. any idea what the saa structure is like? is their layover allowance taxed?

[Zoltan]

Every contract company in SA pays round about the same , ive worked for almost all of them and know people who work for others.

Co Pilots : round about $2000.00 US p/m, only when on contract and some companys pay a retainer or R 2000 - R 6000 in off month. Absolutely no benefits at 90 % of them.

Captiains : $5000.00 US p/m but only when on contract in some shot up country, some pay a retainer R5000 - R10 000 in month off. same thing for benefits.

Car allowance , layovers , medicals...... whats that ?

Fly safe

Bubblewrap

[kichwa tembo]

thanks zoltan. do they provide you with any insurance cover while out there in the sticks?

[Kernel]

A strong rand and a stagnatation of pilot salaries in the industry isn't good news for most contract pilots at the moment... I can't speak for all the companies but I believe the salary structure to be something as follows:

C208 F/O: $1300 - 1600
C208 Cpt: $ 3300 - 3500
BE20 Cpt: $4000 - 5000

No retainer during off months, no medical or pension. Accomodation on tour as well as travel expenses between home and tour base paid for.

Hope this helps.

K

[SubsonicMortal]

Hi Kernel

Thanks for that info.

Does anyone know what specific companies pay their contract pilots?

[Zoltan]

subsonic,

My previos post indicates the salaries of NAC, Naturelink, Executive Turbine (good average to work on ) Rossair pilots earn less (exept guys who`s been with the company for jonks) solenta i dont now. And thats for B200 and 1900 crews.

True the rand/dollar does suck at the moment, but also rememeber that were not the only ones suffering from this, most companys quoted for contracts when the dollar was still R10 so theyre taking quite a big knock as well !

If you have a job at the moment be thankfull cause airschools are turning out more comm pilots than high schools turning out matriculants !!

Contract flying is mostly hard flying, away from home, your family and mates, but you get to see the world and gain experience most charter folk will never, even though you dont stay in 5 star game lodges. You win some and loose some.

Fly safe

Bubblewrap

[SubsonicMortal]

Hi Zoltan

I fully agree with you about your point on view on contract flying. There are many ups and downs regarding this type of work but at the end of the day it brings a bag ful of experience and a collection of many friends. It's also true that the companies are also taking a beating due to the rands recent hike up the slope. I fly for one of the contract companies you mentioned and as pilots we'd like to get an idea of what the other guys are earning at other contract companies. You know, dont want to be unreasonable in negotiating a raise with management...

Thanks for your info! Much appreciated.

Regards

:ok:

[kichwa tembo]

subsonic, thanks for posts

rossair usedto pay 1800 for a new fo on the 1900 and 3500 usd for a junior captain increasing to 4500 after a year including discovery medical and 30$ s&t when away.

[A.R.M.505]

Now that its gone, the old Rossair salaries were

Senior Captain:
R8000 basic (months on and off), R250 per day S&T (in the field), 50 USD per day (in the field)

The salary rank below this (junior captain I think) was:
R5000 basic, R175 S&T, and 45USD.

This was on 1900's and Twotters I think. Dak pilots got salaries commensurate with their ego's ;-)
ie bigger!

Medical was 50% of some Discovery plan (classic core I think?) and there was a contribution to a retirement annuity - again the detaills escape me.

Rossair is gone, so disclosure of its old salary structure should be fine, legally speaking. I would, however, like to know whether companies merely frown on people disclosing their salary structure, or is it actually illegal? Surely not?