Young First Officers Overseas on Big Jets

I can only speak for what I experienced over the last three years.

During all the time I spent in Europe, the Euro was worth about 1.5 the $ and the Pound was worth 2.0.

Despite that, the pricing of most consumer goods was the same as in the US, only replacing the $ with a € (ergo, 50% more expensive). In the UK it was double.

Housing was outrageous (by US standards) in both the UK and Germany (the only places I have experience with personally). Rentals in the UK were about $2.20/ft2 per month and about 3/4 of that in Germany. A friend in the UK had a 800 ft2 1 bed/1 bath home in the suburbs of Cambridgeshire that he purchased for $260,000 US, and that was a 'good deal' at the time as it was a fixer-upper.

Fuel was about $10/gallon in the UK and $7-$9 in Italy and Germany.

So...not sure where you're coming from with your statement, but the cost of living was significantly higher in the places that I experienced it.


Speaking in Greece, PILOTS are taxed less ... instead of 40% , we get taxed around 15% due to our job... working weekends, holidays and the "risk" of the job. We also see 16 pay checks a year .. December you see 2 paychecks, easter 2 and Summer 2 .. it all depends where you live in Europe.
 
Speaking in Greece, PILOTS are taxed less ... instead of 40% , we get taxed around 15% due to our job... working weekends, holidays and the "risk" of the job. We also see 16 pay checks a year .. December you see 2 paychecks, easter 2 and Summer 2 .. it all depends where you live in Europe.

If you start talking about how much vacation time you guys get, I'm going to pout.
 
Speaking in Greece, PILOTS are taxed less ... instead of 40% , we get taxed around 15% due to our job... working weekends, holidays and the "risk" of the job. We also see 16 pay checks a year .. December you see 2 paychecks, easter 2 and Summer 2 .. it all depends where you live in Europe.

Sounds kind like how some things vary from state to state over here. Tennessee has no state income tax, but Mississippi does. Some states have lower property taxes. Some states gas and food is cheaper. It varies greatly from city to city over here. I can see some people looking at the cost of living in Los Angeles or New York and saying "Man! Living in the US is expensive!" but they never see what it costs to live in, say, Greenville, MS.
 
And why is Greenville, MS so inexpensive? :) Come onnnnnn, don't be coy Kell!
 
It seems like a lot of overseas airlines hire first officers who are around 23-26 years old to fly in large jets such as the 777, 747, A340, etc.

How come that does happen in America?

It does happen. Or at least, it did when the airlines were hiring. I know several pilots who, in their mid-twenties, were hired by major airlines.
 
If you start talking about how much vacation time you guys get, I'm going to pout.

New Socialist government has come into power and they are trying to get us to pay 40%!! So let's cross our fingers that it does not happen!

Vacation time goes as follows, regardless of how many years you are in the company you get 30 days off a year.

Schedule wise, it is very confusing ...!! No such thing as bidding .. you can have ZERO seniority and get a better schedule than the most Senior CAPT or F/O. Also you don't have LINE BIDS, your schedule will consist of FLIGHTS and STANDBY's ... I uploaded an EXAMPLE OF A SCHEDULE HERE IN EUROPE .. TAKE A LOOK.

RDO= REQUESTED DAY OFF
HSBY = AT HOME STANDBY
 

Attachments

  • sched.jpg
    sched.jpg
    129.9 KB · Views: 121
Speaking in Greece, PILOTS are taxed less ... instead of 40% , we get taxed around 15% due to our job... working weekends, holidays and the "risk" of the job. We also see 16 pay checks a year .. December you see 2 paychecks, easter 2 and Summer 2 .. it all depends where you live in Europe.

I'd be pissed if I were a Greek citizen with that setup. "Risk?" I thought air transportation was supposed to be safe....
 
I'd be pissed if I were a Greek citizen with that setup. "Risk?" I thought air transportation was supposed to be safe....

Sailors and ship captains get taxed 6% here ... how do you like that??

Of course it's safe .. the "RISK" has to do with the Air Force pilots who dogfight daily, Air Force pilots and Airline pilots get the same treatment when it comes to taxes, it's great.
 
If you start talking about how much vacation time you guys get, I'm going to pout.

Six weeks plus some other 4 day blocks to get stuff like birthdays, 4th of July, etc. I just had one week of leave that was 3 weeks off over Thanksgiving. Now I'm on a 10 day trip followed by 2 weeks of leave over Christmas. Just found out I got 2 weeks at Christmas for 2010 too :bandit:
 
Back
Top