Originally Posted by
RubberDogPoop
It ("external") never used to be Aerocat, but then nobody currently flying in NZ ever needed jet time either! How exactly would they get that, in New Zealand? Given AirNZ are the major jet operator in the country, you could hardly be reasonably expected to rock up with jet time could you? Never had to, countless Eagle, Air Nelson, Mt Cook, Origin, Air National, Rex, etc pilots will attest to that. I am trying to clear up the distinction between "external", non-group but still NZ resident pilots vs "external", to New Zealand, pilots.
In the past perhaps. Now there is Jet Connect, Virgin Blue, and maybe Jetstar (do they have an Auckland A320 base?) As far as I know there is absolutely no distinction between NZ resident pilots working for non-group airlines and pilots external to New Zealand itself. They are all considered externals and all require jet time to be hired direct to Air New Zealand.
Originally Posted by ElZilcho
I'm struggling to think of any Airlines who combine Jets + Props, but I don't claim to know every Airline in the world. That being said, what benefit does a Cadet get going from a 787 SO to ATR FO? What are they going to learn on the Widebody that's relevant to the Link operation? It's purely a means to slash the SO salary and we all know it. Further more, it would move ~200 jobs to the bottom of the Seniority list meaning anyone who wants to fly Longhual would need to wait for an FO position, which would be ~1000 places up the list if we combine them.
Qantas have an almost identical situation you guys. SOs living the high life and not wanting to move to short haul, two wholly owned turbo-prop subsidiaries with pilots who want to be able to move straight to the jets with a minimum of fuss, and a thread on PPRuNe discussing the various merits of hiring externally to the group vs promoting from within the group (Qantas Recruitment.)