As El Al pilots continue their legal battle against management, insisting they are overworked and underpaid, a Mako News report shows things are not exactly as the pilots are presenting them.
Documents released by El Al in court reveal that the average pilot salary among El Al pilots in June 2016 was NIS 96,000. In addition, the airline told the court the current salary is 21% higher than the average salary a year ago, so allegations by pilots that they have not received salary increases may have fallen to the wayside.
One of the claims by pilots is the airline does not have a sufficient number of pilots so they are often compelled to work additional hours. Union representative Nir Tzok announced that at present, El Al pilots are flying more hours today than in the past and at times, this is taking a toll on the health of pilots and their family life.
(YWN – Israel Desk, Jerusalem)
Join the official YWN WhatsApp status
4 Responses
96,000 shekels is that monthly? That would be $300,000 annual nothing to complain about
At first I sympathized with the pilots thinking that they were being paid 96k/annually which is nothing for the type of hard work they do (The median salary in Israel is 8,500/monthly. That would mean that pilots would be making less than the median salary). However, after researching this I discovered that they actually make 96k/monthly. That means they are making more than 10x they average salary.
Pilots are not allowed to work more than 100-110 flight hours a month (they have to be on duty, however, for up to 40% more time that is not paid. So let’s figure they have to work for about 150-160 a month.) Even if you worked in High Tech and got paid top shekel (around 20-25k/month) and you worked two shifts (putting aside how tired you’d be) you would still make less than half what Israeli pilots make! It seems to me that they have nothing to complain about especially being that they make $100k more than top American commercial pilots!
The only complaint I’ll grant them is that it is imperative to train/hire more pilots for the safety of their customers.
I believe you multiplied the salary instead of dividing it…
Mr Lizard, 96,000 / 3.84 which is current rate is $25,000 x 12 = $300,000 you may need to learn your math again.