Originally Posted by
Thewnz
Im intrigued, be prepared for what? In the grand scheme of things im a pretty low hour turbo prop fella, staring down the barrel of about 5-7 years as a turbo prop fella before a shot at jets with current outfit. Im not a spring chicken, a late aviation bloomer, with kids, a wife whos also a turboprop driver but well up the seniority list for a jet gig, but ultimately wants to work part time. So From here on out im here for a job that has quick progression (both position wise therefore financially too). Im happy to be a line pilot that turns up to work to do a job and go home when i finish. The idea of a career has changed these days anyway, now there are a few options in NZ. Im more interested in job security and lifestyle (not in auckland but a short 2 hours commute)
Can only assume you're referring to Air NZ and are currently a Link Pilot?
What makes you say you're 5-7 years from a Jet Job? Low hours? Or is it because Tag & Release is creating a bit of a seniority based backlog? If it's a the latter, then that's something many of us warned Air NZ about repeatedly when they came up with this wonderful idea. With 600 Link Pilots and 1100 Jet Pilots (roughly), the simple fact is not every Link Pilot will get to fly a Jet for Air NZ, as that's about 20 years worth of retirements.
Personally, I left the Links as soon as I'd done 12 months of Command time. I was similar to you with a family and mortgage to pay and the Links (historically) simply didn't pay enough to keep me around. Many of us left for Jet Job within NZ and plenty more went overseas, most notably to Cathay.
Anyway, JetConnect... they should be the best job in NZ for those who want to be home every night. Flying the Tasman with an average return time of about 7 hours should see you working 10-12 days a roster and spend the other 16 or so fishing. So ask yourself, why do they have such a massive turnover? Why did they have to fight to get 10 days off per roster? Why did a large portion of their Captains, including C&T Captains, head to China, the ME.... even Air NZ as SO's?
I'm not saying don't go there.... but don't go there assuming it'll be a career. No one really knows what QF's long term plans are for JC, but I'd say it's unlikely they'd ever get on the Mainline Seniority list or Contract. Job security is probably assured for a few more years now they're on the VH rego, so the next question will be what happens when QF retire the 737-800? That's the history of JC really, they've never been able to look more than a few years ahead.
I will say however, Air NZ is paying attention to the current mess that is recruitment.... both Link and Jet. There's been problems with Recruitment for years, but now it's costing them money. I don't know what exactly is going to change, the obvious solution would be to pay you guys enough to make you think twice about J*/JC/Virgin but that costs money so probably wont happen. A Jets just another Aircraft type, and the novelty eventually wares off... faster than you might think. If Air NZ were to increase the T&C's of the Link Group, might be worth hanging around.