I see Dick Smith is anti ADS-B.
I don't think Dick is anti ADS-B at all. Everything I've read confirms he is opposed to Australia being the first for mandatory ADS-B installation and questions it's need in all light aircraft. I believe he sold his Citation Jet due to the very significant engineering and approval cost of installing ADS-B, even ahead of the aircraft manufacturer.
This article appeared in
The Australian:
Chinese airlines are poaching *experienced Australian pilots by offering more than $750,000 a year, leading to concerns pilot shortages may spread from *regional Australia to major routes.
Combined with a decline in Australian pilot training, the *lucrative Chinese contracts have prompted some pilots to warn of potential shortages of major airline captains amid a developing global shortage.
Captain Murray Butt, president of the Australian and International Pilots Association, representing 2250 Qantas Group pilots, told The Australian Chinese airlines were offering salaries for domestic pilots beyond the capacity of Australia’s main carriers.
“They are talking about 737 training captains earning *upwards of $US600,000 ($769,000) tax-free and that’s going to be difficult even for the major Australian airlines to cope with,” he said. “The evidence is out there. People have been talking about a worldwide shortage for a long time and we’ve been a little bit protected because of the number of Australians that have been overseas and have wanted to ... come back.”
It is understood significant numbers of Qantas pilots granted leave without pay to work with overseas carriers during a cost-cutting period are now returning, with pilots again in demand. While this is helping to offset any attrition for Qantas, the decline in pilot training — and the purchase of Australian pilot schools by Chinese airlines — has raised concerns about pilot numbers in the long term. “That’s the problem you have when you are not feeding (new pilots) in from the bottom and allowing people to go through a system to get to the top,” Mr Butt said.
Industry sources told The Australian experienced pilots could earn more operating 737s on Chinese domestic routes than at the controls of Qantas’s new Boeing 787 Dreamliner.
Globally advertised 737 captain positions for Chinese domestic routes offer salaries in excess of $400,000; roughly double the salary of a Jetstar or Tigerair 737 captain (about $200,000, according to industry sources).
Sources said Dreamliner captains were expected to earn about $330,000. In China, Xiamen Air is offering $400,000 for 737 captains, Suparna Airlines $415,000 and Fuzhou Airlines $375,000 for EMB190 captains.
Qantas Group spokesman *Andrew McGinnes said the airline had no difficulty attracting *pilots, with a recent recruitment drive attracting 1000 applications for 170 positions.
Qantas may have no problems attracting pilot applicants but the lower one goes down the aviation industry food chain, the harder it is to attract pilots.