MERGED: Jetstar Pilot Cadet Program

[VH-FTS]

I don't really get what you're talking about saying to call the union. We know what happened in the past - the company attempted to save cash buy using lower pay rates for cadets but the union helped stop it. Good on them, well done Simon and the team!

But your comments about a lack of direct entry recruitment proves everyone else's point - why hire cadets if suitable pilots are out there?

Airline recruitment comes in peaks and troughs. There was a big peak a few years back, followed by a big trough, followed about 12-18 months ago by a small peak. We're in the trough now, but things will pick up again - history proves it. So why keep going on about no hiring causing frustration - direct hiring will happen again soon and make up the majority of recruitment.

I don't care if cadets are part of a long term plan to help supplement a steady supply of pilots. What I don't like is when they're used as pawns in a game to lower conditions even further. I also don't like folk who are so naive they can't see why most of the pilot group hate the cadet schemes. I really don't like the spin doctor flying schools who talk absolute rubbish to help feather their nest.

I like to play the ball, not the man. I don't personally dislike cadets - most of them are very good people and will make great pilots. But I hate them being thrown into the deep end with certain 'experts' claiming competency based training will ensure they're suitable to handle any situation. Maybe those experts should read a number of other academic studies about CRM, in particular situational awareness, and see why we're going to end up with a hole in the ground eventually when a low hour cadet was part of the crew. Yes, experienced pilots create holes occasionally too, but they also help prevent them to a greater extent then cadets do/will while they're learning about their operating evironment (that LOFT can never fully replicate).

First officers are there to act and contribute as part of the crew, not be trained in some aviation life skills for their next 1000 hours by an airline captain that LOFT and G1000 C172s couldn't replicate during their first 250 hours of 'experience'.