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Emirates pay rise

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Old 26th Apr 2011, 19:03
  #21 (permalink)  
 
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Dropp

Thank you for reminding those with blinkers to take them off!
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Old 26th Apr 2011, 19:32
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Indeed Dropp, the other thing that gets conveniently forgotten by those with blinkers on is that you would have to have been in that US major for 30 years before getting a sniff at a B777 left seat.

So no sooner has a pilot got to LHS Widebody having flown East Coast-West Coast Red Eyes in MD83's for quarter of a century, he has to start thinking about retirement! 7 years at $217/hr wouldn't even come close to the potential earnings of an EK Skipper who is 35 years old.........

And another thing, what happens to that US skippers' hourly rate when he is on leave, or breaks a leg and is off for 2 months? What's his basic salary?? Again, not even on the same graph as EK........... Beg to differ Sheiky or TOGA?? Thought not!
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Old 26th Apr 2011, 20:21
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OK OK, so EK pilots may well get more but aren't we forgetting that those US major guys get friggin big pensions. Oh.........I forgot, most of them don't anymore thanks to chapter 11 bull**** and their CEO'S screwing them for a bigger mansion in the Hamptons. So much for those all powerful unions. Please knock another 1% off for wasted union subs.

Harry
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Old 26th Apr 2011, 22:44
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Not to be an advocate for the US airlines, but those 777 fo's or skippers are flying 2-3 trips per month, flying about 70-75 hours, and getting 18-20 days off. No offense, but I would gladly trade the pay (comparing 777/330 job to 777/330 job) to have my quality of life back. Both places have pros and cons, but I would say we work way harder than even your md-80 or 737 guys at a US major, so although we make more money, we deffinitely earn it. Just my 2 cents, and given that I my government has thrown the dollar square it the sh..house, those 2 cents are worth that much anymore
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Old 26th Apr 2011, 23:09
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The other point that gets glossed over is that to earn 10 year pay at EK you'd have to....live for at least ten years in Dubai! lol The financial comparisons are tiresome, basically if you can convince yourself that the ME mindset (slavery is ok, greed is good, etc) is your thing, then you're already more than halfway there. As pointed out, you sure as hell will earn whatever you make. If that's all your life means to you...pffft...take a look at most of the EK guys, been here 10 years, look like they've aged 30...

Just remember, if it was so great you wouldn't always have the same old names trotting out to defend it...it wouldn't require it...ask yourself why do they feel the need to justify their little patch of sandy paradise? This was a thread about potential EK payrises and suddenly all the predictable apologist posters are out in force? Funny how that always happens around the time of year when things like pay reviews and bonuses are being assessed!
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Old 27th Apr 2011, 04:45
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Oblaaspop

If a guy breaks his leg or goes on leave at a US Major he still gets paid. Generally you have a min monthly guarantee of about 65-75 hours. Multiply that by 217 and you get about 14,000USD for sitting at home. "Not even on the same graph?" Are you on a different payscale than the rest of us? The US skipper who is sitting at home with a broken leg is making 51,000AED and when he flies 95 hours he is making 75,657AED.

If you medical out for some reason then you get 65% of that until you turn 65. Lets not forget the 217/hour used to be more like 320/hour. EK is a good job but lets not kid ourselves. With regards to flying narrowbodies for a quarter century the SWA 737 Captain rate is about USD210/hour. Most SWA captains earn between 850,000AED-1,200,000AED/year.



In lieu of pensions most majors now contribute 15% of your salary into a 401k. Bankrupting the pensions was an outrageous act of greed but the paltry replacement is still higher than EK.
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Old 27th Apr 2011, 10:07
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the regressive payscale...

wiz,

do ek captains with 10 years seniority really get 47.000aed basic?

cause if so, i have bad news for them....

12 (!) years seniority will yield you about 43.500aed basic....it's magic.
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Old 27th Apr 2011, 10:13
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Ok Laker I wasn't aware of the minimum pay, but don't forget that the $14k is before tax in the US

If you take the allowance, you can sit at home for months on end here with a broken back and TAKE HOME $14k......... So yeah, like I said, not on the same graph. BTW, did you note the bit about only being able to spend the last few years of your career earning that in the US?

Nolimit, you make a valid point about having to live in Dubai and you are correct most of us would rather live in the US, but as we all know the Aviation industry is f@cked over there (albeit not as badly f@cked as your mother land) and the chances of getting the same package as here just aint gonna happen.

So seeing as this is a thread about an EK payrise and by default the EK package, then I feel it is relevant to talk about it especially as the US thing was brought up by someone else (TOGA) saying how crap the EK package is compared to the US like for like which was simply not true! Not an EK apologiser at all (whatever that means!!), just stating facts......... Shame you feel unable/unwilling to do the same!
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Old 27th Apr 2011, 15:16
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Obs IMHO is correct to say the whole "package" is what we are talking about.

The Package as far as I am concerned includes many things that are intangibles.

i) I like being able to go out with my family into a big city knowing that the chance of being mugged is virtually zero.
ii) Likewise I am happy that the casual "social" drug use culture that pervades my homeland is not here.
iii) I like NOT paying income tax.
iv)I dont like the summer but I love the winter in DXB.(The reverse of my homeland)

Bottom line we all make our choices according to our perceptions, I do not consider myself an EK apologist, I do consider myself a pragmatist.

I do have one query though.

Why do the "Down with EK" brigade have to have everyone agree with them? Can't people make up their own minds and hold their own opinions?

Fly safe all.
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Old 27th Apr 2011, 15:36
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Laker

Just a genuine question. Are you saying that some SWA guys are on $325K a year? That's over 200k sterling. Not even senior training BA guys would be pulling in that amount.

If so, that's a mighty impressive salary. Good for them if they are....lucky bastards!

Harry
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Old 27th Apr 2011, 17:50
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Ok Laker, let's get some facts straight. First off, top pay at SWA for a 12 yr capt is 210/hr. with a 78 hour guarantee. Or 16380 a month, 60278 dhs a month. Very nice. OBTW, most junior captain is at 10 years. Five year captain pay (not any at SWA) $194/hr. Still pretty nice. 15132/mo or 55685 dhs. Still nice. But wait, any captain that junior will be on reserve and guarantee is 70 hours I think. But wait again. In that tax bracket you will probably pay close to 50% in taxes considering Fed. taxes, state taxes (not if based in Texas or Fla), Medicare/SS taxes, property taxes, sales taxes and don't think it's going to get better if you make over 250K a year. Won't go there with that. Being an US expat you will stay pay taxes but you will get close to 100K in a tax break. No utility payments here, no mortgage payments here. Don't need to go on, but you're comparing apples and oranges.

Does the T/Cs need to be improved here. Oh hell yes, as they say in Texas. Whose making that 320/hr nowdays. Ohyeah, Delta was before their BK with their huge 777 fleet at the time....6. That didn't last too long.

Sick leave. Individual contracts, and don't know what SWA is, however most is only six months at what was called regular line guarantee and ususally it was 60 hours. Short term then long term disability. Honestly, I will take EKs long term policy. Loss of license....dare you compare any free LOL at any carrier compared to EKs.

So let's say, EK needs huge improvements to attract quality pilots. A real shortage coming up. But comparison is fruitless because of all the differences. My imputed pay here, because of the tax break falls just under what a 12+ year UAL or AA 767 captain makes, taking in just a 22% tax rate of what he receives.

But then again, we are in Dubai, Sandpit, Knotteatingham or whatever you want to call it. Major challenges but find me some 5 yr captain rates or what one would be on at the five year point and then make a comparison. Back into my hole.
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Old 28th Apr 2011, 05:42
  #32 (permalink)  
 
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wiz,

do ek captains with 10 years seniority really get 47.000aed basic?

cause if so, i have bad news for them....

12 (!) years seniority will yield you about 43.500aed basic....it's magic.
Hi maimax,

I actually wrote you a thank-you for the correction late last night. I see it isn't here, perhaps I neglected to press send or something.

The figures for pay in the later years aren't posted anywhere (nor is there any reason they should be) that I'm aware of and I based my figures on some (obviously) dodgy math applying increments to the base.

Still, point was Sheiky is wildy inaccurate (not for the time).

Sittingly,

Yes, the fact that I got a figure wrong by about 9% does indeed make me a horrible, blatent, intentional lier who kills kittens and assasinated JFK.

The horrible result of my post was that I implied Sheikmyarse was out by about 110%, when in fact it's only about 96%.

Now, what kind of a "Blatent lier" does that make him?

Your post, however, shows you to be an unbalanced, unhinged, hysterical tosser.

Bite me.
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Old 28th Apr 2011, 05:50
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Finally, we solved the JFK case!
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Old 28th Apr 2011, 07:17
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Good grief guys, please keep your hair on. Please keep the insults to yourself, otherwise you will take a break from Pprune. I wonder if you would talk to each other like this face to face, I think not.

YOU have been warned.

EGGW
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Old 28th Apr 2011, 07:40
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TangoUniform

With all due respect you are responding with some wrong info. The 210/hour that you probably found on airlinepilotcentral.com is trip pay converted to hourly pay. SWA pays you per trip. If you game the system (drop trips, pick up trips, grab premium pay, etc) it is very easy to go well north of 100 credit hours per month. I have several friends at SWA and captains can exceed 300,000USD per year and those who really work the system make over 350k when you include profit share. Those numbers are 91,750AED per month and 107,041AED per month respectively.

The whole corporate culture at SWA is to fly your as# off and get paid accordingly. They build most trips to have very high credit so you fly a lot, make a lot, and get at least half the month off. So yes some make more than senior BA training captains. As do many Fedex and UPS captains.

You mentioned taxes. Who pays 50% tax in the states?? Dubai is tax free right? Yet a crap beer costs $10USD in Dubai, vs 3.50 in the states. Clothes, electronics, cars, food, housing, virtually everything in the USA is cheaper than dubai. Significantly so. Gas and labor are the only things I can think of that are cheap in Dubai. Dubai doubles or triples the price of everything and calls itself tax free. You are just putting money in the pockets of a few select families.

As for sick pay. Generally the way sick pay works is you build up a sick bank over time. So if you have 270 hours of sick time and you break your leg then you line credit is deducted from your sick bank. If I bid 90 hour lines then I am good for 3 months of full pay. Then when that is exhausted I kick into long term disability which is usually 60-65% of my guarantee or in some airlines "average line value."

Last edited by Laker; 28th Apr 2011 at 08:50.
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Old 28th Apr 2011, 13:12
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Laker, I'll bow to you being more knowledgable about SWA. A couple of points again, and you admit it. Those making 300k are "gaming" the system as you said. And they have all been there over 12 years if they are captains, and the junior captains are probably commuting to BWI. Again it's all apples and oranges. I would like to see some hard comparisons between Ek and legacy "Pax" carriers doing ULRs. Not a niche major such as SWA. And where was their pay at their 25 year anniversary? And because they are a niche player (and they are very successful) they are somewhat insolated to forgein competition and other variables. Let's see how it works out with the merger with AT.

Now 50% taxes. If you're making 300K you are in a 33% Fed. Tax bracket (Bush tax cuts), you will pay over 7% in FICA for a third of the year and if you live in a taxing state you can pay anywhere from around 3% to 10% state income tax. If you live a large metropolis, NY, SF, ATL, or others you may be paying another 1-2%. Check out what property tax is in some states (NJ,NY,Ma). Anywhere from 1-3% per 100K of the taxed value of one's house. And who decides what the tax value is? The state of course, those collecting the taxes. Other property tax on cars, boats, planes, any vehicle. Sales tax? Another, say, easily 5% on goods and services. Gasoline tax, 15% Fed tax on a gallon of gas. Of course then you will spend up to maybe another $1000 for a good accountant to avoid/mitigate all of the above. Now of course you will have numerous deductions, but you start losing them when you start making good money. Then there is the AMT (alternate minimum tax) so they get you if you deduct too much. Add that all up and brother, you ain't keeping close to 50% of your money. It's going to the gubment.

You mention things being expensive in Dubai. No kidding. Bought any groceries in the states lately with gas prices doubling in 2.5 years? How's the value of that house one bought in Vegas to avoid state income tax. But here you are only paying high prices for things bought. Sort of like the Fair Tax effort in the US. You pay for what you consume, not what you earn. Same here, it's just in the form of retail. You're going to pay the piper one way or another. I'd rather pay it in what I consume, and won't be in $10 beer (your choice). Better check the price of beer at a major hotel (like here) in LA, NY, SFO, MIA, DFW, ATL.

Sorry for doing a little thread hijacking gents. The only tax advantage we really get here is the close to 100K "free" money. And that does help bring the EK package somewhat closer....no cigar though. Laker, you haven't read anywhere that I have said the EK package is great. I'm saying most T/Cs in the US aren't that great either for legacy pax airlines...not like they used to be for sure.
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Old 28th Apr 2011, 14:18
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If you look at widebody international pilots EK is underpaid. After all how many BA, AF. LH, AA and Qantas widebody pilots are beating down the doors to Emirates?
Then take into account how expensive it is in Dubai and we are really behind the 8 ball.
Most consumables cost twice what they are in the states and some things approach 4 times as much. This is quite surprising as Dubai is "tax-free" with slave labor.
It costs me three months salary to educate my kids. Yes that is right 1/4 of my paycheck goes to schools. That figure alone (25%) is more than the tax I was paying in the rust belt of the US. Then include how much it costs me to fly on my own airline, living in Dubai and most Americans are much better off staying in the US even with all of its problems. After all we can get a pretty cheap house now with a "garden" where you can actually have a catch with your kid and a BBQ where everyone is not on top of one another. Why would one want a garden when you can have a yard?
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Old 28th Apr 2011, 15:00
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What is the pay factor for career satisfaction?

We only talk about cash. What about the harder to measure things, like not being a career FO?
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Old 28th Apr 2011, 15:46
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TU,

I don't mean to drag this out too long but here are a few counter points. It is quite easy to work the system at SWA and make good money. Or many other majors for that matter. Just an electronic trade board. As for being taxed back in the USA I still would argue that it is much cheaper to live there. Dubai doubles or triples the price of everything but it's tax free. I would much rather pay 5% tax on something that costs 50% less. That applies to just about anything you consume here or back in the states (food, cars, alcohol, electronics, property, etc). The only two things I can think of that are cheap in Dubai are unskilled labor and gas.

As for property taxes I don't think 1-3% is out of line. Again I would go back to value for the money. What does 300Kusd buy you in dubai? A villa on a lot the size of a postage stamp that might last 15 years before needing renovations. Not to mention the extremely high maintenance fees at most developments in Dubai. What about the 5% municipality tax in Dubai???? In Miami, Vegas, even parts of California 300K would buy you a beautiful property. Are you going to live in company accommodation until you turn 65? Then what? State income tax is a matter of whether you choose to live in a state that has it. It's quite easy to come up with large deductions via property, etc.

I'm not saying EK is bad. At the end of the day you probably do end up with more money in your pocket. It is a very viable career option (assuming nothing goes wrong). But there is a reason the vast majority of american pilots at EK are either from the regionals or furloughees from the majors. I would be very surprised to see somebody resign from SWA, DAL, Fedex, UPS, UAL, AA, etc to come work in the Middle East. That is until the package drastically improves here.
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Old 28th Apr 2011, 16:41
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Your last paragraph, I can completly agree on. But then again, most pilots here are here due to a "story" to tell, whether it be country or airline. I would never advise someone to leave a viable major/national legacy anywhere in the world to come and live the expat life, here or anywhere else. I've also done the crash pad at JFK and SFO. Hey that's a real load of laughs.

I would much rather NOT pay the tax. I would rather pay more for MY consumption of goods and services. It's all what one wants to do with one's money. I'll take 1000dhs/mo for unlimited golf at a fine course to what it costs in the US almost anywhere, except some rundown public course. If you consume alot, you will be on the wrong end of the stick here. You will be paying an "imputed" tax on goods and services. Oh and see what you can buy for 300K in most MAJOR cities (if one doesn't commute). Unless you want to drive hours away from any of those cities, 300K won't even buy you the postage stamp. What's 300K going to get you in downtown NY, or SFO. A grocery cart maybe. How far from the beach will you have to move to be able to afford a decent accommodation in a beach city...unless you want to live in Panama City or Myrtle Beach? I'll take my .5km drive to the beach from my four bedroom, fairly new, paid for, basic free utility, nice "garden", non weaponized neighborhood. But no NCAA, NFL, MLB, NHL live sports not at 0330. All in one's priorities.

Ok, for the sake of everyone else on these boards let's give this up. We are boring all our EURO and Pacific friends to death. They could care less of what our issues are back in the US other than the dollar devaluation is killing them.

Pay raise/profit share at EK? If it isn't decent, then they better hope that rise in fuel costs close down some airlines and pilots go looking. Becasue if the t/cs are not improved.........manning disaster. Just ask some guys in recruiting how their job is going these days. And it has been communicated upwards and ignored. We'll see in little over a week. Oh and if the US airlines start major recalls of furloughed guys, wonder how many here resigned from McDs and not their legacy airline? Dust in the wind.

So Laker, we agree and disagree. The bottom line, it's the industry as a whole that has been taken down. The joke is, we are respected as much as bus drivers these days, only bus drivers have a better pension.
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