Network Aviation New Chief Pilot

[kimbobimbo]

Word is network has a new chief pilot from Jetstar. Good luck to him/her, hope they have a good handle of what the job will extract.

[C207]

Actually.... He is from qantas. Although currently he is at Jetstar. Very capable

[atlas12]

Seems to be the trend at the moment :E

[Keg]

If it is who I think it is then he's a very sharp operator and a top bloke as well.

[charlie uniform mike]

I think he will do well, very competent operator and was always going to progress up the ladder. Was just a question of which ladder. :ok::ok:

[mppgf]

Actually if it is who I think it is then he is from Ansett, Qantas and Jetstar and a really nice guy.

[framer]

I've only heard his initials, but if it is who I think it is, he is actually from quite a small charter outfit, then Ansett, Qantas, Jetstar and I have a crush on him.

[Oldmate]

I don't have a crush on him, but he was excellent in running the 767 RNP project.

[UTW]

Come on guys....the suspense is killing me!
Who is it?

[Col. Flagg]

Oh god on Facebook and on here too! He is much loved and Network is lucky to have him. :D

[The Green Goblin]

All around great bloke. Congrats.

[Iron Bar]

Apparently Anthony Jackson. Ex QF 76 FO, currently JQ under MOU.

Nice one.

[BPA]

Wow, I remember when AJ was flying Mu2's at Adventure Air and Brook Armstrong Air Services in the 90's. A good choice.

[Transition Layer]

So where's the current Network CP/COO (AS) off to? All I've heard is a role within QF in Sydney.

[Lookleft]

Brook Armstrong Air Services in the 90's

Didn't this become Impulse?

[BPA]

No, Impulse was around way before Brook started his charter business. When Impulse removed the B1900C from service, a Brook look over the lease. He did work closer with Impluse and operated some of the night runs for them. When he shut up shop Brook joined Impluse as a pilot.

[airdualbleedfault]

3rd chief pilot in 3 years, obviously a primo job, good luck AJ

[IsDon]

A great bloke and he'll do a great job.

Well done AJ! :D

[Captain Biggles84]

Lets hope he is as good/nice as all comments indicate.
I hear there will be real disengagement if this one comes and goes in a similar time frame like the incumbent.

From all reports the outgoing has really left a sour taste.

During his 2 year LWOP stint, it has been shown that he has done the bare minimum to help improve work conditions/practices through a significant growth period. Still "GA with Jets" outfit with a few more jets and routes.. :ugh:

[Autobrakes4]

I think you will find that this job is just a stepping stone for Qf blokes who will want to move on to bigger and better things in the mainline section. It will be interesting to see where the incumbent moves to. As Transition Layer says, I bet it's to a seniorish job in mainline flight ops in Sydney.

Most pilot management types once they get a sniff, can't help but want to move up the ladder. They forget they were once line pilots and why they joined up in the first place. Office now before cockpit! The incumbent and the incoming are now career office types, and there's nothing wrong with that by the way. Flying the line is now a secondary consideration, and sometimes a chore. I couldn't think of anything worse personally. Good luck to them I guess, somebody has to do it.

[vee tail]

It's not yet been mentioned that this new CP is the second choice as the first turned it down as the pay was offensive and non negotiable. Silly mistake as he from all accounts has a very proven record.........
Good luck to the new guy and let's hope he at least is not only endorsed on type which is a requirement but actually makes it on the line as a minimum not just an endorsed pilot with zero F100 time

[Stalins ugly Brother]

It's not yet been mentioned that this new CP is the second choice as the first turned it down as the pay was offensive and non negotiable. Silly mistake as he from all accounts has a very proven record.........
Good luck to the new guy and let's hope he at least is not only endorsed on type which is a requirement but actually makes it on the line as a minimum not just an endorsed pilot with zero F100 time


:D:D:D:D:D:D Congratulations Son, Stupidest F@#king post all year, and we are only 3 months into it!
I think the Gentleman in question will have no problem ticking all the boxes and with his experience I'm sure the zero time on the F100 you are so concerned about won't be an issue.

It great to see someone of this Gentleman's character being appointed to such positions, same goes with the new CP at Jetstar.

[Stationair8]

Is that the same AJ that was tied up with Bevan Coote and Eagle Pacific in the mid 90's?

[BPA]

Stationair8,

I think the proposed airline name was Pacific Eagle and it was going to be a subsidiary of Adventure Air (charter company/flying school) based at Coffs. And yes AJ worked for Adventure Air.

[The Banjo]

Where is Andrew(?) Smith of Adventure Air these days?

[airdualbleedfault]

Congratulations Son, Stupidest F@#king post all year, and we are only 3 months into it!
I think the Gentleman in question will have no problem ticking all the boxes and with his experience I'm sure the zero time on the F100 you are so concerned about won't be an issue

Stalins not so bright brother might be more apt.

Nothing (apart from the requirement to be endorsed on type, which I'm not sure about) Vee Tail said is incorrect or out of line.

What you say about zero time on type not being an issue is quite correct though, as it does not take F100 experience to stall EBA negotiations for another 2 years whilst he works his way up to the lofty heights of QF.

Sorry, there was one other problem with Vee Tails post, the new CP is not the one who will need luck. (Good luck guys and gals getting some half decent conditions)

[Soteria]

It's interesting that in addition to the CP, Network are also chasing a Safety Manager in the west. QF also chasing safety people for positions in Mascot. Is there a sudden new focus on safety matters? This is a genuine post, not a piss-take. Just seems like it has been a while since the QF Group has been focusing more on safety rather than profits?

[Keg]

A few of the Qantas safety people were previously 767 F/Os. With the demise of that fleet and their demotion to S/O A380 I suspect they may have decided to pursue some other interests for a while.

The flight ops focus on safety remains as it has ever been.

[IsDon]

Like most empires, the the bigger it is the more important it appears and the more managers can justify their existence by being part of it.

The safety empire is alive and well.

[kimbobimbo]

Plus one for vee tail and airdualbleedfault's comments. The outgoing CP seemed more interested in their resume than making a difference.

No time on type is not a requirement that casa has specified in their CP requirements. However, if a manager of flight ops is to receive any respect from staff it would help if they spent at least one day being a pilot. Only completing half of the line training is a joke. How can you understand the areas requiring improvement without spending time out there? How many CP/fleet captains ect in other Qantas group airlines have not actually operated a revenue flight in their companies I wonder?

What people may not know is that Network have rarely promoted to management from within the pilot ranks. Not in recent years anyway. New faces are the norm.

The new fellow I'm sure is an upstanding member of the community, however time will tell if anything meaningful will result from the change.

[Hoofharted]

The problem is the position of GMFO at NAA has become a stepping stone on the path to QF management nirvana.

The incumbent is not a bad bloke, just that NAA was always going to be his way of "selling his wares" to those further up the tree in the hope of career advancement. If a GMFO has never conducted a line flight within an organization and has never been exposed to the peculiarities and difficulties of the operation, how then can he truely understand where and what the issues are or the pilot's concerns? How can he gain the respect of his work colleagues? The DMFO has also been "chairborne" for the past nine months or so, lots of management types behind computers espousing the efficacy of these wonderful new policies, and none behind the controls (I've heard of fly by wire but this is taking it to extremes :sad: ). So if there is any "finger wagging or tea and biscuits" required from time to time, how would these management types expect a respectful reception from the person requiring counseling?

Nobody contributing to this "string" has cast aspersions on the "new blokes" character or ability, they merely question the motivation and the benefit of someone who will make an entrance, p1ss in each corner for 2 years and then p1ss off for a more exalted position.

NAA may be viewed by some as "GA with jets" or the "ugly cousin", however it has a very good crew of pilots with a solid core of very experienced people who have flown or been check and trainers with Ansett, Emirates, DragonAir, KLM etc. They are not blinded by "the glamor" of being part of Q group and know bullsh1t when they smell it. They make an incredibly positive contribution to the success of the operation through some rather difficult situations with good humor and a solid "brothers in arms" mind set. The revolving management door does not make a positive contribution to the continuing positivity in the crew room.

The "first choice" for GMFO would indeed have viewed this as his long term "career" position and already has the respect of his work colleagues. He has already been exposed to years of this kind of operation and has nothing to prove to anyone. He also understood a time when it was "fun" to go to work (anyone remember those days) and that a happy workforce is a productive workforce. Time will tell how the "new guy" goes.

It's these points you miss "Stalin" when you go of "half-cocked" in your post. You might want to make an effort to understand what is being said before posting the kind of rubbish that you have, lest people mistake you for a bit of a tool. :ok:

[Di_Vosh]

Seems to be the norm at Qlink these days.

Our CP (NM) isn't endorsed on the Dash-8 and has no intention to do so.

DIVOSH!

[Going Nowhere]

He's done the the endorsement on the Q400 at FlightSafety. Never used it in anger though.

Heard from NM himself.

[Di_Vosh]

Oh.

Still, has he flown even a single sector in a real aircraft?

DIVOSH!

[airdualbleedfault]

Very good points from Kimbo and Hoof.
I don't think it's any secret that number 1 candidate was almost insulted by the remuneration, being less than the fleet manager of his previous employer, and to add to the "turd polishing" exercise that was his interview, they said they were prepared to spend zero on the flight ops department. As Hoof alluded to, the GA part of the company is not the tech crew.

[Part 121]

The 'preferred' applicant would appear to be a true professional, as evidenced by his apparent willingness to share priveledged information concerning his $$offer with all and sundry.

And we wonder why management don't trust us.....

[yadot]

The facts are simple and for those of you that haven't realised this, if you want to be a Chief "Pilot", you are not one of the pilots! (Guys or Girls)! You are a manager and appointed to that position not to be friends with the pilots, you are there to dictate terms and be the in-between-er!


Not the easiest of jobs these days, but certain personalities will always fill these positions! In many terms it is people who need justification in who they are by a title. For me, family and friends matter most and I find many in the ranks who are the same are in fact more qualified than the Chief Pilots!




Good luck to these managers, not pilots! Respect....hmm! Some earn it, some are appointed it!

[Captain Biggles84]

Part 121,

Maybe the individual felt it was insulting to be offered a package that resembled a package circa 2008. Along with the constraints of no money to be spent into flight ops.. why keep it secret. It is going to have a direct impact to all staff. In some ways is highly offensive.

There are plenty of things that need to be addressed. All of which never really gain momentum as the incumbent is hardly around. Off with his COO hat on mostly greasing the pole for his own behind.

Leardership is funny word. One in which plenty of some of these managers think they have in spades. Well if leadership is coming over to Network to assist with some expansion and significant change without changing much in flight ops itself.. some new manuals maybe. Then jetting off before 24months for Family reasons. All for a scab rate which has now prevented a good leader from entering the picture. I hope everyone at NAA is afforded the same standards. But we won't be because we are all bonded for 2 years. You can guarantee if a Capt or F/o needed to move for family reasons the bond would be expected no questions at all.
Leadership is not given because of a title.. it is earnt and people that earn it don't usually need credit for it.

This outfit is light years away from removing the "GA with Jets tag" despite the quality of majority of the pilots that make up the ranks. It is not their performance and standards. It is the support and resources that are bare minimum t the best of times. This outfit is still doin manual trim sheets on RPT flying in 2015!!!!!!!!

[Di_Vosh]

JennyTal

Nice post :yuk:

My CP post was made in relation to someone wondering whether a CP had to be current or even qualified to fly the aircraft in his/her own AOC.

Well done on guessing my name :rolleyes:. It must have been difficult, with my age, location, (recent) status, etc and the fact that the "D" and "V" are part of my initials. But if you're so well informed you'd know that:

1. I'm not negotiating the current EAA EBA, and
2. I resigned from the pilot committe around 12 months ago.

DIVOSH!

[kimbobimbo]

Your wrong Jenny, I'm going to make an obvious statement.

There would be no need for a new CP if the other one was still there! So it is perfectly legitimate to discuss the circumstances surrounding the transition/expectations of the role ect.

Also no point in discussing EBA's since we at present have a stalemate between those seeking to improve the terrible CWA we are currently on and a company hell bent on not spending a cent on reaching a new agreement... and this includes even allocating resources to cost new ideas for a new EBA!!! Nothing happening there for a long time I say.

It is relevant to ask the question of bonds for pilots, flight crew are expected to honor them. It would appear you get a free endorsement with the CP appointment (no bond), bonus! Might form part of the package? Ha! Network have been known to persue bonds from pilots, no idea how successful that's been?

Oh and agree that a CP is predominantly a manager, but just to clarify it is companies that have decided to call them mangers (flight ops). CASA require a CP. You can't be a CP appointed by CASA without a valid license and experience. How much a CP flies really comes down to the individual.

Not long to go now.