Airline allowances

[banterbus]

Hi,

I've searched the forums for more information on this but can't find the detail I'm interested in.

As I've mentioned on a previous thread, I'm looking at leaving the military to join the airlines; this is going to involve a lot of financial commitment, and I'm not just talking about licensing, I have budgeted for this out of my current salary.

Having started getting ready for the jump, I'm starting to look at housing at locations various, lengths of commutes etc, and started wondering what allowances airline crews receive, if any.

I'm aware of sector pay (fully taxable?), or duty pay airline dependant. Are there any other allowances you receive? Milage to work?

Are there any other costings that you think I should be aware of when I'm ultimately trying to figure out monthly take home vs mortgage and bills etc...?

It's a big jump, and keen to make sure I don't drop a ball, whilst also providing the best set up for my family!

Thanks in advance,

[macdo]

Bit to broad a question really as the package you receive is airline specific. Some aspects are hidden in terms of pension/LoL/PDI as well as sector/duty/flight pay.

You may find this old pprune thread useful
http://www.pprune.org/terms-endearment/557114-salary-working-conditions-thread-2015-16-a.html

My only tip for you, is to live fairly close to your base. Modern airline work, particularly SH, is quite hard on your sleep patterns, so commuting adds both financial and social costs.

[JliderPilot]

Good luck with the transition, each airline is slightly different from what i hear. I cant comment on the long haul side of things. My employer will pay for your accommodation and give you duty pay and an allowance for food during initial training. Some dont.

They reimburse me my annual medical but i have to do it on a day off and pay my own travel. No home to duty travel, they expect you to make your own way to the place of work. And report time generally means at the crew room, so you have to factor parking up, maybe a bus then getting through security etc.

But they will pay for all travel and hotels etc when you are required to be out of base. We get a duty payment for every hour on duty and if we overnight an additional payment on top. So an overnight would be 24hrs of duty pay for instance.

If they give you a hire car you are expected to refuel it and claim the money back. Any mileage if you choose to use your own car (for us) is at quite a low pence per mile rate, but you can reclaim so extra via your tax return.

All these allowances will attract a certain amount of tax, only introduced within the last 2yrs or so.

If you want to chat please drop me a PM.

[banterbus]

Thanks for the replies; I will be UK-based.

This is all good information, as I've been looking a little further afield from a commuting point of view - maybe this is a little risky!

When you talk about hire car/personal car, is that for commuting or whilst down route? (Little confused assuming you won't have you own car whilst you're away!).

[wiggy]

banterbus

As others have said this is hugely employer dependant.

As you are obviously aware you may well get allowances to cover meals downroute and other expenses for costs whilst on duty, as well as some form of flying pay, but every company seems to do it differently and every now and then change their system.. same tends to apply to the structure of pay for flying hours.

That said the UK HMRC assume your allowances are there to pay for expenses downroute, and are increasingly looking at what crew really spend with a view to increasing the tax take (for example we now have to retain receipts in case of a HMRC check as part of an ongoing audit..).

If you are thinking of "commuting" from outside the UK the whole situation is further complicated by the fact that your country of domicile could have it's own bespoke method of taxation on aircrew, aircrew salaries and aircrew allowances...that may be advantageous but it may not be in some countries and people have been caught out by "rumour control", so you do need to do the "due diligence".

I think that without having a more specific idea of your plans, especially who your prospective employer is going to be, (and I accept you don't want to compromise yourself) it is hard to offer really specific advice.

[macdo]

The problems with long distance commuting:
Waste of life
State of the UK road network
Need for a reliable car and back up method of getting to base
Car overheads and running costs
Most airlines require you to be 90mins from base when 'at home'
QED 2nd home needed, again expensive
or Digs/BB/Hotel expensive and depressing for standby blocks
Using days off to commute on the day before 1st duty.

I could go on, and I am talking from my experience right now. I'm very lucky as I'm on a long haul only roster and part time, but I would go back to living 10 miles from base and SH tomorrow. Sadly no opportunity to do this presently. This is not the same as taking a temporary base after promotion, which at least has a point and an end, assuming you have bid to get back to your home base. I know lots of pilots that have been forcibly relocated half way through their careers, choosing to commute rather than shift the family, it is honestly a recipe for discontent and fatigue. Avoid if at all possible.

Just to end on something more positive, I know a guy who commutes long distance so his family could stay where they grew up. He has lived in a caravan in a farmers field for over 20 years! He actually really likes his choice!

[deltahotel]

All of the above. You may not want to give too much personal info on an anonymous forum, but if you state the type of flying you will be doing (LCC, SH charter, LH etc) and the possible distance to commute you'll get a more accurate answer.

For me, SH charter with a 90min drive was a mistake. Now with 3,4,5 days away and a 60 min drive four(?) times a month is good. Daily driving - live as close to your base as you can.

I think I used to work with macdo's farmer's field caravan man and he seemed to make it work very well travelling to base for 3 or 4 consecutive flights.

Good luck with the transition.