Originally Posted by
Notthisguy
While I agree with most of your points, how is it harder for a Cobham pilot to move between groups?
[rolleyes]
Ask the Perth 146 FO who applied for a B717 FO vacancy on the East coast to be nearer his dying father. He had the seniority. There were no impediments like base or type freeze and he had solid line check sim check results and a clean history. His chief pilot told him he would recommend him for the transfer. The vacancy went to a new hire. When he enquired, the 717 people told him his application was not competitive.
The only BU pilots that have "rights" to a vacancy in another BU are the pre-2005 BAe146 pilots that used to be employed by NJS BU. Mostly west coast 146 Captains that are no longer interested.
The last transferee had a LOT of influence - the Chief of the B717 outfit took himself out of that role and into a line 146 captain role. Not many 'internal applicants' have that sort of pull.
Prior to that, the last Surveillance to Airline internal transferees were maybe half a dozen D8 captains promised B717 FO spots by "Uday" upon Uday's appointment to GM AS.
By my count, that is 6 applicants out of more than 100 vacancies. All of them had "pull" or positional power. Those that didn't have 'pull' found 'their' jobs filled by external applicants.
Every other pilot that has transferred into the B717 outfit has had to compete directly with external applicants.
That 'even footing' with external applicants is tilted against the BU to BU applicant whenever a chief pilot of one BU says to the other "we can't afford to lose a Captain/FO right now."
And given Cobham's business model of pricing customer contracts based on the number of pilots nominally required to fulfil the contract, and then increasing profit margins later by keeping the base establishments at one or two pilots under that number, paying overtime, and restricting annual leave and LSL, and then pocketing the savings in sims/uniforms/etc, it is rare for a Cobham chief to say "we could afford to lose one!"
Maybe you are an exceptional individual. By all means, give it a try.
I simply think it is easier to get a better job working for nicer people, elsewhere!
;-)