Gratuities for pilots.
 

Years ago when we could have flight deck visits a passenger asked me what an empty section on the center pedestal was, the Captain, who was a bit of a wag, replied that it was for tips. As the passenger disembarked the flight he handed one of the cabin crew a few coins, "For the pilots".

As times are getting harder, does anyone have a better method of encouraging tipping?

I frequently stand by the door whilst the customers disembark but have yet to be offered any cash whatsoever.

I'm thinking of attaching some kind of jar to the flight deck door with a note saying "All gratuities gladly accepted".

Does anybody have any ideas?

You can try walking through the airplane before the descent with a bag in your hand asking to put some money in to help the landing.

Sadly you can only do it once :}

Here’s a fine scheme for the pandering of gratuity. Take a bus tour of the city where you reside. Now mind you it’s not to take in the sites, but for the concluding pronouncement thanking one and all for joining the bus tour and if you truly enjoyed the tour, please show your gratitude munificently as tips are greatly cherished.

You can modify the farewell by modifying “to show your appreciation for cheating death again:}”.

Just a thought.:)

Great replies so far chaps.

I notice the British Airways pilots usually make a point of 'waiting for tips' as their passengers disembark but oddly have their magnificent caps still on their heads, instead of held out Oliver Twist style.

how about displaying your paycheck? These days plumbers take home better wages than us.

One Captain I flew with many years ago, placed his hat outside the cockpit door with 2 half-crowns in it as an encouragement to disembarking passengers. When he retrieved his hat, the 2 half-crowns had gone!:E

I blame the Cabin Crew!;)

I remember a very thick flight deck visitor standing silently gazing at the horizon. When I asked him if he had any questions, he turned, looked at the clothes hooks on the rear bulkhead and said: "Is that your 'at"

I have to say after a long run of people asking to bring their 'son' up to see the FD, and bringing an infant in arms who had apparently filled his nappy, and inebriated men breathing alcohol over the FD, and hysterical women who had drunken giggling fits, I can't say I feel the ban is now out of place. A FD moving at 500mph is no place for entertaining idle visitors.

It used to be the joke...
 

It used to be the joke, during labor contract negotiations, the we would all work for tips and tips alone. The company hated that idea. But, one guy crunched the numbers and figured he'd make more money if we worked for tips.

I suppose this is possible. Figure 800 hours per year of flying, two-hour average segments, that's 400 flights a year. Multiply that by an average of, say, 150 passengers per flight...that's 60,000 passengers per year. If each passenger averaged $5 USD per tip...that's $300,000 USD per year in tips. Split it with your fellow pilot. Not bad....

As an aside, we also used to tell the company during labor contract talks, that we should be paid a percentage of what the CEO makes. Say, like maybe 1%. So, if the CEO makes (total annual compensation) $35M per year (This is not unusual here in teh U.S.), that's $350,000 for the pilots.

Of course, the tip compensation scheme wouldn't work these days, as the level of airline service is dreadful (in the U.S. it is....possibly not so elsewhere in the world), and most passengers would rather punch the airline workers in the face rather than give a nice tip.


Pantload.....

5$US is nowhere near enough! People leave greater tips when they eat out. I've mused on this idea too and the sums are impressive.

First get your airline to remove the flightcrew costs from the price of the ticket. Then apply a "pilotage surcharge" per flight of £10 per captain and £6 per co-pilot. I'd worked on an average of 120 passengers per sector.

That's £480,000 per year for a captain and £288,000 per year for a co-pilot. :ok:

Makes you think, doesn't it. £16 per passenger per flight for the pilots' professional services isn't a great deal to pay, is it? So, just how much is each passenger actually "paying" the pilots through the ticket price at present? Without working it out, about £1.50 between them, I think. :(

Years ago when I flew the then shiny new S76As for Bristow we were called on to do quite a few executive charters. More then often a brown envelope would be passed to the crew. The Ops Manual was quite specific. 'All gratuities must be deposited with the company.' It's amazing how you forget how to operate the aircraft.

Well, it's a sad day when pilots are reduced to working for tips. I consider it disgraceful behavior. If you think you should be tipped, then you have sunk to the lowest level, and are being paid what you are worth. I have never accepted them even when offered, and I wouldn't offer my services anyplace where they were necessary or customary.

Slacky

Obviously banter hasn't reached the other side of the pond yet.. or is this some devious device to enter the party?

Rgds

When I were a lad!
 

When I was a young lad I often went on coach trips to the seaside. One of my two overwhelming memories was the day trippers passing round the driver's cap at the end of the trip for tips. The over memory was listening to "I was born under a wondering star" by some actor whose name I can't quite remember.

Looking back I'm not convinced the two weren't linked, and if enough tips weren't received the driver would play the track again.

It's only an idea but get yourself a copy of the track and wait for the money to roll in!

Lee Marvin

I think just flying is not enough, you have to do some extra, like this guy here:

YouTube - The Singing Pilot

if its goining well you could even quite your pilot job and just jump from flight to flight singing for the pax.

Inflight entertainment
 

In the good old days, I flew with a guy who around Xmas time, brought his cornet along and entertained the pax with Xmas carols from the flight deck.:ok:

Capt. Slack

You have issues fella, you need to see someone. Get over yourself, you're obviously a pompous tight arse yourself ;)

Twenty some years ago one of my first aviation jobs was flying tourists through the Grand Canyon from Las Vegas. After an exhilirating flight below the rim we would land at the Grand Canyon airport where they would continue with a bus tour and lunch at the south rim.

I remember an obnoxious bus driver coming up to our crew and thanking us for our flight. He then flashed a thick wad of bills, all tips, and said he was grateful for our "priming the pump" and putting the passengers in such a good mood. His tips were greater because of us.

We figured the bus drivers with tips were making about 4 times our salary.

Myself and the captain got €100 cash each the other day but thats corporate for you:ok: Paid for diner and a pint or two:cool:

Slack

Are you saying that you dont tip waiters and waitresses as well:ugh:.

I believe its between 15% to 20% now in your neck of the woods and when I've got good service I pay up happily. Why shouldn't a passenger if they're happy to do it.

We dont beg for, need or even expect them. But when it happens it's great and shows that they've enjoyed and appreciated the service we've given them....who am i to tell them that they cant.

I was standing in the lobby of a hotel in Leeds many years back waiting for transport and in uniform. An american hotel guest pointed out his suitcase and said " room 305 ". Well why not I thought. The 5 pound tip bought drinks for the crew when we finished work.

Is that North American, Central American, or South American?

I used to do air taxi work, I'd average about £150 a month in tips. Bit of a shock when I joined the airline world.

Maybe learn to play an instrument or something to entertain pax while you wait 2 hours for yer departure clx at JFK..

I remember a while back I had 15 pax on and we were delayed for some reason so to pass the time I got talking with them. For fun I told them I was doing a survey for the company on Public perception of pilots and asked each one how much they thought pilots of this type of aircraft earned. the lowest figure was £90,000. I cant remember the highest amount but I do remember the average was 120,000 quid. !!!! I was only on £19,000.I would have needed a sombrero to get tips of that magnitude.
Although a punter we dropped off in the emerald isle last week passed us a pony each. That was a nice dinner and a Guinness or two.;)

I'm sorry, but even as a lowly piece of SLF, I can see that, while you may be great at flying planes, you have no idea how to get a good level of tips.

In the second post of this thread you were almost there but...

Instead of going through the cabin before starting descent, you should start the descent (or is it more properly called a plunge according the press?) THEN go to the cabin and tell them you'll only return to the flight deck when your bag is full of cash.

Mention of a school someplace beneath you is optional.

Bob

I believe TIPS stands for 'To insure prompt service' So maybe tips for on time performance should be normal custom.

Got another €100 tip this tour. It doesn't happen often, but it's nice. :ok:

Hey Redsnail

That €100 should just cover my dinner:ok:

On all seriousness though, why shouldn't the cabin staff get tips? Their pay is on a par with waitresses and they have a lot more responsibility.

Hey GTN,

If you ate €100 of food in one hit, you won't get that niiiiiiice £50 off the "metro" in September. :E

Flying a light piston single:

Place a jar on the dash with a sign on it "Tips Reduce Turbulence" - just remember to take it down when the boss is coming :P

If that fails, you can never go wrong with a flip around the Victoria Falls before landing at Livingstone.

good tips in the marine world, thought i did ok in nj but for my employee its a huge amount more.

Great news guys, I got my first tip the other day!

Yes, a great old codger gave me one pond sterling as he departed the aircraft. "here you go sonny" he kindly offered as he passed me his gratuity.

It was curious though, as another old bloke told me the same flight had been "worse than Dunkirk!"

Good stuff everybody. To bad I haul newspapers and other dead stuff. They tend to leave lousy tips...

Have a whip round to pay the 'landing fee'.

If they don't meet a pre-set limit, no landing. Tell them that the aerial refuelling fee is 5 times higher.

:}

Back in '73 just out of RAF, Aztec passenger (the 'plane, not the passenger) insisted I have £5 tip. He was my only pax ever to offer so I guess it wasn't that common.
Had it been however and £5 then = £40 today, say two tips/day, five day week gives 40x2x5x50 = £20,000 Engross @ 40% = £33k Better than being an MP.

Of course the owners would then want pilots to pay for the privilege of operating their aircraft - but wait! Some do that anyway :*

I got the odd tip after doing a trial lesson in my instructor days. Brings back happy memories of even happier customers!

I recently did a trip where the only passenger with us was extremely generous and slipped all the crew a 'few notes'. It was comical to find during the next day that the sole member of cabin crew with us had gone on a designer shopping spree in Geneva, whilst us pilots were determined that we were not spending any of it! :}

Tipping the Pilot
 

An interesting little thread - reminds me that in the mid seventies on UK charter flights it was not so unusual for the cc to receive a gratuity and they occasionally would "share" their gain with us pilots. Many years later I flew for an Asian airline and received quite a few brown envelopes containing not less than US$3000, often more. The proceeds are still providing me with my daily glass of champagne! Happy flying.