Virgin pilots threaten more travel misery...

Link from Times Online article.

[Pete]

Whilst pilots do a highly skilled job, and it's clear BA pilots get paid more than Virgin pilots, I do hope they see the reality of the marketplace and don't try and push Virgin over the edge for what appears (on the face of it) as taking action when the company can least afford it.

"Virgin’s pilots were paid an average of £89,500 a year" it says in that article, and you have to look at that and think it's a pretty comfortable figurue given the national average. Given the lack of sympathy for BA cabin crew right now, I doubt pilots would get much support from the public while we're all tightening our collective belts and just trying to get through the recession unscathed. And let's face it, if rumours are true, Virgin hardly have a barrel of cash on standby waiting to be spent, so they can ill-afford this sort of thing. Even the threat of it will do a lot of harm.

According to Civil Aviation Authority figures, Virgin’s pilots were paid an average of £89,500 a year, compared with the £107,600 BA’s pilots receive.

The CAA table these figures are taken from is here.

Even a Times Journo should be able to read:
"Pilots and Copilots"
"Average EXPENDITURE a head"

This is NOT the amount that pilots were PAID!
There are many other COSTS involved in employing, expenses and keeping a pilot's training current.

That is not to say that a VS pilot does not receive less pay than a BA pilot - but the difference in expenditure is not the same as the difference in pay.

Oh well, train strike in a couple of weeks..........

They seem a long way of any action as such; but I hope they resolve things way before industrial action becomes an issue.

According to Civil Aviation Authority figures, Virgin’s pilots were paid an average of £89,500 a year, compared with the £107,600 BA’s pilots receive.

The CAA table these figures are taken from is here.

Even a Times Journo should be able to read:
"Pilots and Copilots"
"Average EXPENDITURE a head"

This is NOT the amount that pilots were PAID!
There are many other COSTS involved in employing, expenses and keeping a pilot's training current.

That is not to say that a VS pilot does not receive less pay than a BA pilot - but the difference in expenditure is not the same as the difference in pay.

From the "Measures and Computations" Section

"Average expenditure a head includes gross salary, overtime pay, flying pay and subsistence allowances, (such as cost of living, station and overseas allowances). Employers' superannuation contributions, expenses for travelling, moving, training and uniforms etc, are not included"

Document "000 Foreword Contents and Appendices UK Airline Statistics" here

Paul

The media bandy the word "misery" too
much. There will be disruption, but not misery, chaos or nightmares.

Good Night!

[buns]

I think this is the Media making mischief on the run up to the Election v( Last year it was Swine flu, this year the topic of attention is Strikes n(

buns

I think this is the Media making mischief on the run up to the Election v( Last year it was Swine flu, this year the topic of attention is Strikes n(

buns

Indeed, lazy / political journos stirring up anything with a whiff of industrial action to suit their story line ...

What a cycnical view we have about our hardworking coterie of Lunchtime O'Booze and Polly Filla's. ):

I'm with Sealink on certain emotive terms being banned from the lazy journo's lexicon. "Fury", "rage", "hard pressed", "stealth"...

The media bandy the word "misery" too
much. There will be disruption, but not misery, chaos or nightmares.

If we were to miss out on either of our upcoming trips due to industrial action I can assure you there would be misery in the mdvipond household and that chaos would ensure. Christ, what a nightmare.

I did note on Masterchef last night that the contestants used the word 'devastated' a total of four times and 'gutted' five times when talking about being eliminated from the competition. Now there's overkill if ever I heard it...