MAS Cabin Crew Lowest Paid in the World (?)

[Naim 6]

http://www.malaysia-today.net/mtcolumns/letterssurat/35480-mas-cabin-crew-lowest-paid-in-the-world

 

LETTERS/SURAT

 

MAS Cabin Crew Lowest Paid in the World

 

Monday, 25 October 2010

By The Executive Council of MAS Flight Attendants Association (MAFAA)

 

Dear Raja Azura,

 

The association is obligated to raise the matter of our Flight Attendants' present salary scale which is becoming a great concern. We believe you are now very much aware of the issues shared with you by many crew members.

 

Many MAS crew members today are desperately in need of extra income because the company no longer pays sufficient salaries to their crew. Although the company has provided some avenues to earning extra such as via flight allowances and deductible bonuses, these are insufficient to cover the high cost of living today.The crew has to resort to other ways to earn an income to support their living and some have become part time salesmen/women while working with the company.

 

....

 

READ MORE HERE: http://www.malaysia-today.net/mtcolumns/letterssurat/35480-mas-cabin-crew-lowest-paid-in-the-world

[Aaron Goh 1]

probably true to almost the whole world in this industry.....doesnt seem to be getting better.

[Mohd Suhaimi Fariz 2]

How much is too low for them? And what other factors that they have considered for them to declare they're the lowest paid cabin crew in the world? It's hard to make judgement by hearing only one side of the story.

[Aaron Goh 1]

I supposed they do compare with industry standard across the world.

[Mohd Suhaimi Fariz 2]

I supposed they do compare with industry standard across the world.

 

Uh, how do you compare that when the currency value used is different for every airline? Plus the cost of living for every country is different. That just doesn't make sense!

[jani 0]

Wow, hope the company looks into this. They are truly the image of the airline. Almost everything depends on them.

[Cheng Long 0]

The same can be said for most other professions in Malaysia.. Our doctors, nurses, teachers, engineers and etc are poorly paid also, except probably politicians. Where is this business of making Malaysia a high income country?

[Ja Singh 2]

I supposed they do compare with industry standard across the world.

MH is one of the very few airlines in the world take pick crew from their homes and drop themback after work.Most others you drive to work. With one air line,lowcost tho, jeXXXXr,you pay for your own medical check up on entry if you are selected, and also pay A$140 for security clearance from the respective ministry of justice, pay first aid fee from St. Johns and also pay for the course pertaining to responsible service of alcohol from your own pocket and many other expenditures! With MH all paid for you.

[Josh T 0]

The same can be said for most other professions in Malaysia.. Our doctors, nurses, teachers, engineers and etc are poorly paid also, except probably politicians. Where is this business of making Malaysia a high income country?

Exactly. Pretty much everyone in Malaysia is poorly paid! It's all relative, of course. The cost of living in Malaysia is rising but, when compared to other countries like Singapore and Australia, it is still considered low.

[Kee Hooi Yen 0]

Uh, how do you compare that when the currency value used is different for every airline? Plus the cost of living for every country is different. That just doesn't make sense!

 

I remember I have read somewhere that a BA FA still can't afford to buy a 1 bedroom apartment within London vicinity despite having worked for BA for 8 years. Can a MH FA do that (purchase his / her own property in KL area after 8 years of working) ?

 

Anyway please correct me if am wrong, airlines pay the staff salary in their home country currency (for instance, MH pays in RM, SQ pays in S$ etc), but they sell tickets in local currencies where they fly out (eg. both MH & SQ sell tickets in pound sterling for flights out of LHR). In this case, MH should have better advantage over SQ and hence greater profit margin, or MH can slashes their ticket price down to beat SQ. Am i right ?

[KK Lee 5]

Believe MH cc pay package is heavily weighted on overnight layover.

 

With relative low base salary, more turn around flight, shorter overnight layover and fewer sectors per month, MH cc take home pay is often less than AK fa.

 

Believe the trade union is partly to blame for failure to foresee and protect diminishing income of its members.

 

[Mohd Suhaimi Fariz 2]

Anybody knows the ballpark figure of the base pay for MH FAs?

[Aaron Goh 1]

Uh, how do you compare that when the currency value used is different for every airline? Plus the cost of living for every country is different. That just doesn't make sense!

 

Of cos comparison is not direct conversion. Example: in Sin say salary SGD2000 so compare woth the living cost in SIN and MY, roughly estimate SGD 2000 salary to be about RM 3,300. In that sense, taking living cost into factor.

 

MH is one of the very few airlines in the world take pick crew from their homes and drop themback after work.Most others you drive to work. With one air line,lowcost tho, jeXXXXr,you pay for your own medical check up on entry if you are selected, and also pay A$140 for security clearance from the respective ministry of justice, pay first aid fee from St. Johns and also pay for the course pertaining to responsible service of alcohol from your own pocket and many other expenditures! With MH all paid for you.

 

Yes MH pick up their crew. Yes some airlines you drive to work but you get paid in transport allowance. Now you cant compare MH to LCCs. Not apples with apples. LCC you also pay for type ratings.....

[Wan Mohd Faizul Rizal 0]

MH CABIN CREW SALARY

 

Dear guys,

Its a bit annoying if we discuss and let other viewers to know this matter because it might jeopardize peoples expectation on cabin crew career. Yes, as the title of the topic implies, its correct.

But why MH cabin crew need to face this matter? Actually, they are not in this kind of situation as before.

 

Answer:

CABIN CREW ROUGH INFORMATION

BASIC SALARY: RM900-1000

FIX ALLOWANCE: RM500 as rough figure IF provided by company

MERCHANDISE COMMISSION: Depend on selling

THE REST???: Depend on flying hours in which RM20-25 per hour

 

The main issue now is, what happen to MAS?

Lets talk about their scheduled destinations. Some of their flights to scheduled destinations has been reduced and some of them has been TERMINATED due to nonreturnable profit. So, what happen to their cabin crew?

ANSWER: MORE CABIN CREW x LESS DESTINATIONS=REDUCE FLYING HOURS,THUS REDUCE THEIR SALARY

Edited October 27, 2010 by Wan Mohd Faizul Rizal

[Mohd Suhaimi Fariz 2]

Answer:

CABIN CREW ROUGH INFORMATION

BASIC SALARY: RM900-1000

FIX ALLOWANCE: RM500 as rough figure IF provided by company

MERCHANDISE COMMISSION: Depend on selling

THE REST???: Depend on flying hours in which RM20-25 per hour

 

That's a rather complicated system.

[Waiping 12]

Interesting. Are cabin crews allowed to fly 8 hours per day like normal people working hours?

 

Let's say we use normal working hours as yardstick.

 

Basic - RM1000

Allowance - RM500

Fly 8 hours per day for 5 days per week for 4 weeks - 25 x 8 x 5 x 4 = RM4000?

 

Total = RM5,500 per month?

[BC Tam 2]

I remember I have read somewhere that a BA FA still can't afford to buy a 1 bedroom apartment within London vicinity despite having worked for BA for 8 years

Being the inflated bubble that it has become, London real estate cannot be a reliable indicator of 'affordability' - not by any stretch of the imagination

Apparently, the more widely accepted standard is the 'Big Mac' index

[Y. J. Foo 0]

Interesting.  Are cabin crews allowed to fly 8 hours per day like normal people working hours?

 

Let's say we use normal working hours as yardstick.

 

Basic - RM1000

Allowance - RM500

Fly 8 hours per day for 5 days per week for 4 weeks - 25 x 8 x 5 x 4 = RM4000?

 

Total = RM5,500 per month?

I believe it depends on where you fly and the numbers of night stops.

 

 

Doing turnaround ops in domestic sectors is gonna be much lower than flying long hauls to LHR or EZE. Leading F/As also can derive commissions from duty free sales, which only are available on longer-haul int'l flights (I could be wrong on this, but last time I flew BKK in 2006 the crew didn't offer any duty free onboard). 

 

 

[Radzi 2]

Its a bit annoying if we discuss and let other viewers to know this matter because it might jeopardize peoples expectation on cabin crew career.

 

It is called information. It is better for people to know the truth before they make any commitment. After all, being a cabin crew is not just about the glamor.

 

 

Apparently, the more widely accepted standard is the 'Big Mac' index

Have to be careful here. Somebody mentioned about the Big Mac index of Malaysia and USA. (Can't remember whether it was on Paul Tan or MI)

 

RM 5 for a big mac in Malaysia, USD 5 for a big Mac in the USA.

RM 150k for a Toyota Camry in Malaysia....... and not even USD 50k in the USA.

[Waiping 12]

RM 5 for a big mac in Malaysia, USD 5 for a big Mac in the USA.

RM 150k for a Toyota Camry in Malaysia....... and not even USD 50k in the USA.

 

Maybe Toyota lacks safety features in US.

[Wan Mohd Faizul Rizal 0]

Interesting. Are cabin crews allowed to fly 8 hours per day like normal people working hours?

 

Let's say we use normal working hours as yardstick.

 

Basic - RM1000

Allowance - RM500

Fly 8 hours per day for 5 days per week for 4 weeks - 25 x 8 x 5 x 4 = RM4000?

 

Total = RM5,500 per month?

 

 

Let see an info here:

AIRASIA CABIN CREW FOR NARROW BODY A320-200

BASIC: RM900-1000

FIX/PRODUCTIVITY ALLOWANCE(PA): RM500 previously but now no more

MERCHANDISE COMMISSION: depend on selling

FLYING ALLOWANCE: RM25/hour (due to no more PA. Previously with PA provided the flying hours on RM20/hour )

 

Duty;

-Note here that they didnt work 8/5

-Their duty normally 4days ON followed with 2days OFF

-The flying hours depend on scheduled sector and hours can be as high as 8hours per day and can be as low as 2 hours per day

-Assume they work between 50hours to 100hours per month

 

Example: C working on SEPTEMBER 2010

Basic: RM1000

Merchandise: RM80

Flying Hours: 80hours X RM25 = RM2000

Total: RM1000 + RM80 + RM2000 = RM3080 (Maybe more if they got type rating allowance)

 

They want more, they fly more.

What about any cabin crew that able to fly only about 20-30hours per month due to reducing in company routes?

 

To Radzi,

 

Yes agreed with you. As you said this is an information before anyone outside there choose to put any commitment.

The main issue here is; the title is discussing about MH CABIN CREW.

 

AirAsia cabin crew for narrow body such A320 still can make somewhere around RM3000 to RM5000 a month and higher for wide body such A340, perhaps RM6000 to RM7000 per month.

So, NOT ALL cabin crew facing the same thing and anyone still can choose to be like them, money + glamor.

But, not so good for MH cabin crew at the moment especially on narrow body such B737 so...pity them.

[Max 0]

Of cos comparison is not direct conversion. Example: in Sin say salary SGD2000 so compare woth the living cost in SIN and MY, roughly estimate SGD 2000 salary to be about RM 3,300. In that sense, taking living cost into factor.

S$2000 should be equal to no less than RM4660. Besides, one still can buy a plate of S$2 Char Keow Teow in Singapore but not in Kuala Lumpur, Kota Kinabalu and Johor Bahru.

[izmail 0]

MH is one of the very few airlines in the world take pick crew from their homes and drop themback after work.Most others you drive to work. With one air line,lowcost tho, jeXXXXr,you pay for your own medical check up on entry if you are selected, and also pay A$140 for security clearance from the respective ministry of justice, pay first aid fee from St. Johns and also pay for the course pertaining to responsible service of alcohol from your own pocket and many other expenditures! With MH all paid for you.

its true,its all paid for you,with MH..but if u r in/as MH crew,u will know better..what is enough and what is not..have a good day

[Aaron Goh 1]

S$2000 should be equal to no less than RM4660. Besides, one still can buy a plate of S$2 Char Keow Teow in Singapore but not in Kuala Lumpur, Kota Kinabalu and Johor Bahru.

 

 

Alamak why use char koay teow for comparison.

[Cheng Long 0]

The salary for MH crew is perhaps comparable or even better than the average income for fresh graduates (and bearing in mind there are increasing numbers of unemployed grads now). Maybe AK crews earn bit better but their airline is making big profits and sources tell me that they have to clean toilets and etc.

 

Guess having the opportunity to travel around the world open your eyes to the pittance salary in Malaysia. Hey, it's like RM 30 for a plate for char koay teow in Australia and it's considered economical.