I suppose that's the rub. Undoubtedly, if you took home £10,000+ in a month, ones gross salary in the UK is very handsome. The tax regime is so incredibly punitive, it's pretty hard to capitalise and generate wealth over and above a certain level; which, these days, is quite low.

Am I remembering rightly that the IR seemed to create/change legislation in such a way that it seemed like it was exclusively targeting flight crew commuters who were able to previously minimise their UK tax exposure whilst working for UK Airlines?

As has been said, :hmm:...but OK, it might just be one....

I guess if a senior pilot (top pay point, possibly a trainer) had a very very good month with payable work/back pay, and wasn't exposed to much UK tax that sort of figure might just be possible once in a blue moon but it sure as heck wouldn't be the norm.

FWIW if the pilot is a non UK resident it might be worth considering there may well be "income tax" to pay on that income in the country of residence so the bottom Right Hand corner of the UK pay statement might look good but it might not tell the full story:{

I suspect the normal senior mortals resident in the UK might see half that if they were very lucky, on a good month....

My emphasis - answer: AFAIK there aren't any plans, just a few guesses...

[Speculation] If the retirement age stays "as is" then logically you're going to see (best guess) perhaps 100+ a year retiring starting in the next couple of years. OTOH if someone decides to challenge the age 65 rule and is successful in that challenge ( and rumours are starting to circulate :bored: ) then all bets are off. [/Speculation]

That said there are signs that attrition and being nibbled to death by ducks is starting to take it's toll and there's a handful (<10) going from the more senior fleet(s) in the next month or two.

The number of pilots hitting CRA is low for the next 5 or so years, in the tens not hundreds, before it ramps up to around the 100 p.a. figure in a decade from now. Currently new commands and moves are largely being generated by new fleets/expansion.

So the best time to get in is about 5 years from now then, just in time to see your seniority shoot up :ok:

I couldn't hold it in any longer; hilarious :D
But on a serious note Mr Gammon Flaps, they say the sea is never always still; who knows! Just maybe.

And there's the rub. Sitting next to a skipper who in one month has netted say a third of what you net in a year. A command so far away that it may as well be in another lifetime. What stories do you trade as you cross the pond? How he/she took the other half to Barbados for a mini break whilst you took the missus to to the local shopping centre for a spot of lunch at Nandos?

Sure the 744 is a nice beast and BA is still one of the more stable jobs out there but Mr Gammon Flaps paints an entirely different picture.

Thank you Mr Gammon Flaps. I know the individual concerned, and he closely resembles your description.

For those non believers.... Do I look bovvered?:rolleyes:

Incidentally, it was recently 'accidentally' revealed that an A320 captain earned over £55k over the last year in overtime alone! He's not terribly senior.

The money is still here if you are happy to sell your soul to the devil. Personally I choose not to,

To put another, more positive spin on things...

I took a 40% pay cut to move to BA. Frankly, I honestly don't miss the money. You can't put a price on quality of life and a decent career.

Anyone who thinks you can't have a good life living on £4k net a month plus, even with kids and living around London, needs a very serious reality check. The starting salary of £4k a month net puts you easily inside the top 10% of UK earners.

Some of those non-believers understand the difference between a payslip bottom corner that reflects PAYE (UK) vs. a payslip reflecting taxation in a non PAYE system (e.g. France)....:sad:

Anyhow, back to the thread

I guess nobody has a spouse that works and earns good money? My wife works in Finance and makes more than I do... Are all pilots on Pprune married to stay-at-home spouses? Sounds like it. Nowadays a 2nd income is a necessity - especially if you have kids.


Back to the BA Direct Entry Pilot topic....

'Anyone who thinks you can't have a good life living on £4k net a month plus, even with kids and living around London, needs a very serious reality check. The starting salary of £4k a month net puts you easily inside the top 10% of UK earners.'

AMEN.....

Well said EV.

It couldn't be any simpler: if you can't live on £3.5k-£4k or are worried about time to command, don't bother applying.

People talking about earning £20k/month (even if gross) is not something that should be of concern to a new joiner.

I'm sure BA will get over you.

Hey wiggy.
Have you never heard the term 'take home pay'?

I said what I mean, and I mean what I said.

I think if S/H goes "sideways" time to said command will drop sharply, the caveat; that command will be with an IAG subsidiary. Not BA.

The standard BA career path and freedom to move between SH and LH on one seamless BA contract and set of T&Cs may well cease to exist at some point in the future. IAG is not going to support the benefits our legacy agreements bring anymore, that much is clear. I would hazard a guess the music will stop sometime in 2016, at which point it will be important to be in a seat you don't mind sitting in for a long time.

If you are 35 or above and leave Ezy, or even the Middle East, abandoning a command or an impending left seat promotion then I think you are nuts. If you have 35 years to play with and accept the airline is in a state of massive change then come on in, the water is decidedly lukewarm.

Yes I have, and I'm sure you do.

I could play the same "game" with my payslip because of where I live and am taxed, but the only person I would be fooling would be myself. If the original comment had been "his take home is 20K a month, mind you he/she has yet to pay tax in Ireland/France/Upper Volta or wherever" then eyebrows wouldn't have been raised, and the non-believers wouldn't have been quite as vociferous since 20K gross is, whilst unusual, at least credible.

Ultimately I know you (and probably others) think I'm coming over like a right phiart but I'm not looking to argue for the sake of it. I do however think it's important potential joiners don't make a life changing decision because they were unknowingly comparing apples with oranges.

Right, I am now off to console myself by looking at the "take home pay" on my own payslip :D whilst ignoring the tax bill that hit the door mat a few weeks back :ouch:....:sad:

Applying online
 

Have tried Safari, Chrome, Firefox IE10 and no browser can get past the disability scheme question. Those who have applied, how did you manage it?

Cheers

BitMoreRightRudder - I sincerely hope you are wrong.

BMRR I think you're spot on with your predictions. I thought in the past you were slating ezy and extolling the virtues of BA but I was wrong - your previous posts were pretty down to Earth and realistic.

andymiff,

Had the same problem - cleared up when I went to the local library to use a Windows PC running a recent (I'm guessing) version of IE. None of my Apple devices worked.