Wikiposts
Search
The Pacific: General Aviation & Questions The place for students, instructors and charter guys in Oz, NZ and the rest of Oceania.

Worst paid turbine drivers

Thread Tools
 
Search this Thread
 
Old 1st Aug 2005, 08:49
  #1 (permalink)  
Thread Starter
 
Join Date: Jul 2005
Location: Directly under the sun....... now.
Posts: 36
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes on 0 Posts
Worst paid turbine drivers

Anybody out there flying million dollar plus aeroplanes for less than the dole?

Before I get my head bitten off, yes I bought it on my self. I was just wondering if I was alone.
hair of the dogma is offline  
Old 1st Aug 2005, 09:16
  #2 (permalink)  
 
Join Date: Jan 2004
Location: En Zud
Age: 52
Posts: 56
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes on 0 Posts
Let me guess....PJE
GW_04 is offline  
Old 1st Aug 2005, 09:16
  #3 (permalink)  
 
Join Date: Mar 2001
Location: Dunnunda & Godzone
Age: 74
Posts: 4,275
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes on 0 Posts
You aren't alone...............

Woomera
Woomera is offline  
Old 1st Aug 2005, 09:18
  #4 (permalink)  
swh

Eidolon
 
Join Date: May 2001
Location: Some hole
Posts: 2,179
Received 24 Likes on 13 Posts
Some parts of China, Asia, and Eastern Europe, India narrow body jet pilots can be earning less than US$1000 a month.
swh is offline  
Old 1st Aug 2005, 09:21
  #5 (permalink)  
 
Join Date: Mar 2001
Location: Dunnunda & Godzone
Age: 74
Posts: 4,275
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes on 0 Posts
Well paid compared to some GA pilots and flying instructors in Australia.
Woomera is offline  
Old 1st Aug 2005, 15:01
  #6 (permalink)  
 
Join Date: Sep 2002
Location: Downunder USA
Posts: 56
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes on 0 Posts
Post

swh - add the USA to your list

1300US a month flying a metro in the USA, thinking about coming back to AUS . Cost of living here kills you.. Was making more flying a 402...
0tter1 is offline  
Old 1st Aug 2005, 17:58
  #7 (permalink)  
swh

Eidolon
 
Join Date: May 2001
Location: Some hole
Posts: 2,179
Received 24 Likes on 13 Posts
0tter1/ Woomera,

I was getting at MD80, 717, 737, A320 size aircraft, costs 40+ million to buy, and pay the drivers so little.

I think the wages at the lower end are too low.
swh is offline  
Old 1st Aug 2005, 18:48
  #8 (permalink)  
 
Join Date: Sep 2002
Location: Downunder USA
Posts: 56
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes on 0 Posts
swh

Most of the regionals here in the USA pay about 18'000 a year for the first year. It doesnt help when you have to live in a city that costs about as much as Sydney... The a/c they operate are CRJ's and EMB Jets. Not that big, but still expensive machines.
0tter1 is offline  
Old 1st Aug 2005, 23:17
  #9 (permalink)  
 
Join Date: Aug 2003
Location: South of zero
Posts: 330
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes on 0 Posts
Sorry this is slightly off topic, but out of interest what do prop drivers in oz get paid?

on the likes of dash8, b190 (if any left) ect

splat
splatgothebugs is offline  
Old 2nd Aug 2005, 02:56
  #10 (permalink)  
 
Join Date: Jan 2000
Location: Asia
Posts: 2,372
Likes: 0
Received 1 Like on 1 Post
Talking

Queensland Rail are looking for train drivers at the moment. Average AU$70 000/year, significantly more in regional areas.
Metro man is offline  
Old 2nd Aug 2005, 11:09
  #11 (permalink)  
 
Join Date: Nov 2004
Location: Sydney & Asia
Posts: 532
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes on 0 Posts
Crane drivers I think gets around 80,000/year ( with overtime ).

A330 S/O in Asia $12,000 or less a year ( with everything in it ) As what swh said.

SWH is spot on, I was offered an A330 S/O seat for $12,000 AUD a year ( equivalent ) in Asia.

What's wrong with this picture ?

I use my finance and accounting degree and I get offered 120,000/year.

Where's the economic sense in flying the A330 or any turbo prop even with Qlink offering 35k less 18k for endo ?

Boys and girls, I see it as you only do it for the love of flying and not for the money.


D6
DeltaSix is offline  
Old 2nd Aug 2005, 11:51
  #12 (permalink)  
 
Join Date: May 2001
Location: Australia
Posts: 294
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes on 0 Posts
Yeah, its disgusting what those at that end of the food chain get, especially after what they have to go through to get there. But is it not just supply and demand economics? For it to change either the supply or the demand will have to change. Surely, nobody in their right mind would consider the supply side of the equation..... but they keep coming dont they! If a good PJE pilot was a bit harder to find, they might just pay them properly...

(What really confuses me in all of this though is why those at the top get so much.)

Why am I suggesting that is the end of the food chain - it isn't really is it? Some of us are working for even less!

Cannot imagine Mr Howard's new work place legislation doing much to help. A good old fashioned AWA is all about paying those with the skills in demand and allowing employers to crap on those who are unfortunate enough to work in an industry where there is a plentiful labour supply. I hate to say it but things can only get worse.
Wheeler is offline  
Old 2nd Aug 2005, 11:51
  #13 (permalink)  
 
Join Date: Mar 2001
Location: Dunnunda & Godzone
Age: 74
Posts: 4,275
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes on 0 Posts
D6. Stick to accounting and finance! I'm sure you will be far more satisfied!

If you were employed as an SO with Qantas you would be paid an Australian comparable salary.

As an opportunist, you overlook the fact that an A330 S/O in Asia on $12,000 or less a year is probably doing far better financially that his/her fellow countryman.

Horses for courses!

Woomera
Woomera is offline  
Old 2nd Aug 2005, 12:14
  #14 (permalink)  
 
Join Date: Aug 1999
Location: Hong Kong
Posts: 300
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes on 0 Posts
Woomera

Your absolutely right...... it's all about perspective. As for me..... well i judge the level of pay and conditions on how much a beer costs. Beer in Hong Kong can cost $7-8 AUD a stubby. Where as in the Philippines, Indonesia or Thailand you can get one for under $1-2 AUD bucks. So by that lodgic..... South east Asian airlines deserve what they get and CX and QF guys likewise.....

Why do i get the feeling that I'm going to need a flack jacket for that last comment.
Night Watch is offline  
Old 3rd Aug 2005, 13:49
  #15 (permalink)  
 
Join Date: Jun 2004
Location: Australia
Posts: 28
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes on 0 Posts
I can say first hand that the beer price index works perfectly. When I was doing PJE, beers from the DZ were free, and I was paid accordingly...
Whiskey226 is offline  
Old 3rd Aug 2005, 21:42
  #16 (permalink)  
 
Join Date: Nov 2004
Location: Sydney & Asia
Posts: 532
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes on 0 Posts
you overlook the fact that an A330 S/O in Asia on $12,000 or less a year is probably doing far better financially that his/her fellow countryman.
I beg to differ Big W. This is exactly the reason why they are going overseas. They have invested so much in their training like us and actually get far "less" and financially worse off than their fellow countryman. Last time I spoke to one bloke, he was saying that they are losing another 3 Captains and 6 F/O's to an overseas carrier because of pay issues and to top it off - retiring another 6 Captains. They have a recruitment back-log of 1.5-2 years as they can't get their experienced pilots back nor retain them after the 5 year contract because the pay is sh*t.

They know diddely squat about how much QF pilots get paid. I didn't say anything coz I didn't want to start a mass exodus out of that airline if they found out.

Me an opportunist ?......... nothing wrong with looking at what is going on in the outside world

Nigh watch, care to elaborate what you meant with this ?
South east Asian airlines deserve what they get and CX and QF guys likewise.....
DeltaSix is offline  
Old 4th Aug 2005, 00:19
  #17 (permalink)  
 
Join Date: Mar 2001
Location: Dunnunda & Godzone
Age: 74
Posts: 4,275
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes on 0 Posts
DeltaSix. I’m not sure where this discussion is going, however I’ll try to appreciate your perspective.

Wages, whether a pilot, train driver, or accountant etc, are dictated by a country’s socio economic structure, influenced by supply and demand within each specific vocation. If an experienced MBA or IT graduate in the Philippines for example, earns on average PHP 30,000 (Aus$680) per month and a labourer earns PHP 12,000 (Aus$275) per month, where is the justification for paying an airline captain an equivalent first world wage of PNP 550,000 (Aus$12,500) per month?

“I use my finance and accounting degree and I get offered 120,000/year.” Yes, in Australia perhaps, but would you get offered the same salary in the Philippines, China or India? I doubt it! Why should you expect a preferential salary to work as a pilot in one of those countries, when one of their citizens is willing to fill the position at a salary that country can afford? If that country were short of accountants or pilots, the situation may be different – supply and demand!

The cost of training is not a factor which has any great influence on wages. It is simply supply and demand within each specific vocation or profession. The fact there are less MBAs, IT graduates or airline pilots, versus the number required by that society, results in a higher wage or “buying price”.

In Australia, there is generally a surplus of new, inexperienced CPL graduates, thus they are being unfairly exploited by unscrupulous operators – see other threads in Dunnunda forums. Conversely, with the rapid expansion in airline operations in Australia and whilst there is no shortage of aspiring candidates, there is a limited pool of qualified and experienced airline pilots and they command a significantly higher wage.

Pilot training costs in Asia are generally lower and many pilots are trained by the military, under government funded or partially funded schemes or as airline funded cadets.

The fact some pilots move to other countries and higher wages is again a factor of supply and demand – in the same manner many Australian pilots have moved to overseas flying positions. That is their indisputable right.

If you don’t understand “supply and demand” go study crude oil prices over the past five years or so.

I suspect Night Watch perhaps omitted one word: “South east Asian airline PILOTS deserve what they get and CX and QF guys likewise.....” I think he was alluding to my comments above. I agree with him.

Woomera
Woomera is offline  
Old 4th Aug 2005, 13:00
  #18 (permalink)  
 
Join Date: Aug 1999
Location: Hong Kong
Posts: 300
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes on 0 Posts
Thanks Woomera

Spot on..... thats exactly what I meant.
Night Watch is offline  
Old 5th Aug 2005, 06:03
  #19 (permalink)  
 
Join Date: Mar 2004
Location: Where ever there is sprayin'
Posts: 162
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes on 0 Posts
Just to show off to you 'other' turbine drivers, us turbine Ag pilots who fly in the cotton areas expect to earn between $100 - 200k per year. About $150k is average I would say with a good large turbine operator.

Sorry to rub it in - couldn't help myself

AT502




Because, AT502, there is a limited pool of pilots with the requisite skills and experience. That supply and demand thing again!!

And from what I've seen of your activities, you deserve every dollar!

Woomera

Last edited by Woomera; 8th Aug 2005 at 01:03.
AT502 is offline  
Old 6th Aug 2005, 12:16
  #20 (permalink)  
Lickmine
Guest
 
Posts: n/a
If you want to earn decent money flying even a simple turbine (C208), the certainly consider contract work in Africa. You will need to validate your AUS licence to a South African licence - matter of sitting Air Law and Procedures and then doing a flight test. There are many companies which offer contract work. The locations that you might get sent to are maybe not the best in the world but the money is quite good. Seems better than what the previous replies are saying.
 


Contact Us - Archive - Advertising - Cookie Policy - Privacy Statement - Terms of Service

Copyright © 2024 MH Sub I, LLC dba Internet Brands. All rights reserved. Use of this site indicates your consent to the Terms of Use.