yes yes
But there is a reason for the high pay in China ......
good luck calling in fatigued

I understand the problem , it’s the same in BA also

Yep, salaries in China are going through the roof, but one has to ask the question why that is ?

You are quite right “The Crew” when you quote net UK salary but that is not Virgin’s fault that we are so heavily taxed, and one has to put the package into context. Does a China contract provide for any pension/LOL/Healthcare/Death in Service/PHI etc ? I might be wrong but I understand you have to self fund this.

At the top of the Virgin tree a year 14 Captain and TRE is on about £185000. The company put 15% of this towards a pension which is £27000 a year. I would hazard a guess that to self fund the other benefits would be in the region of another £10000 a year which is about £225000 a year which is £18000 a month approx.

Just because the F/O pay scales go up to year 16 does not mean anyone will reach that. Commands have never been more than 13 years and now trickling towards the year 9 mark and will be at about year 8 very soon I reckon. The retirement bulge is already starting and company figures have to naturally be based on everyone leaving at 65, wheras most will leave before that.

Is it all a bed of roses here ? No, it is not, but what we have we will fight to maintain, including the golden egg of 750 hours.

£19000 a month to work in China ? Personally I would want a lot more than that. In fact I would not work there for all the tea in China

Yes. Great package. Bloomin marvellous. But is it sustainable for an airline that makes absolutely no money?

VA only exist for political reasons. No way Delta will continue to feeding the dead donkey unless it suits and that could change as quick as the wind.

By the looks of it , Virgin has never really made that much ever . I’m sure there is a reason for that (probably as a tax haven)

I just ran a reverse tax calculation . To take home £19000 / month , in the UK you would have to earn £410,000 per year. No commercial pilot in a brit airline earns this amount . Managers... yea you bet .


The point is a junior captain from easyjet , with 500 hours and around 7 years from their ab
initio training can relocate to Beijing & be taking home £ 19000 per month. Yes you live in china but wow , after 5 yrs come back and join Virgin. The money won’t have changed one bit !

Any news from anyone else in the airbus holdpool? Been swimming for a few months and no call yet

A friend of mine said he got a rejection letter some time back.

Interesting, have heard neither good nor bad. Would rather just know one way or another

I am the same, heard nothing. But I believe they have interviewed people for the current campaign. I was offered an interview before 2-3 years ago (was forced to turn it down which is another story). And that was almost a month to the day after I’d applied that I got the interview offer.

So after 2-3 months since applying, I am thinking it’s unlikely we’ll be invited to interview, maybe keeping us on file as a backup? But could be wrong.

I’d heard rumours in years gone by that VS was going to reduce the hours required to 1500, down from 2500... is that firmly a rumour mill product or is there any truth in it?

havent heard any truth regarding the matter , one of the great things I have noticed over my very short time of being here is how relaxed the operation is . It’s probably got to do with the experience, as most guys that join have had a couple of years under the belt . So when a skipper sees a 2 stripper they don’t have to panic

makes sense - I imagine they get enough applications as it is without lowering the requirements! Would you say most have more than the required 2500?

The Crew

Sorry but that’s totally incorrect. You haven’t understood the BA way. A PP16 co-pilot becomes a PP16 Capt on promotion. The lower reaches of the Capt pay scale contain almost no members.

yeah would say so , lots of ex captains etc .... I have around 5000 ex BA 787