The last few years have seen a wave of airline crew strikes, and the trend shows no sign of slowing down.
Disruptions have affected travelers across Europe and beyond, with strikes by Ryanair pilots in 2023, protests by Air France/KLM flight attendants in 2024, and large-scale strikes by ground staff at German airports in early 2025.
With each new strike announcement, passengers naturally wonder: is it worth it? What wages and working conditions motivate airline employees to take such drastic measures?
So when some find present salaries as well as working conditions of the airplane pilots and cabin crew extremely substandard to their stressful and responsible job, on the other side we see people who simply can not understand how anybody working as a pilot or a stewardess for a well-known Western airline can even complain about anything. That’s why we decided to clear some things up – by presenting a little bit of basic information about the duties and responsibilities of the airplane crew, their usual working conditions and – last but not least – their salaries.
The indefinite set of variables
To begin with, it is worth mentioning that the crew of a modern commercial airliner still consists of the cockpit crew, which occupies the flight deck positions and the cabin crew, responsible for the passenger section of the aircraft. The flight deck positions typically include the flight captain – the pilot in command (the highest-ranking member of the entire crew), the first officer (the co-pilot) and, on some long-haul flights, a second officer. Historically, the second officer served as a flight engineer – the person responsible for handling the engine controls and navigation systems. But today this role usually acts as a “cruise relief” pilot to allow the captain and first officer rest periods during extended flights. The cabin crew of an aircraft usually consists of an in-flight service manager (also known as the cabin services director) and flight attendants, who all are subordinate to a cabin services director.
The salary of the cockpit crew member is determined by many factors and primarily depends on the pilot’s rank – which, in turn, corresponds to their experience, flying hours and other factors like time spent with the airline and additional bonuses it pays for the employees. A commuting Captain flying with the same European airline usually earns around precisely two times more than the First Officer while the Second Officer earns 20-30 percent less than the First Officer. The difference could be even bigger when it comes to air carriers, registered in the United States, where the salary of an experienced Captain is often more than three times higher than the one of the First Officer.
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How Much Do Pilots Really Earn Globally?
On the other hand, this difference would not be that big if we compared how much cockpit crew members earn in other markets. For example, some South American air carriers pay the First Officer almost as much as they pay the Captain operating the same flight, and some Asian carriers, notably Chinese, South Korean, and Indonesian ones also seem to follow that trend.
And the exact figures? Well, to be honest, it could start with literally… nothing. While such practice is becoming rare after the pandemic and the subsequent pilot shortage, in the times of economic crisis, entry-level airline employees, namely pilots, paying for their own training wasn’t such an uncommon thing.
Today, a new First Officer at a European regional airline might earn around €25,000 – €35,000 a year, while senior Captains at major carriers can exceed €200,000 annually. In China and parts of the Middle East, Captains flying wide-body aircraft can command €250,000 – €300,000 per year, often with housing and education allowances included.
As bizarre as it sounds, think of the dream of becoming a pilot as an investment-hungry circumstance. Any questions? Let’s see how this eventually could pay off.
Hitting the skies… as a pilot
The main factor that could explain the salary differences of two equally experienced pilots of the same type of aircraft – both the same rank and age – is, of course, the market they are working in.
While no official statistics about pilot salaries are regularly published, according to some first-hand accounts, the lowest salary of the cockpit crew member can still be extremely low in 2025 – sometimes under €300 a month, when it comes to a fixed monthly wage. Such wage-setting allegedly applies to some of the so-called third-world-countries’ airlines or state-owned air carriers in isolated markets, such as Air Koryo of North Korea or Cubana de Aviación in Cuba.
Chinese and Middle Eastern carriers continue to dominate the top of the list. In 2025, experienced First Officers in China can earn around €18,000 – €22,000 a month, while Captains on long-haul aircraft can exceed €300,000 annually, often with housing, transport, and education allowances.
The average yearly net income of Air China or Hainan Airline cockpit crew members is reported to be around €280,000 – €320,000.
European airlines are strong runners-up here with an average yearly salary of, for instance, a pilot employed by Dutch flag carrier KLM, being about €220,000 – €230,000. The Captain operating a Ryanair flight, for example, can earn €180,000 – €200,000 in a year, while the annual salary of the First Officer of the same airline can be €40,000 – €60,000.
The salary of cabin crew can also vary widely
What are figures when it comes to the salaries of those who take care of you as a passenger on every flight you take? Well, even if we consider the fact that the job of a flight attendant can be no less stressful, dangerous and exhausting as it is for their colleagues in a cockpit, an average Western flight attendant in 2025 can still compare their salary only to those operating the cockpit of an Ilyushin of Air Koryo.
While the majority of factors affecting the salary of a flight attendant are almost identical to those of pilots, the difference between the salary of a crew member working aboard Boeing 737 and Airbus A380 usually do not vary very widely – considering they are making the same flight hours while employed by the same airline. But it can differ drastically when it comes to employees with different contract types, seniority levels or layover and transportation allowances.
For example, a flight attendant working at a regional airline in the United States for the first year can make as little as $15 – $18 per hour in 2025 (around $30,000 – $37,000 annually), while the flight purser employed by the same air carrier may earn two to three times that amount. Major American airlines usually tend to pay $35 – $50 per hour for long-haul international flights. The latter figure can be at least two times higher when it comes to doing such a job on private or corporate jets.
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How Much Cabin Crew Can Earn in 2025
European low-cost carriers usually pay an entry-level flight attendant €1,200 – €1,400 a month in 2025 (around €14,400 – €16,800 a year), while a flight purser employed by the major British or German airline can earn €40,000 – €55,000 annually while working on intercontinental flights. And when it comes to Asia, Chinese and Middle Eastern airlines again seem to be the most generous ones: flight attendants here can earn as much as €65,000 – €75,000 per year, with additional housing and travel benefits.
So, considering the conditions under which most airplane crew members usually work, sometimes going on strike can really seem worth it. Of course, almost every airline at some point in its operating history faces a lack of personnel, which in turn can cause flight disruptions making it even more important to understand how modern travel has changed and what to consider when planning your trip. And if your flight was cancelled, delayed or overbooked due to the airline’s responsibility, you may be entitled to get compensation of up to €600. Do not wait to do so and claim your flight compensation via Skycop! It won’t cost you anything if we will not get you compensation from the airline.
