Why does everyone think we will "give it up to KLM/AF"?
Pilots Salary at KLM
Rank
Annual Pay in Euro
First Officer
Base (depending on age)
44,000 (58,216 USD)
Top
162,000 (214,342 USD)
Captain
Base
125,000 (165,387 USD)
Top
230,000 (304,312 USD)
As of 2006.....I'm sure its more now. ALSO add in mandatory pension funding the company must pay and any bonus structure.
Yes, we ALL know taxes are higher there, but we are talking about EXPENSE TO THE COMPANY.
The pilots at KLM/AF should be afraid that the "low paid US pilots" will be taking THEIR flying, not the other way around.
I'm ALL FOR merging pilot groups with the KLM/AF guys, we would have leverage to shut down approximately 28% of the world's capacity (of the top 15 airlines worldwide, its all I could get numbers for). The Euro pilots would NEVER work under "RLA style" labor agreements.