Continental-520 & Sheep Guts
There are a number of reasons why these companies in Cairns ask for such high hours. Very simply they are:
1. Insurance requirements. If they were to employ low hour pilots their insurance premiums would jump exponentially.
2. All the larger companies have government, Oil Company, and other private company contracts, which stipulate minimum hour requirements for the PIC. The oil companies also often stipulate two pilots for a single pilot aircraft.
3. Supply and demand. There are very few jobs compared to the number of pilots looking for jobs. Why would you employ a low hour pilot when you can get someone with much more experience?
4. Cairns is a great place to live and the pick of the bunch to live if you were flying GA charter in Australia. It is a reasonably large town with capital city facilities. Not to mention all the things to do in your spare time like the reef, rainforest etc etc.
5. Because they can.
If you had, say, 2500TT, over 500 command on twins, and over 100hrs instrument time, why would you want to work in a company who owns 3 or 4 twins at a country town base and ask such requirements when you're eligible for something like Skippers, Air North, Pearl, RFDS, or of course the big QF or
VB.
There are only so many jobs on offer from these companies. Good luck if you get in because there are thousands of others vying for these same jobs.
As a side note, with the exception of the RFDS (which has a very high hour requirement), you will be starting off as a F/O or S/O with these companies that you have mentioned 520. If you were going for a direct entry command, the hours required would be very similar if not considerably more than what is required by some of these companies in Cairns flying single pilot IFR charter and RPT.
It allways amazes me the requirements of these Carins Companies. An they have nothing really to Offer, no RPT above 5700kgs, no decent Multi- Crew Turbine. Really its the DREAMERS trying to employ the DREAMING.
Sheep Guts I noticed in another tread you were looking for a job back in Australia. What's the problem? Can’t you get one? All I can say mate is that you aren’t the only one and until there is a dramatic reduction in the number of unemployed pilots here, companies will continue to ask for what you and others think is very high hour requirements simply because
"they can".
