Originally posted by Vad
I mean in the USA/Canada/Western Europe.
Or may be family member of such a pilot?
I have a question for you. What is the structure of salary.... ok, I don't need exact amounts, I want to know - do you have some bonuses and what do you get it for? For example, do you have bonus payments for fuel economy? Do you have some kind of fines/penalties for excess expenditure of fuel or return back to airport?
Say, you see a huge storm on the route and decide to come back. Are you afraid to hear something like that from your manager: " Man, you came back but Luftgunza and Alitalia came through without any problems. You know, man, fuel is very expensive, and we are starting to think that we made a mistake when hired you."
I know that in theory, of course, it has never to be happened but I would like to know how it is going on practice.
For your typical airline (in the U.S. a part 121 carrier) pay is based on position (Captain, First Officer, Second Officer or Flight Engineer if required) and longevity. First year pay is usually significantly lower than second year pay because the first year is considered your probationary year. During the first year you are usually not protected by the union and if your performance is not where it should be the company can minimize its losses by releasing you.
As for fuel bonuses...nope. Fuel burn is part of doing business. You do your best to minimize fuel burn by flying the most efficient profiles and power settings. When you consider just a percentage point of fuel savings spread over a large airline fleet it can amount to a significant chunk of change and thus airlines often seek such profiles. In the corporate/charter world it's less a problem but still exists.
Now as far as "not getting the job done" as mentioned before that's a different issue. In charter flying you are often pressured to get the job done. It's a difficult business to turn a profit and the more you fly the better your chances are at making money. Sometimes you weigh the situation based on what's going on but fuel has never been an issue. For charter/corporate flying this is because the owner can afford the fuel regardless of cost (hence why we're hitting $6/gallon at Teterboro) and the cost is transferred directly to the customer. The company doesn't care because they're not footing the bill. As soon as the money starts to become an issue, it's the time to start sending resume's.
Now the problem that will always happen in the charter world is that if you make the decision to not go you will be criticized by everyone in mangement to try to get you to "get the job done" and "help the company" by being a "team player"
Again...judgement. At my company any crewmember can ground a flight for any reason. That sounds great but there had better be a good reason. There are often times we will tell mx about something that is happening but is no reason to ground the airplane. An inop switch on the GPS comes to mind. We lost the big knob on a Garmin GPS400 and simply made the flight using VORs the old fashioned way. It made things busier for the nonflying pilot but is no big deal.
fortunately we have Minimum Equipment Lists for such times as well. It's written there in black and white what you need, what you can fly without and the conditions you can go without it. We had a situation recently where a circut breaker popped (a whopping 1 amp CB!) and it took the altitude alerter and autopilot controls. This is no big deal in itself. We were not going into RVSM airspace (above FL290) which requires an autopilot and altitude alert/hold. This is something I wouldn't cancel for but according to the MEL we can only continue with an operating autopilot with alert/hold functions. no-go. Fortunately we were at home, came back in and made some phone calls. in 30 minutes we had a new flight director computer installed (another airplane was down for a phase 1-4 inspection) and were on our way.
Even during this clear cut (according to the manuals) no-go situation the chief pilot, assistant chief and owner of the company came down trying to force the other guy to go without it. He stuck to his guns, I gained more respect for him and didn't have to put myself on the line as well to stand fast to the decision. Other situations have warranted similar visits by management to push you to make the trip.
Weather is often another gotchya that can bite you in the rear trying to get the job done. What's legal to do for a part 91 flight (owner usage) is not in a 135 regarding weather minimums. According to the regulations we cannot launch if the weather doesn't meet certain criteria. Many pilots have not made it home after being pressured into flying through bad weather or during times when your instincts tell you not to. The Gulfstream crash at Aspen, CO a few years back is a textbook example of trying to complete the mission at the cost of safety. The customer had spent a lot of money on a function that night and the pilots wanting to get the job done (we all do want a 100% safe and successful completion rate) wound up shooting an approach at night time that isnt supposed to be flown at night and crashed about a mile from the airport.
Fortunately there are alternatives to going through weather and the best one is to simply go around it. Afternoon summer thunderstorms are usually not intense as thunderstorms go, isolated and easy to pick your way through with the proper tools (radar, stormscope, satellite weather). The big super thunderstorms of the midwest that spawn tornadoes and all sorts of evil are easily avoided and you then return to where you started from or pick an alternate airport to sit and wait out the weather. This should all be planned for before your wheels ever start rolling and turns into a non event if everything is done properly.
Hope it helped.
