Some things never change. My first GA job over 50 years ago saw me sleeping in a converted shearing shed in a one pub bush town, sharing with some rather, shall we say, 'rough diamonds' (today we'd call them bogans on the run). Air conditioning was only for the wealthy back then - few country pubs had it. Many a sleepless sweaty night spent swatting mosquitoes.
I was lucky in that I clocked up 800 single engine then 600 twin hours in 18 months. The RDO was that day last week you did not fly because you were doing an oil change, or the customer cancelled. But it was worth the short term effort. Got an airline gig out of it and really never regarded what I did from then on as work. When I left my first job, the boss squealed like a stuck pig because he had 'given' me an Aztec endorsement and only had 18 month's service and 1400 revenue hours in return! But to his credit he did pay a liveable wage long before there was any such thing as a GA Award. Back then I think most employers did the right thing as far as paying went. Nowadays some will stiff you with superannuation, leave entitlements etc, but there are protections in place for those willing to challenge these a$$wipes.
Although nothing seems to have changed, the rate at which airlines are recruiting will put the dodgy employers out of business all the sooner. Pilot turnover will cripple them.
Had to laugh at CASA's claim in the article that they have robust fatigue rules. Which, of course they have the motivation and means to enforce. Never did, never will.
Last edited by Mach E Avelli; 3rd Aug 2018 at 08:28.