Qantas rant! I also object to Mr Joyce's pay hike but lets put things in real numbers with respect to union demands. Pilots already get paid (in my opinion) WAY more than they should thanks to strong unionism and after a 17% hike - way more than inflation - a second hike seems plain greedy.
A senior pilot's wage is around $500k according to this and presumably a senior co-pilot would be around $350k. According to this most pilots work 215hrs a month (75 hours of that flying). In hourly rates, that's $193/hr for pilots and $135 for co-pilots.
If a plane flies 80% of the time, there are 86.4 of the 108 qantas grounded planes in the air at any given time with a pilot and copilot each. That's an operational cost of $28339.20 an hour (24/7) or $248 million a year. A 2.5% pay increase for pilots will this cost the airline $6.2 million in flight time alone. That doesn't cover ground-based preparation and other duties.
There are no parties here that are NOT being greedy but the union is trying to tarnish the brand in order to push around management. Strike action is their biggest hammer and they've been swinging it around with way too little regard for the people they hit with it for way too long. If pilots are not happy with their conditions they should walk with their feet (out the door). If their salaries are average as they claim for senior pilots, they shouldn't have trouble finding work elsewhere.
As for the CEO's salary, keep separate issues separate. That's a topic for another rant.
