730hrs in a 1930s tech aeroplane is a very good effort. With more hours can you get onto something modern?

Beer Baron, No it's average at the moment. You must be long haul?

The only thing that makes the 738 the same as the 1967 version is that it's got 737 painted on the side 😊

Year 4 F/O hourly rate (max hourly rate) ATM is $188.93.

So 58K in 3 months is about 290 stick hours (give or take with passive and paxing credits, allowances etc).

Your 730 hours a year looks more like this:

$188.93 X 730 = $137,918.90
6 weeks leave = $15,913.72
6 training events = $4,534.32
Total is $158,366.94

So for your minimum of 200K a year you need to make up a 42K defecit with allowances, paxing credits (unlikely) and bonus (not guaranteed)....... or HOURS. (Unless you are including company super contributions in your total - that bumps it up a little).

Based on your 58K in 3 months and from my own experience 90-100hrs a month should get you there.

So yes over 200K is achievable, doing about 90 hours month in month out which is approx 500 sectors a year and 8 -9 days off every month and constantly chasing work/putting name in the book. IMHO the LH award gives you time off and guaranteed money and despite the jet lag is a better lifestyle option unless you're happy with the less hours (money) to get the time off in SH.

Edit: I should add, my last full year SH my bonus was paid at 1100 credit hours. Based on current hourly rates that's about 240-250K ( inclusive - allowances, passive and paxing credits and possible bonus but not super) a year but you work for it.

You're forgetting one thing chaps...credit hours and actual stick hours on the 737 can be very different things :} ;)

Days at work?

But it's not true that you work more days in SH. If you like day trips, you may "go to" work more days, sure, but you'll probably be finished by lunch time or, if it's your fancy, not go to work until 2 or 3 in the afternoon and be home to watch the end of that boring English crime drama your wife is watching on Netflix.

Or if your not into day trips and want multi day trips. At the top, you will get your 70 hours done in 9 or 10 days. At the bottom it might be 16. On average you'll actually work the same number of days in SH and LH. It's the length of the trip, and by consequence the length of the break in between trips that changes.

I agree LH is a better lifestyle if your worried about money, as it a guaranteed amount and won't reduce (more or less).

My average last year was 77 hours/ BP and I worked an average of 14.5 days/BP.

Well seeing as we are all comparing, the last I measured I'm 2.5 inches flaccid and 6.2 inches when erect.

What's that you say? No one wants to hear about my personal sh*t?

Precisely.

If the info is unhelpful to you. Ignore it.

And I'll wager that extra 0.2" is vitally important.

What did you measure it with? A laser?

Q. Hey mods, why won't PPRuNe let me use the word L A S ER without putting an '@' where the 'a' should be? Maybe it's an iPhone thing, but it's happening on the full site as well as the mobile site.

So it turns out earning all that money and flying big shiny jets doesn't make your wang any bigger afterall. Appreciate the facts gentlemen, but can we get back on topic? This is a rumour network afterall and I've heard a solid one that recruitment is all internal for the foreseeable future. Can anyone verify this?

The B747 fleet is currently short of S/O's and with some about to leave for F/O training on B737 & A330 fleets, the shortage is going to be critical. Some of the new hires may end up going Boeing instead of Airbus.

What about the overhead panel on the B738, Chad? It's so ancient, it belongs in a museum.

Agreed....hell of alot more to life than $.

I'd heard that new hires will all start on the A330, as that is the intent of the EA, allowing A330 SO's to move up to the B747 or A380.

Going Boeing.

True. But they are only switches.

$200,000 as a 737 FO? !!!!!!

F**k me. You guys must be among the best paid pilots in the world outside of places where no one wants to live.

It's compensation for the stupid hat...

Angle of Attack, thanks for posting some of your figures. Whilst to some it may come across as an appendage comp to some, to others it's very useful in order to compare the TC's in their respective outfit.

NARROW BODY Q's:
Can I ask, are allowances on top of that? Say 15k cash?
How many days at home per 28 days are you getting?
I assume you'd be clearing about 10-11k a month.
How much duty per month/annum or stick per year?

The issue for me, as someone has already pointed out, is the starting wage on the 330/787 looks to be around a 100k so it's a bit of a haircut to come across to say the least. There is absolutely no doubt in my mind that just about every other aspect of your company is far superior to any I know of. I've been reading up and talking to people and its eye opening.


WIDEBODY Q's:
Is it fair to say that if you are on the 330 you are away a lot (no day trips)?
How does it work? Two big trips a month or multiple small trips?
How many days at home?
Will a new-hire sit on reserve or what you call a "blank line" in Sydney the whole time?
When will recruitment to 330 stop and become 787 recruitment?
So a first year so gets 100, could you expect overtime and allowances on top and if so how much? How much would a new hire be clearing?

Anyway lots of questions thanks in advance for any responses.

It will be interesting to see if recruitment is exclusively for group pilots initially? Is anyone in the know? I can imagine there'd be a lot of interested parties from within the group, but release from current employer would be subject to operational requirements. Will they need more pilots from outside to slow the group attrition? Or am I completely overestimating the amount of interest from inside? The email was only seeking an EOI, so recruitment could very well be open to the broader community when it does kick off. Great to see progression to mainline from the broader group!

Or the fact qantas have some of the most experienced FOs in the world. Sitting there for 15-20 years does that.

In other parts of the world a narrow body jet is doing your time until you get to fly a real one. Which you may find yourself doing with a couple of thousand hours TT.

Is there an issue with mainline 737 fo's being paid around 200k plus?

Yes the stick hours are up at the moment but the Qantas group has made a record profit and a significant portion of that was thanks to Qantas domestic.

We pilots are a funny breed! Was not that long ago that it seemed other entities within the 'group' who were working 90 hours stick a month deemed not paid enough, but now when we hear the earnings of mainline under the 'short haul' contract illustrated, there seems to be a thought of.....s$it that's seems a lot....

I think its great that thes pilots earn that amount, may it continue