Pilot pay & conditions

For many years there has been an excess of pilots, perhaps in part brought about because of a love of the job. Right now, like never before, the world economy is booming and with that has come low cost carrier airlines (LCCs), people able to afford air fares, airframe makers with massive order backlogs, and not enough pilots to go around. Why? With the LCC airlines and other airline traffic booming there has been a marked increase in the demand for pilots. Then there is increasing demand for pilots to fly in China, India and the Middle East, but even locally airlines have been expanding quickly.

The spin from several airlines is that there has been a huge demand for pilots, pilots being pinched, pilots undergoing in-house training, pilots retiring etc as reasons why aircraft have had to be pushed up against the fence and flights cancelled. It’s not surprising then that some local airlines have opted to get involved in flight training to try and ensure a ready supply of recruits. But what the spinners do not discuss is that, in plain language, the pay is not attractive and the conditions are not acceptable compared to the rest of working Australia.

It has taken many years but that slow drip of information saying that a person can earn more by not being a pilot, and enjoy a real life, has slowly been absorbed by the youngsters who once might have elected to become a commercial pilot. They have opted to take their hearts and minds and go to where the grass is greener.

It is correct to say that pilot remuneration has not kept up with the rest of Australia over the last 20 years or so.

One only has to look at job adverts to compare pilots with other jobs in the salary stakes: Telesales $35K “we train you”; Council officer $40K; Bus driver $60K; IT 2nd year $60K. Then we can move up into increased money jobs that have not had to do the hard yards of flight training, obtaining skills, maintaining skills, holding a medical certificate and all on a continuous basis.

The pilots award (increased from October 1) talks of a basic single engine award of $32K and a basic multi engine award rate of $37K.

Little wonder that pilot numbers have not just stagnated but started to decline, as discussed in this column in the August edition of AA.

Commercial pilot numbers have dropped with the loss of 508 CPL holders between 2005 and 2006 suggesting the numbers are in freefall.

Then there is the issue of work conditions. Have you ever worked six days straight on a continuous basis, are never home for family functions, public holidays are unknown, never work 9-5 and weekends are always when you work? Do you get paid a lot more for these conditions? No. Do you suffer fatigue? Yes.

And still employers refuse to acknowledge what all general aviation and airline pilots know, the pay is poor and the conditions do not match other industries.

Of late the instructing field has been an interesting one. There are new-start flying colleges taking off at Maryborough, Mangalore and Ballarat plus more on the drawing board. Three long standing colleges are begging for instructors. The airlines seem to have sponged up worthwhile grade 1 and 2 instructors leaving a void.

Where are the instructors, experienced instructors, to come from for the new and existing schools? Instructors have applied to some of these and are told they will be paid the award. The award should be considered a safety net and not the level of pay that a pilot should be accepting for his or her skills. It really is a case of demand exceeding supply, but still some employers have a fixation that the award is the only remuneration to be paid, and then wonder why they cannot get skilled or experienced pilots.

How do you attract pilots into the industry? You pay them a remuneration that reflects their hard won skills and responsibilities and you give them terms and conditions that reflect the way you would like to be treated, like a human being.

It all comes down to that famous movie line: “Show me the money”. o Contact Dave via email at flyer02@optusnet. com. au