Instructor lying about helicopter pilot salary?
 

Hi everyone. OK so, my brother is currently in New Zealand about to start helicopter training and I spoke to him on the phone today.
He claims that helicopter pilots can make up to £400,000 :eek:. I have done research into this before and I am sure that this is nonsense. No pilot gets that much! He must have been grossly misinformed by his FTO! What do you think? I know you guys here on PPRune have a lot of first-hand experience so what better place to ask?

Thanks, TFDP :ok:

Mwahahahaha... Must be true with the amount my Mrs spends :eek:

400000 Rupees is more like it...:{

Mmmm .....

I WISH .......




(load of BOLLOCKS ..... even in the middle east you'd be pushing to get US$ 150k .... so in the 'real world' £400,000 NEVER perhaps he meant £40,000 ?)

or he meant total for his whole career !

If you have some unique skill sets you may get up there....400k is probably a bit of a porky but some guys who work in the same place as me here in the UAE are on about 200k....some more!

Cheers

No, that's what you need to spend in order to get a job.

Cheers

Whirls

Yeah but (aside the fact that those folks have probably been in the industry for 30 years to get there) your numbers are dollars - the OP is talking £s!

400,000£ would be about $640,000 (US) at the current rate. Pretty ironic being told that by a school in NZ of all places....

TheFirstDohrnPilot:
If they really told him that, I'd suggest to your brother to run away as fast as he can.

What is the name, address, telephone and email for this guy who says Helicopter Pilots earn all this great Dosh?

He plainly has a mental issue that would invalidate his flying medical!

Thanks for the excellent responses guys. I also think it's a pile of bullsh**t tbh. I just feel bad for him because he's maybe a bit naiive and although he's two years older than I am, I know far more about this sort of stuff but he would never listen to me :ugh: but we'll see in the long run who's right :E haha
And I agree with most of your comments. lelebebbel - you're right he should!
Oh ye, and spinwing I'm pretty sure he said £400,000. I shall question him again though haha
Thanks a lot guys, great feedback! :ok: haha

TFDP

Echoing what spinwing said, £40,000 would be a believable starting pre-tax salary as an offshore co-pilot on the North Sea. However, to get to that point, you need a JAA CPL+ME IR (around £80k - £100k spend) plus a load of luck / right-face-right-time. I'm not aware of any schools in NZ offering a JAA-approved course.

I have heard that Blackwater/XE-defence contractors pilots make a ton of money, but I dunno how much exactly.

they earn cca 1000$/day

Similar contractors pay between $500 and $1000 per day for pilots performing pilot duties in deployed locations. But guys usually go on rotations and are not in theatre all year.

My first flying job in NZ I earned $15,000 in the first year. I think the most I earned in NZ was $45,000 that one of the reasons I left.


$400,000:yuk::yuk::yuk::yuk::yuk::yuk::yuk: What a merchant banker!

Of course, there are always the cartels------:E
Alt3

Pandalet, if what you're saying is correct (that JAA licences aren't attainable in NZ) then that's quite a bad thing, right? Because these days a JAA licence is the most sought after licence in aviation isn't it?
zlocko2002 and zondaracer, that sounds like a lot of money, but surely the only recruit ex-military people???? And that sounds terrible Evil Twin! :yuk:
i don't think that's a good option alt3...... haha!

thanks, TFDP

only ex military, only US with security clearance...

Depends upon where one wishes to fly....in JAA or is it EASA land now...maybe?

In all the other parts of the World....not so much really!

In the USA....not at all in fact.

Base daily rate for an IFR Offshore casual/contract pilot in Oz is $A1,000 plus accomm & allowances. At least one international is reputed to pay $A1200/day ++.

Let me think: the same money to fly out of Pt Hedland as to fly out of Helmund? What was that about a JAA licence :p

Back to the OP, someone is extracting the urine: K1W1's are notorious for low pilot salaries, both rotary and fixed wing. Qantas have found it a fine rort to register and crew their domestics from the Land of the Long White Cloud at massive savings over Australian rates :sad: