Reasonable according to whom?
The pilot of course. If the pay is too low, the pilot is going to move on. Look at the regionals for example. There is no way I can afford to raise a family of 5 on a regional F.O. salary, so why would I go there?
Look at the investment the company has put into you and me over the years with training (My training bill is close to $1,000,000 since I have been at the company. Being on the Gulfstream yours has to be higher), actual flying (emergencies we have to deal with, etc.), and experience dealing with owners which as you know, is something not everyone is good at. The managers acknowledge routinely that the pilots are the face of the company, and we consistently get owner feedback of 99% positive.
Now compare us with our brethren at the 121 carriers. They get on the plane and turn left into the cockpit. We turn right. They think that making an annoying P.A. announcement is good customer service. We fold napkins, clean cabins, present catering, tidy up after they are done with their seafood trays, clean the lavs, etc.... The airlines are a commodity (which thanks to the previous CEO and current EMT we are in SERIOUS danger of becoming) while as of yet we are not. Yet their F.O.s make as much as our Captains. Their Captains make more than ours. Why is that?
We are the customer service agents, the baggage handlers, the pilots, the commissary, the chauffeurs, at times the dispatcher. In short, the 121 guys fly the planes. We do it all and are paid less.
For the above reasons I think the company is getting a bargain on us. There is a difference in being a pilot and being a NetJets pilot. We have been specifically trained to do this job at an incredible investment by the company, and with the 99% approval rating from the owners it is safe to say
we do it well.
Our SIC's should be bringing home
no less than $150,000 and our Captains should be
no less than $200,000.
