rfdswa cant get pilots

[asiapacific]

RFDS WA put an Ad in the paper for pilots a couple of weeks ago, no-one replied. Unheard of 5 yrs ago.

[pilotdude09]

I saw the ad too.

Wow if i had the hours id love to work for a company like RFDS (WA) i think itd be great.

Whats the conditions/pay like?

Wonder if only 1 person with low hours had applied wonder if they would get the position?

[alidad]

May be if they paid a decent package- they do it for the flight nurses, then problem would be solved. $65K for living in some horrible places is not sufficent reward.

[Under Dog]

Finally the chooks have come home to roost.

Regards The Dog

[lemel]

the tables are starting to turn in our favour boys and girls.

why would anyone want to go live in meeka and get broken into on a regular basis when there are better options to choose from.

what i see now is lots of movement, however the pay and conditions are still poor (includes regionals like skippers and network). i wonder if its going to get to the point where operators such as the above are going to have to offer their pilots more money to stay instead of leaving at the first chance they get.

[Metro man]

Mining companies can get people to work in remote areas, including highly skilled people. Prehaps the fact that they pay them properly has something to do with it. RFDS flying is demanding work; bush strips, emergency call outs, single pilot IFR at night in the wet season.

This is not an entry level job, they quite correctly want someone with experience under their belt, yet expect to pay them less than the flight nurse.

$65 000/year might get a cleaner or kitchen hand on a mine site.:rolleyes:

[the wizard of auz]

I get over twice that to drive a truck. the roster aint that good, but I can live with it for the $$$. :rolleyes:

[Towering Q]

Mining companies can get people to work in remote areas
It's not so much the 'remote' bit that turns many off, it's the conditions at these places. For example, I would rather live in Telfer or Tom Price than Meekatharra. They are mining towns, or camps as in the case of Telfer, which have good facilities and security. Meeka has neither.:uhoh:

[tinpis]

What can yer say about a place when allegedly the United Nations Commission on Human Rights (UNCHR) was checking to see if there had been any breaches of human rights by Australia for keeping asylum seekers in Port Hedland ?
?
http://www.augk18.dsl.pipex.com/Smileys/laughpound.gif

Id want $100k pa up front just to move there.:yuk:

[flash2sqn]

Are there any present or past RFDS pilots out there that can fill us in on the actual conditions in Meekatharra, would you take your family there for instance? Is there a primary school there? PM is fine :)

[air med]

There is a high school in Meeka but no white kids attends or I dont think most of the black kids attend as well.
Town population is around 600 and shrinking.
One general store and 3 pubs, post office, shire with pool and library.
out door picture theatre, golf course and public park with tennis courts.
If you can think of remote living for 2 yrs, then you will survive.
The rfds only want you for 2 yrs, good chance for another base when a slot comes up.
Clean town but has it problems with some of the locals but the staff that are here make the best of it with social gatherings

[ForkTailedDrKiller]

Why does the WA RFDS feel a need to base an aircraft in Meekatharra anyway?

Why not Geraldton?

Dr :cool:

[flying-spike]

There's a lot of mines out that way. Having an a/c at Meeka reduces the response time to do a patient txfr to Port Hedland or Perth

[nzmarty]

I would have thought that the hour requirments for RFDS are just too great - anyone with those hours are flying shiny planes with hosties and nice hotels/home at night.

Also, I wonder how much impact the PC12 has had - not as much twin time, so not as attractive?

Right now I'd be there in a flash, but just don't have the hours, and when i do have 2000/1000, I'll probably be somewhere else anyway.

[flash2sqn]

Fair enough NZMarty but not everyone wants to fly those shiny planes you mention, personnaly I'd be bored stiff in one !!!

[wingover802]

People in controll of a lolly pop sign on the road works get paid over a 100k a year these days aviation has lost sight of whats happening in the real world

About time things changed!!:bored:

[Sarcs]

flash2sqn and others (as 'air med' stated) Meeka has a school that starts at kindy upto year 10 high school. I think when I was there my son (in kindy at the time) was one of nine non-indigenous children and the truancy rate of the indigenous children was unbelievable.

Meeka also had 'school of the air' and most local non-indigenous families were home schooling with 'school of the air' support, unfortunately the 'school of the air' facility was burnt down recently and I believe all services have been moved to Geraldton.

Personally I wouldn't regard Meeka as remote, it is on a main highway 800km from Perth and about 600km from the coast. However it does have a lot of problems, the break-in and vandalism rate is huge and the price of ordinary grocery items is exorbitant. With the advent of fly-in/fly-out for the mines, towns like Meeka are dying and consequently the services once available are disappearing.

As air med was saying if you could hack it for 2 years and you don't have a family maybe you could rack up some good hrs/experience and then move on to a better basing or bigger and better things!!??

[air med]

The mines out in the middle of no where have nothing to do with why there is a base at Meekatharra, it was placed there so flights from Derby and Port Hedland can do meets there and then go back, without having to go all the way to JT and spend the night there, but as crews know this doesnt turn out that way all the time.
Geraldton is to close to JT only being 50min away.
Another reason why Meeka is that the big property owners and lease holders wanted a service and a hospitial close by, meeka has a hospitial run by RFDS doctors.

[air med]

good day sarcs hows it going up there?????.
Continueing on with the post,True not remote and can get away every 5 weeks for 3 days to do other things, main road in and out of town, no need for 4 wheel drives but we have them.
True prices on items are high,but must give praise to the new owners of FJ's as they are trying to keep prices down, the problem is that you cant expect a small store to be stocked out like one in perth.
I am sure sarc's will state we do have some good social nights.

[porch monkey]

Long time no hear air med. Good to see you still in the game mate.;)

[The Strez]

And now Meeka is going to have flyin-flyout flight nurses. Month on month off, 65k a year, car and housing. Full time pilot cant even get that!! :ugh:

[Sarcs]

G'day air med, I can only admire your loyalty to Meeka mate but the truth is there is too many attractive options for any pilot with a heart beat at present!! True social evenings were always good but towards the end I was always dreading being on a string of night shift, knowing you were going to be flogged!

Maybe there are some die hard wannabe RUFDUS pilots out there that would see a gig in Meeka as not too much of a hardship but personally I think your flogging a dead horse.

cheers mate

[pilotdude09]

Meeka is a hole but i guess it would be alot worst living in a remote aborigonal community or living in Kunnas or Derby. Those places are absolute **** holes.

Atleast Meeka has something and not that far to Perth or Geraldton.

Remember there are worst places than Meeka! But dont know if i would live there getting 60k a year!

[The Strez]

Derby and Kunnas have got a lot more going for them than Meeka!!

[tinpis]

Kunnerwuckinurra is the Paris of the Kimberley

Derby is a good spot for mudcrabbin'

[stalled turn]

anyone know if they are still looking for pilots?

i'd be prepared to trade out of the baron into the pc12

[morning mungrel]

Yer ain't gonna find out slappin yer jaws on here, are you........:rolleyes:

[air med]

why dont you ring and find out, 0894176300

[asiapacific]

I thought the thread was about the wa section cant get pilots, because they still pay low wages to the guys up front, but the rest get hugh pays, to sit there and read a paper on the way back top base. Just read the Virgin intake requirements, this must have management really thinking, But I doubt it, they have no regard for their pilot group.

[neville_nobody]

Why don't they get a jet for the interhospital tansfers? That would stop all the problems of changing planes, and it will be much quicker.

As for moving Meeka, what's the better option, moving the base to Geraldton and have a longer flight time, or keep the base in Meeka and be unable to crew it?

I guess the other option is to be fly in fly out.

[Towering Q]

If the Meeka base was to be moved then surely Carnarvon would be a better option than Geraldton? (Or maybe even Gassy Junction.:E)

[air med]

No Way Meeka going to close in the future, company wants to retain it and government telling them to keep it. have been told no move. What i believe will happen is that it will turn into a fly in fly out base for all, but this wont happen overnight.

[asiapacific]

No wonder the pilot group at West ops feel screwed.There new batch of nurses for one of the bases get no rent, free use of a car, plus others thengs just to keep them there, but does the other body get it NOT A CHANCE, it is about time the pilot body get serious and give the company some conditions that they want. If they dont get it then really give them grief, Dont believe AFAP are helping much for them. Just take the company to court and be done with it, they might win but they also might lose.

[lemel]

here, here asiapacific!!!!

it amazes me how they still get away with all of this!
why go to meeka (or any other remote base for that matter) to fly a king air or pc12 when there much better options out there.

oh, and for the record, pilotdude09, you must be joking!!!!!:confused:
there is no way that meeka is a better place to live then kununurra or derby. i havent been to derby so i cant comment about it, but its a no contest between meeka and kunas. you obviously havent been to either of these places, if you had you wouldnt be making such absurd comments.

[Low Cost Carrier]

Management say they realise there is too big a 'gap' between the pilot's and nurse's pay and conditions and they want to close it. Yet we now have the fly in/fly out nurse with all the extra benefits they get, and what have the pilots got?

The gap just got bigger!!

About time management started to walk the walk and not just talk the talk.

[stalled turn]

thanks airmed

i will call:ok:

[Under Dog]

If management supported their Pilots rather than alienating them they might have some chance of retaining them.
Westops attitude to fatigue and family life with unfair taskings leaves little to be desired.This culture is going to take some changing as it has been in place for a very long time.
If you speak to management, its never their fault,we'll time has come
for some of these dudes to take a good long hard look at themselves.

Regards The Dog