Originally Posted by
Stardoggas
Rex is feeling the crunch. 40 captains have left for majors in the past 6 months while many others wait for their start dates. With their requirements as high as some of the majors they are being overlooked and it might be a little scary where they end up in the coming months.
The Regional Operators in this country have only themselves to blame for their pilot crewing problems. Career minded young men and women will always take advantage of spikes in recruitment levels, and the Regionals know that. There is however an abundance of highly experienced retired airline pilots in Australia who are fit, extremely capable, and readily open to providing their services. At most, a type rating and minimum online training, would see them up and away with no fuss.
Some would be happy to work full time, and others perhaps part time. These guys know how to get the job done, safely, efficiently, and at minimum cost. Ritzy interviews by talent departments ( the new buzzword) and psychometric testing is not required. Unfortunately, there is an enormous bias in this country by REGIONALS against retired airline pilots. One can only speculate as to the reasons, but most of them don’t pass the pub test. I refer to the likes of National Jet, Cobham, Skippers, Qlink, RFDS, VARA, Network, Corporate Air, Air North and indeed CASA. The retired network is alive with stories of applications submitted that were ignored without even the common decency of a reply. It would only take some serious imaginative thinking by the Boards of these operators to plug the gaps created by the major’s recruitment drive. Unfortunately,I have no confidence that the immature attitudes that are indemic in Australian Regional Aviation will change for the benefit of aviators who still want to work, and indeed the overall enhancement of safety in the industry.