travelling-blogger

comments

Commercial pilots have one of the most stressful jobs on the planet, but it appears they are being handsomely rewarded for their work.

A government study has found that aircraft pilots and flight engineers are the highest paid group of workers in the UK with an average annual salary of £90,420 in 2014.

They beat chief executives and senior officials, who are being paid an average of £81,521 this year, and air traffic controllers, who are raking in £79,874.

Scroll down for video 

Aircraft pilots and flight engineers are the highest paid workers in the UK, a study has found

Air traffic controllers rank third on the list with annual average salaries of £79,874, according to the study

Based on Pay As You Earn (PAYE) records, the findings are included in the Office of National Statistics' annual Survey of Hours and Earnings, which was released this month.

However, the survey does not include those who are self-employed or celebrities who are not listed on company payrolls, and the listed amounts do not include bonuses or overtime.

Rounding out the top five were medical practitioners (£71,141) and marketing and sales directors (£70,742).

Aircraft pilots beat chief executives and senior officials, and air traffic controllers for top spot

Lowest paid: Waiters and waitresses had annual salaries of just £12,507, followed by bar staff at £12,948

Places six through ten were held by information technology and telecommunications directors (£64,511), financial managers and directors (£61,108), senior police officers (£57,896), financial institution managers and directors (£53,621), and senior professionals of educational establishments (£50,367).

At the bottom end of the scale, waiters and waitresses had annual salaries of just £12,507, followed by bar staff at £12,948.

Hairdressers and barbers were paid £13,373 this year, while kitchen and catering assistants earned £13,396.

Other low-paid staff include launderers, dry cleaners and pressers (£13,767), retail cashiers and check-out operators (£13,911), and playworkers (£14,023).

As of April, the median gross weekly earnings for full-time employees were £518, an increase of one pound from 2013. According to the study, that is the smallest annual growth since 1997, when record-keeping began.

In addition to lifting the veil on Britain's highest paid workers, the study uncovered unsurprising facts about gender pay disparity.

Miliband pledges to boost the number of engineers in the UK

Hairdressers and barbers were paid £13,373 this year - putting them near the bottom of the list

A male chief executive, for example, can earn up to £100,000, while a woman with the same job title is paid an annual salary of just £63,174.

In the field of health care, male nurses earn an average of £33,460 a year while their female counterparts take home £31,140.

But it's not the same story for every profession, as female opticians are paid £36,350 – a little over £1,500 than male opticians.

Overall, the gender pay gap has narrowed to 9.4 per cent, compared with ten per cent in 2013 – the lowest since 1997, when the gender pay gap was 17.4 per cent.