Originally Posted by
dr dre
No not “minimal”, additional training to the required standard. They’ve already got the experience on type. All it takes is CASA to amend the rules which currently make it the domain of former ag pilots. Maybe there is resistance from some in that community who want it to remain a closed shop
Interestingly helicopter firefighting pilots are not required to have former aerial application (ag) experience before gaining a firefighting endorsement as far as I can see.
You’ve got probably a thousand pilots who are currently not working in this country who would be up to the task of being able to be trained for this service if the Federal Government and CASA got on board. I don’t see why anyone posting on this site wouldn’t want to kill two birds with one stone (provide Australia with this essential service and provide employment for many of our stood down colleagues). It does seem there is some sneering going on at “autopilot babysitting” airline pilots who possibly couldn’t do anything more than watch an autopilot from 10 seconds after take off to ten seconds before landing.
I agree with you fully, with the right training it could be done. The article though indicated it would be minimal training, which just wouldn’t be true. I’m not an Ag pilot, but I know many and to operate in that environment at low level is demanding, add a heap of other aeroplanes, **** house vis and usually large amounts of heat and you suddenly have a very different experience than what is usual for an airline crew.
Of course people can be trained, and I’m sure if anyone wanted to do it full time for the rest of their careers (or for an extended stint), you could go out and grab it. A casual gig for a season while covid (terribly) has ****** over the aviation sector? Not realistic IMHO. You’d spend most of the season being a training burden, and hopefully (because as you’ve suggested, what we ALL want is a return to normality for aviation as a whole) back at an airline within a year or two. There are people in airline with previous relevant experience that might be easier to train, so there isn’t a one size fits all answer.
I think the comment that would (has) rubbed people in the wrong way in that line of work the wrong way potentially is “minimal training.” With thousands of hours on type, of course with suitable training you could make it work, airline pilots aren’t just button pushers (that should be obvious to anyone). But it wouldn’t be a two week course and a check to line!
It’s also really a pointless discussion to have, the positions are filled by the contractor. There aren’t any vacant seats available.