To tweet BA pilots that I earn less than the INCREASE they're demanding?

[CheapSeats]

I earn 18000 a year. BA pilots are asking for an increase of 20000 a year. Yeah I know about skills and responsibility blah blah blah but AIBU to be upset that my holiday might be ruined? They're bleating in the papers today that they're upset that they now only get to stay in 4 star hotels instead of 5.

My friend's partner flies with a UK airline. Like all jobs they don't start on those high salaries. The big numbers make good headlines. Pilots take the risk of being in a lot debt to train for their job. It takes awhile to reap the benefits. They also have to undergo constant retesting, every six months I believe. As well as signing over any consistency in their personal lives. Even off duty you can't just go on a night out then rock up for work.

Sorry OP but yes, YABU.

Who else thinks Andys the most bitter on this thread!

You’re being too kind.

Mate, commercial pilots pay £100-120,000 just for their licences before they even get their job!!!!!

YABU

I think pilots do an amazing job, have to be highly intelligent to do the job and should be right at the top of what it is possible to earn.

I also think the gap between the rich and the poor is far too great and we need to narrow it. I think the pay scale for everyone in full-time work in this country should be 20k - 120k. We should not have people working for less than 20k in this country. Why does hardly anyone seem to care that people are being exploited?

What is your job OP?

A friend of mine (now retired) was a BA pilot and then worked for another airline. The days away from home, stress of the job and other aspects of the work caused his marriage to collapse and meant he saw very little of his DC when they were growing up. His then wife held it against him for years that he was called in to cover a flight on Christmas day and she had to spend it with her MiL. He also had to pay for most of his training , huge amounts. The BA pilots accepted a pay cut when profits were non existant, now profits are good they are asking for a share - sounds right to me.

Your holiday will be fucked anyway if no pilots will work for the low cost holiday carriers any more.

You will look very idiotic if you tweet as suggested.

Maybe the answer is to invest in your own qualifications and experience and up your salary to a level where you can afford holidays more easily.

Pilots have to retire early, their entire lives are dictated by the job: shift patterns, night and day, can't drink, stringent health checks etc etc.

Air travel is a luxury not a necessity: it costs what it costs, take it or leave it.

My brother is training to be a commercial pilot and has just finished ground school. He started in August and has developed grey hairs (he's mid 20s). It's not only the amount of work that is incredible but also the restrictions that are placed on them. My brother no longer drinks, has cut down on sugar and has stopped playing rugby out of fear of losing his medical. Obviously, it has taken a toll on his social life. I think it's only right pilots are compensated financially.

Our family is also forking out £130k (we are by no means loaded).

@GabsAlot they literally sit there for hours and then land the plane

Hahahaha! No they do not! They have to make hundreds of exact mathematical calculations to do with fuel & load ratios, distance, navigational formulas, pressurisation & height calculations etc. They also have to be on the look out for other aircraft as traffic in the air which has not been/can't be picked up by ATC, can happen and can be catastrophic.
They also are constantly reviewing their flight path and making more navigational decisions based on weather systems, traffic, fuel etc. You have absolutely NO idea what you're talking about! You're seriously humiliating yourself

Those of you thinking Pilots make too much money - Please watch this. Eye opener to those of you (unlike me - my career is in Aviation) who know nothing of the life as a Pilot.

Pilots generally come from very well off backgrounds

Not true. My family are a normal middle-class family. In order to pay for my brother's training my family's savings have been completely obliterated and my parents have had to take out 2 massive loans. My parents are close to retirement age but in order to support their son's dreams they've hade to make huge sacrifices. The pressure is palpable.

@TheRedBarrows that is offensively patronising. I wonder how many low paid workers you depend on.

I believe it is around £140,000. watched an Easyjet programme about the training years ago.

Plus, your background has no bearing whatsoever on what you deserve to be paid to do a job. I am from a working class family and grew up with my mum on benefits; does that mean I deserve a higher salary? No. Then someone from a rich family doesn’t deserve or not deserve a higher one based on their background. It isn’t about “deserve”. They are worth it or not based on the willingness and ability of others to do what they can do for less. That’s the market. BA take the profit when the market provides it. Now they have to pay a cost.

My nephew was a pilot for a large US airline. The stress and lack of family life due to his job broke up his marriage. He eventually moved over to flying corporate jets, as many other pilots here are doing. It was a pay cut, but even flying 'on call' he has less stress and more time for his children than flying commercial. Plus the airline he was flying for had pilots flying right on the edge of the legal hours requirement and even at times a bit over it.

He currently works for a US company owned by a well-known and very wealthy individual. He's treated with respect and consideration. He's back to loving flying.

I'd also like to add that you have added in a ball part figure there. Many of the flight crew are actually on far far less money than what is stated in the daily fail and such.

They have had benefits taken away from them in the past years to help the company save money, and all agreed to it. Now that the company is on the way up again I feel they have a reasonable request.

Those who would be looking at that increase of pay would also be paying 60% tax on that. So asking for an 8,000 pay rise after tax.

Many of the first officers and second officers do NOT make a lot of money when considering how much they pay back for the money they paid to train in the first place.

They are asking for a reasonable rise, and benefits that they have given up to help the company.

And yes, there is a huge difference between 4 and 5 star hotels. If the company are paying for them to go away, they should be able to get adequate rest, I have stayed in 3/4 and 5 star hotels and I can assure you, places such as Lagos, the difference is huge!

YABU OP.

I remember the doctor complaining to a pilot that he should be paid the most because one lapse in concentration and he could kill the person in his care, yes said the pilot - one at a time.

I think yabu. They don’t get paid greatly considering the amount of money it costs to get a pilots licence in the first place (150k ish).

Air travel is great, but pilot pressure is evident.

Jeez my neighbours a bus driver and he is absolutely the most illiterate numpty in the universe of numptys. He’s very happy with his job. Earns enough I’m sure always mumbles about liking it. To compare him to a airline pilot is a joke. Bus crashes we all step off it .........planes crashes you are royally frooked. I want my pilot happy, well rested and top of his game.

PS...someone else we know drives a mini bus...very intelligent ex teacher. Made redundant so drives now. Nice bloke. Still not a pilot level of intelligence!!

Their wages aren’t that great either? Low cost airline pilots for example wages start at 30k a year.

Is this for real or a bit of Blarney?..

Ryanair boss Michael O'Leary has warned staff to prepare for job cuts in the coming weeks, saying the airline has 900 too many pilots and cabin crew.

In a video message to workers, he said redundancies would be announced by the end of August, although he did not put an exact number on the losses.

He blamed planned cuts to flights next summer due to the grounding of its Boeing 737 Max fleet.

He also cited falling profits, higher oil prices and Brexit uncertainty

www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-49178670