Straits Times reported that SIA pilots’ salaries were revealed in the pay dispute court case between SIA and its pilots’ union.
Captains flying Boeing 777 planes take in a median of $271,888 per annum, which excludes allowances. Their First Officers receive a median income of $149,258. First Officers are “junior captains” – they become Captains upon promotion.
According to AskCaptainLim.com, a national airline pilot in the US commands up to US$250,000 per year. According to the same website, a Captain with the Malaysia Airlines (MAS) receives a gross pay of up to RM35,000/mth including allowances.
191 Comments
Hi there,
Just to base on 65 hrs of flying duties is not accurate at all to calculate SIA pilots’ gross salary.
MVC( Monthly variable component has to take into account )as well as all other allowances such as transport, location meal allowances and inflight meal allowances have to be taken into account too. A ball park figures for all these allowances in will be close to 5K or more.
Spoken to some pilots ( Capts and FOs ) before hence a rough guide for gross salary will be at range of 19-30K over for Capts ( base on seniority as basic salary differs between a junior guy and much senior guy ) and 10K-16K for FOs ( base on seniority as well again ).
Hence I am also quite surprise Pilots are not in the top 100 Jobs in Singapore list.
watch out the airline industry will burst in 5 years time
Yea right, Tequila….the aviation industry will burst unless the end of the world is coming or everyone stop flying for holidays, business trips or maybe another bad SARS or real bird flu spread worldwide until nobody dares to travel out of the house.
If that’s not the case…I guess it’s a super boom time for travel industry be it Airlines, travel agencies etc especially Singapore IR and other big joyous events around the world happening.
Think of all the big bonus major national Airlines are throwing out to their employees.
Dear Mr/Ms Admin,
I have checked with my friends with respective Airlines. Captains flying Wide body planes rack in a median of $271,888 per annum, which excludes allowances as you mentioned is quite there about for most senior crew.
Inclusive all the allowances in will be close to a range of 300K – 500K++ annual (depending on seniority of the Captain in the Airlines).
But again I agree with you totally, maybe it’s not a common job. Hence it is not classified in the 100 jobs or taken notice commonly.
Hi
I’m a 16 year old student doing my GCE N Level Examination this year. Hopefully next year i would graduate with my O Levels. I have an ambition to be a Commercial Pilot since young, watching those fast jets on national day inspired me alot. I’m also very interested about how the humongous aircraft takes off and lands safely.I have a few questions and hope someone would clear my doubts. First, I’ve heard from some of my friends that its not easy for Muslims in particular to get into the aviation industry due to recent terrorist attacks. Secondly how am i suppose to go about in becoming a Pilot. I’ve a few ideas in my mind like taking up a Pilot license through Singapore Youth Flying Club or getting a diploma in aerospace techonology after my Os.I hope someone could help me out with these doubts.
Thank You
1. There are lots of Muslim Pilots in SIA.
2. You need a minimum qualification which can be found here
3. If you are successful is being recruited as a Cadet Pilot, they’ll train you.
Hope this helps.
Funny to read back some comments from last year. The airline industry really burst and several airlines are on the verge. Tickets are also cheaper so I guess the pilot`s salary have also decreased, if they could keep their job at all…
Be a pilot is great. But he must be careful of politics and scandals. A pilot will live a pseudo-star life and have to be disciplined.
Next pilots got to manager their love life well. Being overseas most of the time can cause serious problems such as doubts of trust. All the Carebears always says, “Love is all about trust”. But trust me with all these beauties around, your wife isn’t going to feel good at all even though your conscious is clear.
– MAS pilot for 9 years.
i flew to Sydney and back for just 600 bucks on SQ. =p
i was wondering why do pilots get such high pay? with auto pilot and suto landing system, the pilot just have to do a take off. Though they have to deal with emergency or when component fails. i think that with advancement of avionic, pilot may go out of job in the future. so why not raise the pay or avionics engineers?
Because the fraternity protects them. It’s deeply entrenched in the system. Same goes for bankers and doctors and lawyers. It will take a long time before a drastic change occurs. Innovation is overrated (even though some new ways could work if given the chance).
So don’t fight them. Join them.
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To JK : With the advancement of systems on board the aircraft, it does not replace the jobs of pilots. Auto-pilot, Flight Management Systems and other advance avionics only assist the job of pilots to ensure a flight is more properly managed in terms of safety, comfort and efficiency.
~ A seasoned airline pilot.
To Alvin: You are right…for now. I am sure in future pilots will still be required despite all the advancements in aircraft technologies/system. However, i am sure it will cut down the number of pilots required on board each flight from 3 to maybe just 2 or even 1.
To Jason:
The industry norm is already operating with 2 men crew concept, even the super Jumbo A380 can be operated by just 2 pilots. So what’s the big deal or issue?
For your info, private jets such as VLJ ( Very light Jets ) that can carry 4 paxs such as Cessna Mustang is already certified to operate by a single pilot.
More likely is the trend to go towards UAV style in piloting a plane in the near future if that ever comes true.
But again would you dare to bet your life and fly in a pilot-less aircraft with other 300 fellow passengers? Dream about it and tell us please.
Pilots suck. They are paid well just because of the risks that they take while flying and not because of the value that they can bring/add to the company. Imagine, even a diploma holder can be a pilot. That sums up the basic intelligence required to be a pilot.
For anti-pilot: Yes anyone can be a pilot. But do you have the competency. Papers from institutes get you the job, but are you then competent enough to get the job done? That’s why we go through stringent check flights and medical tests. Yes maybe you’ve had a bad experience with a pilot or maybe just sour cause you didn’t get the job but don’t because of 1 tree chop a whole forest.
Everyone thinks of being a pilot being glamourous. Maybe it is if you are single. Try it if you’re married. You’ll be missing out probably on many important family matters. The divorce rates are sky high in our profession. Pilot’s are human too and deserve the same amount of respect as every other living person. Just because we are flyboys/flygirls doesn’t mean we ourselves have no feelings. Or would you prefer to row a boat to Perth?
Subjects covered in training are not just about components and systems in an aircraft but we also have to learn about weather, human performance and every other aspect that would affect the flight and even passengers. That means you! We even have to listen to hypocrites who bull shit about us and yet still need our services. Put your god damn self in our shoes. See what it feels like. Being a pilot is a job. Alot of people make it seem like it’s a “race” to be a pilot and that we live in a “racist” world. We’re the new “blacks” of society now?
And yes, there are many muslim pilots. I was told many times that I can’t make it as a pilot. But Here I am, wearing the hard earned gold wings. I’m a pilot and I’m a muslim. It can be hard to change the mindset of Singaporeans thinking that muslims are unable to fly as pilot in our national carriers.
Anti-pilots, even a 6 year old isn’t as shallow as you. I won’t condemn you as you are entitled to your own opinion.
For take-off and landings, yes we have direct control of the plane. But not for cruise. But have you ever wondered how we got to use these “privileges”. We had to use “old-school” methods even before we progressed to the high-tech stuff. So we did crawl before we learned to walk and run. So if you think that you could do better without pilots, why didn’t people at Boeing and Airbus think of that, considering they have the smartest asses on earth working on our planes. Before mouthing off, I think people should have their brains re-wired with facts and then proceed to making educated and constructive comments.
Fly safe.
-Vandreax
Why can’t we all live in harmony.
Hahaha!
I love you, you love me… We are one big family.
Reminds me of that purple peadophilic dinosaur.
just wondering what is the maximum degrees for a commercial airline pilot’s eyesight?
You gotta meet the requirements for a class 1 medical. From what I heard as long as it can be corrected with specs. I’m not sure myself as I am not wearing specs myself.
flyboysingapore: Did you realise that perhaps the rest do not really share or agree with your views. 🙂 If given a high flyer in a MNC and a high flyer (pilot) with SIA, my respect goes to the one in MNC anytime. It takes alot of effort, luck, capabilities, networking, intelligence etc to become a high flyer in a MNC but you just need to get past the initial interviews and medical checks with SIA (and of course try to pass all the test/exams as a cadet) to become a “high flyer” with SIA. By the way, i did not apply to become a pilot and therefore SIA got no chance to reject me at all. 🙂 Reason why i am saying all these is because of the bloody attitude most pilots have. They walk, talk and behave like they are the elites of the society. Perhaps these arrogant pilots that i came across are just ignorant and are not aware that there are many other better-paid people around them.
LoL! I wasn’t a cadet to begin with. LoL! I’m corporate.
And I don’t have to defend my rice bowl. Cause even without one I can live comfortable (if you know what I mean) but I chose to follow my passion.
and you can never change culture. =D
You’ve only seen a airline pilots. you’ve totally forgotten the parachute ops pilots(crazily fun), test pilots, crop dusting pilots, sky writing pilots. you’ve only met like a handful and u already post judgement. just cause you’re anti pilot. who’s the shallow one here. you act like you know it all. typical i’m too good to listen singaporean. and you didn’t apply cause u dun even meet any of the requirements. i dun care who the hell you are but what pissed me off is that you generalize pilot over the handful you met. =D
lol….why get so worked up? bet i hit the right spot…:) say all you want too and continue to assume that you are the elite…we bankers definitely earn more than you guys lol..loser
as ur bluf statements above.. u r the arrogance one… shame on u pathetic..
bluf? arrogance one? lol….seems like i am right…you dont need much intelligence to become a pilot :)..or should i say….you dont need much intelligent to become a pilot…LOL
what a bunch of lousy and dumb pilots lol
to anti-pilot
What’s wrong with being a diploma holder and our supposedly low IQ compared with maybe er…yours?
As the saying goes, a monkey could learn to fly if given time to learn…
In your case, maybe the monkey can teach you how to fly…if you can first pass the psycho-motor exam(Check it up on wiki if you don’t know what this is Mr Banker)
And btw flyboy
Cool it…ain’t worth the effort
Kick the Tire, Light the Fire flyboys!
People has dream, anti-pilot. You cannot criticized all pilots from your general point of view. I am not a pilot, but has a dream of becoming one.
But have you ever asked yourself if what you really wanted to be in life is to count money and worry about other people’s accounts?
When you ask a child what would they want to be, you would hardly or NEVER hear, “I want to be a banker.”
As you see, Pilots are the “common” dream job in any child’s wishlist. And as these children grows and realizes that to be a pilot takes a lot of effort and determination (not to forget sacrifices and MONEY), business courses are the only ones reachable.
And I understand that you have encountered arrogant pilots, but again, have you ever asked yourself on why these pilots marched with heads high? Well, a pilot is a captain/leader leading a team. You can’t lead without the confidence and show the passengers that they can trust you.
And in regards to your complain about pilots raking up huge salaries by JUST taking off, you should understand that they’re not just “taking off” with the plane. But is taking their “life” and “time” with them, just to have the job done to people who are traveling for whatever reason, like you.
I am in finance industry , earning 6 figures monthly and has been saving up to take up the course of commercial pilot. At 32, you might think of me as some oldie who is a desperate wanna-be. But, because of my financial crisis when I was younger, to be a pilot seemed far. Well, I just got my student pilot and private pilot licenses.
And now, all I can say to those who are against pilots, it’s never to late to start dreaming and learning, I KNOW YOU HATE YOUR JOBS.
Don’t let money dominate and stop you of what you REALLY want to be. And seriously? I’ve never heard of “passion” in working as a banker.
future pilot: you are earning SIX figures monthly. that’s SEVEN figures yearly.
you sure you’re in the finance industry and not heading the finance MINISTRY? 🙂
I am no banker but six figures are very common for the top 3 (perhaps less) percent of people working in the finance industry if you include bonus. I’ve heard from people that in Singapore finance there are people with 1 million dollar (SGD) salary and 500k bonus. That’s a little bit strange to me since usually it’s the bonus component that’s really big (I think American MDs are generally paid maybe 400k USD in salary and millions in bonuses) but maybe that’s a Singapore thing.
very common for the top 3 percent in finance means it’s very uncommon in general!
Sorry wow, but your earlier statement seemed to indicate that working in the finance industry is financially less rewarding than working in the finance ministry. I was simply trying to indicate that one need not be at the top in the finance industry to earn more than the finance minister.
And by top I meant the CEO. Top 3% is still literally a couple thousand i.e 1 or 2 thousand people (I think).
If future pilot earns a 6 figure monthly i dun think he needs to save up for his license? 6 mths and he’s set up for life.
Either it’s a typo or he means he earns $xxxx.00 – also six figures what
obviously this “Amazed” is bullshitting. I guess he must be a pilot who is trying to fight for his own kind by using a profile from the financial industry to rebutt the banker. As what they always say, you can bullshit whatever you want in this forum and nobody will know the truth.
do you think that a person earning 6 figure monthly will spend his time at home surfing salary.sg and trying to talk sense into others?
Amazed: piece of advice to you. try to use a more realistic figure if you want to bullshit in future. maybe 20-40k a mth is more reasonable.
No I am not a pilot, but I am not a banker either. Never said I was one. Now, I am really AMAZED that I’ve been called out as bullshitting. Nowadays, all a person needs to do is just do a google search to do some basic verification (I am also aware that not all sites are legit). Here’s one: http://www.careers-in-finance.com/ibsal.htm. Just cross check it with many other websites and the figures will differ little. In fact, why not go to bloomberg.com to see all the bonus furors.
There’s a section whereby it says that bonus components will grow 2 or 3 times of salary as you become more senior and the salary number includes bonuses.
By the way this is for the United States, but if you cut off 30-40 percent from that number for Singapore you are still looking at a very significant number.
What’s only obvious here is that Obviously can’t stand the fact that there are people earning way more than him/her 🙂
As to the fact of people earning 6 figure monthly logging on to this site, that’s simple, only people interested in becoming rich or already rich will be interested in this type of site to see how they compare to others, or perhaps to brag or for some of us to learn something.
Amazed: i agree with you that there are pple who earn such money but just not u 🙂 come on, basic common sense can tell anyone of us here that someone who earns 6 figure a mth dont even bother to come to such website so u can stop your act. u r just like “ronaldo” who likes to brag in this forum LOL
Indeed, it’s not me, anybody can go back through my statements and I’ve never said I earn six figures. My original argument was that you don’t have to a minister of finance to earn to earn 6 figures a month just top 3 percent in investment banking and that includes Singapore. I didn’t say I belong on that top 3 percent just stating a fact.
Flyboysingapore and EagleDriver can you give me some advice and tips on getting into SIA?
I am currently studying a Degree in Chemistry. And doing my CPL part time in Adelaide. I am going to get my PPL soon. I am singaporean 23. Have finished my NS. I heard from somewhere that its good to be an officer when you served your NS because SIA likes people who have expereinced leadership roles?
Any advice you can spare me? can I have your email too? mine is [email protected]
Andrew: I went for the interview when i was 24 but i got rejected. They told me that they usually take in 26 years old and above for Singaporeans. Not sure how true this is (maybe they were just looking for an excuse to reject me) but you can check with the guys here. If this is true, you will have to wait for 3 more years at least (unless you are non-singaporean).
antipilot: you are god damn loser. being a pilot requires the ability to handle stress at 40,000 feet, ability to handle difficult situations with hundreds of passengers’ life which includes children… all in your hands. you think of your family, you think of losing your job, you think of everything when handling the aircraft. dont you dare compare a job of a pilot with a job in an MNC. Its not an apple to apple comparison. What proof have you got that pilots are arrogant. How about you. So what if you work in an MNC? You are so pathetic, you criticise a person’s career? Do you know what a pilot has to go thru during training? Do you know what kind of skills a pilot has to have before he gets to fly on autopilot??? Do you know what kind of pressure they went thru when there is a problem? I dont think you have all that while working in an MNC. Yes, working in an MNC has its pressure but not something that involves the lives of 300 pax!!! Seriously, I should leave you alone and watch you keep on writing your typical loser statements but I have got this strong urge to give you my 2 cents worth. If you dont know what it takes, dont criticise. Not asking you to admire pilots, just respect! You dont even have respect for another person’s career, you dont deserve to work in an MNC!
What utter rubbish, literally cos its pure rubbish being uttered.. LOL. People in the finance industry earning six figures common enough to be top 3%? f yourself in the mirror while taking your self-esteem meds loser.
9 out of 10 people in the finance industry are in back office doing ops making even less than directors in GLCs, let alone try to compare themselves with AOs in the ministries. And he’s here BS-ing that it’s not difficult in the finance industry to make more than the person heading the finance ministry.
What a dreamer!
Amazed, even a frog croaking in Singapore knows that the banking sector here do not even 30% of the pay dished out in the US banking industry. It can compare with the US baking industry, maybe.
The American IB sector before the Obama admin paid out high bonuses with a lower base salary, and hire and fire freely and easily. Bonuses are more restrained in European and British banks, but IBankers are less likely to lose their jobs.
The pay in Singapore don’t even measure up to the salary given out in Europe and UK,…BY HALF!
Not to mention even a dog knows that in the finance sector here, 9 out of 10 people..are hoi pollois losers from local universities in the back office..doing OPS!! Their pay is even less than their farmer counterparts in GLCs and farmer graduates in the public sector.
Don’t believe? Go check out Management Associate trainees in DB and Citi starting salary for farmer grad $2.5K for DB..Citi even less.
Farmer graduate from NUS/NTU/SMU who sign on to teach, starting pay $2.8k LOL
If you need to bring in the ‘bonus’ argument, you may like to know somethings
1) Back office slaves aka farmers of banking sector don’t get many months of bonuses anyway.
2) The bonus multiplied with their lacklustre salaries, in totality make them even more poorly paid than a farmer SAF sign-on.
3) if you have to bring in bonuses of a few measly months- the reality of the finance sector in the last few years- multiplied by the pathetic pay they get, as the recourse to buttress your laughable wild “easy to make six figures MONTHLY claim”, you look stupid. LOL.
Hi anyone working in banking industry? My girlfriend just graudated and is contemplating whether to go in banking. Which banks have better benefits for fresh grads?
Thank you
try goldman sachs.
It depends. What are her credentials?
A more realistic salary that someone in banking that achieve, if he is not a trader, is about $5k and that is through sales.
Back office people, who form a large component of a bank’s headcount should expect between mid $2k as starting salaries, and maybe go up to $3-4k after 3 years. Seriously their pay can suck LOL. They’re better off selling their prides and doing sales job in the bank.
Sales jobs in banks such as relationship managers earn about $5k, highest for the better sales people about $8k, but that is the salaries of very good and aggressive insurance agents too.
There is no way six figures is common in the Singapore banking sector, except for THE ONE CEO position. *rolls eyes. Top 3% make 5 figure, not 6.
What’s wrong with being an Airline pilot? And for those who seem to think that airline pilots strut then too bad… How come whenever I see pilots, they love their job…? Or am I just too [un]lucky?
But what about military pilots? Those who get to train in T-50s and F-16s and F-15s as well! Surely they don’t get paid as much but they are still on the receiving end of the “pilots are too proud” campaign. I mean… You have the money for donations to the government? To pay for 100 UAVs to replace jet fighter pilots? And donations for SIA so they can buy 797s with full autopilot/comms systems?
What on earth?! I’m only 15… why is this thread going like this heh 😀