SKY PILOT WAGES

Evening Post, Volume CXVIII, Issue 20, 24 July 1934, Page 9

SKY PILOT WAGES

ALARMINGLY MODEST

When people-ride in trains they do not base their expectation of life on the engine-driver's wages. They: think he should be a well-paid expert, but all the same they think he is unlikely to run off the rails. It is different in an aeroplane. Would the'passengers feel as safe as they feel on rails, if they knew that the air pilot was paid £4 per week? This question has nothing to do with safety, but with what people feel abo»t it—tLat is. -with psychology. A £4 man may be better than a £20 man, but more people expect to get .what they pay for. The fact that they seldom do does not alter their •psychology, on the point; According to tho""Daily Express," the £4 passenger-carrying air pilot does exist. "In some cases pilots of machines carrying ten passengers on. longdistance journeys are paid only £4 a week, and have to find their own uniforms.-!' The paper asks:—Should the pilot of a passenger machine be paid more than a London ; omnibus, driver? Is his reppo'nsibility as onerous, as that of tho driver, say, of- the Flying Scotsman? ''Some companies pay well. Among these aro Imperial Airways, "who maintain that the status of a pilot should bo above thai of an omnibus or engine driver. Their pilots are given officer rank. "The master pilot of an air liner is given the rating of a master, and is regarded much in the same light as tho captain, pf a ship. "Some other companies state that piloting an aeroplane is now so simple a matter that high-wages arc not justified. "There have Been cases recently in which experienced service pilots with decorations have accepted £4 a week because they had been for a long period ■Without regular jobs. fl These men have been put in charge of machines, valued at anything from £0000 to £10,000. They have to fly in all weathers, "There are still many trained pilots who are out of work, due largely to the short-service system introduced into the Boyal Air Force by Lord Trenchard. The idea was 'to build up a large reserve of officers and non-commissioned officers capable of piloting machines in an emergency. "The situation will be relieved to some extent when the new rail air lines are put into operation. Pilots on thos(» lines, it is .understood, will receive a reasonable rate of pay."

By «peolal ■ arrangement Reuterf world aerTice, in addition to other special source* of lnlorjn»tlon, Is .used In the compilation of th« overseas Intelligence published In this Issue, and all tights therein In Australia, and New Zealand ara reserred. ,-... ; ' ■ . :.