Cobham

[Blitzkrieger]

What’s going on down there at Cobham HQ? I hear that it’s been a week of resignations from key individuals with more mooted to follow.

[pilotchute]

Which Cobham? 717, Dash 8/604 or BAE 146 operation?

[737pnf]

HR MR has retired

[R.Cruizo]

Experience is being replaced with school children. Ops normal .

[Icarus2001]

Perhaps clearing the decks before the new CEO starts in a couple of weeks...

My info is that some of those leaving were part of the problem not part of the solution.

[Blitzkrieger]

I'm told those who have departed may have sat around the latest EB negotiating table. Given that the agreement has resulted in a HUGE increase in allowances and overtime costs, could this be a clean out? Too expensive to maintain perhaps?

To answer a question from an earlier post, Cobham 717. Hooroo!

[logansi]

On the related topic, I'm just after some info from some of the guys on the 717 - whats hiring like at the moment? What sort of rosters/hours are you doing? Whats an average f/o take home pay look like? And what are upgrades times like, is it comparable more to a regional or more your mainline types?

[RENURPP]

FFS,
one retired at 65 yrs old and has been planning a long holiday for some time, surprise surprise, one isn’t leaving just changing type with the Benefit of more time at h9me with the family after 8 years in the head shed, the 3rd one I suspect got the bullet, not sure..

dont let let that spoil a good rumour though.

There are better rumours to be enjoyed, ��������

[RENURPP]

On the related topic, I'm just after some info from some of the guys on the 717 - whats hiring like at the moment? What sort of rosters/hours are you doing? Whats an average f/o take home pay look like? And what are upgrades times like, is it comparable more to a regional or more your mainline types?
there has been considerable hiring in recent t8mes.
hours vary depending on where you are based, and vary considerably.
upgrades? I don’t believe anyone can give you a definitive answer on that one. Some in a few years, some more than 10. It largely depends on how flexible you are with location and your performance (obviously).
regional or mainline? Again depends on location. From BNE we cover most of Aus, including west coast and NT. Sydney, Melbourne Adelaide, Canberra are r3gulars with regional ports as well. Gold Coast, Sunshine Coast, Hamilton Island Cairns etc.

im not overly familiar with F/O pay scale and don’t have the info handy, some one else can assist there.

[gordonfvckingramsay]

Agree with RENURPP regards hiring but they are finding it hard to attract the sheer numbers required to fill seats being vacated and to increase the numbers to what is required by QF. The head shed seem unaware of the number of pilots trying to leave, if they were they would be showing some sort of care towards the guys and girls at the coal face.

Work hours vary but hover around the maximum, lots of paxing, lots of waiting, lots of aircraft swaps and lots of very short turn-arounds.

Pay scales across the board are pretty much middle of the road between regional and mainline. Payday can be extremely good if you are into overtime and getting duty change allowances etc. although you may need to spend several hour a week finding and chasing up "overlooked" allowances and then arguing the rubbery interpretation of your eligibility.

Good luck!!

[Lapon]

It appears the East coast and Westen/Northen bases are almost two different companies in terms of work load.
Also unsure on FO pay but the Australian airline wages thread has the upto date base figures from new EBA. Not sure about extras but as mentioned above, can be quite generous if working hard.

[logansi]

Thanks for the replies guys, I think I'll put my application in a see what happens.

Just two more things
- Whats the most junior base? BNE?
- Do Cobham B717 pilots get Qantas crew benefits and if applying for other jobs within the QF group as you classified as internal?

[AerocatS2A]

Best to think of Cobham as a contract company that happens to have a contract with Qantas. There are no QF benefits and why would there be?

[logansi]

Best to think of Cobham as a contract company that happens to have a contract with Qantas. There are no QF benefits and why would there be?

I thought this was the case but someone told they did so had to ask

[Icarus2001]

QF staff travel and a BIG WHITE HAT!

[F.Nose]

FFS,
one retired at 65 yrs old and has been planning a long holiday for some time, surprise surprise, one isn’t leaving just changing type with the Benefit of more time at h9me with the family after 8 years in the head shed, the 3rd one I suspect got the bullet, not sure..

dont let let that spoil a good rumour though.

There are better rumours to be enjoyed, ��������

So the Head of Flight Ops, Manager of Flight Crew and the Manager of Operations all leave within a day of each other with no prior notice. Pure coincidence....nothing to see here!

[Icarus2001]

Qantas contract Cobham to crew their aircraft for them and now Cobham contract out to Altara for cabin crew. Some gems like cc pay for their own ASIC and airport parking, you know, treating them like valued staff.


Altara (http://www.altara.com.au)

[gordonfvckingramsay]

I’m pretty certain that there are no coincidences at work here, jumping is not resigning no matter how you announce it. As long as the band keeps playing the passengers won’t suspect a thing!

[airdualbleedfault]

Unless it's changed, Cobham don't get QF staff travel, ie you can't log onto QF staff travel as you don't have a QF staff number. You can get QF cheap tickets by going through the Adelaide office. It might sound like a technicality but not when you decide you want to go somewhere on the spur of the moment or on a weekend/public holiday, it's a cannot.
As mentioned above , think of yourself as a contractor and you'll be right.

[patty50]

According to a 717 captain who I flew me this week, Cobham pilots get access to Staff Travel Online from today (Saturday 8th) rather than booking through head office. Apparently pilots are thrilled with this however they won’t get international business.

These two chaps seemed very happy with their new EBA. Good to see improvements happening.

[Notthisguy]

Yes, Cobham 717 get full staff travel with the QF group, through the online portal. The EA is fantastic, and continues to prove a positive move for the company.

HR is being transitioned from an internal resource to an external one, plus a few extra "repositionings" since the new GM has come in. Politics at its finest.

[What The]

As a user of Qantas staff travel for 30 years and with one of the higher onload categories I would only say to you good luck using it. You will have an onload priority that means you get on after just about everyone. Staff travel is almost worthless now and I would sell mine for an ongoing pay rise in a heartbeat.
You should never be enticed into forfeiting potential monetary gains for something that can be changed and withdrawn at the whim of a bunch of narcissistic arseholes.
SHOW ME THE MONEY!

[Going Nowhere]

I believe the onload and upgrade priority Cobham now recieve is behind QF group retirees.

Still better than the previous system but not by much

[C441]

Staff travel is almost worthless now and I would sell mine for an ongoing pay rise in a heartbeat.
I'd preface that with "International". Domestically, as a commuter, it is valuable for my one return trip per week.

I believe the onload and upgrade priority Cobham now recieve is behind QF group retirees.
….and at times, domestically and more importantly Internationally, that is the most frustrating thing. I was recently 'bumped' by a Jetstar employee who was probably born after I started in the airline, on non-duty travel, as he had a higher category than I had. I sat on the jumpseat, he sat in Business.

[ECAMACTIONSCOMPLETE]

I'd preface that with "International". Domestically, as a commuter, it is valuable for my one return trip per week.


….and at times, domestically and more importantly Internationally, that is the most frustrating thing. I was recently 'bumped' by a Jetstar employee who was probably born after I started in the airline, on non-duty travel, as he had a higher category than I had. I sat on the jumpseat, he sat in Business.

If he had a higher priority than you then I don’t understand what you’re complaining about, nor does it seem relevant what qantas group entity they work for or how old they are. If you don’t like it, pay full fare. Pretty simple.

[C441]

We were both on vacation travel. Which entity he worked for is irrelevant - it was only mentioned as the last few posts of the thread were about Cobham staff travel and were they'll fit in the whole scheme of things. I'm merely documenting that I would have thought years of service and supposedly being a Senior Officer of the organisation (the Company's definition, not mine) would have had some benefit. It does not.

The person in question was a clerk and seemed to be over-awed with his new-found status when he was awarded a seat ahead of me. Most non-managerial Qantas staff have the same, or similar vacation travel categories and it's the date of joining that determines who's unloaded* or upgraded first. As he was non-managerial, I would have thought that having joined the company before he was born:), might have meant something for me.

But I'll take your advice and buy a full fare ticket when I deem it necessary. Actually, come to think of it, I'll buy a Jetstar staff travel ticket; there's usually more seats and it costs half as much!

Sorry for the diversion away from the Cobham thread.

* Edit: Freudian slip or what?:) Maybe auto error correction has a sense of humour.

[ECAMACTIONSCOMPLETE]

We were both on vacation travel. Which entity he worked for is irrelevant - it was only mentioned as the last few posts of the thread were about Cobham staff travel and were they'll fit in the whole scheme of things. I'm merely documenting that I would have thought years of service and supposedly being a Senior Officer of the organisation (the Company's definition, not mine) would have had some benefit. It does not.

The person in question was a clerk and seemed to be over-awed with his new-found status when he was awarded a seat ahead of me. Most non-managerial Qantas staff have the same, or similar vacation travel categories and it's the date of joining that determines who's unloaded or upgraded first. As he was non-managerial, I would have thought that having joined the company before he was born:), might have meant something.

But I'll take your advice and buy a full fare ticket when I deem it necessary. Thanks for your advice. Actually, come to think of it, I'll buy a Jetstar staff travel ticket; there's usually more seats and it costs half as much!

Sorry for the diversion away from the Cobham thread.

Plus those A320 jump seats are more comfortable! I understand where you are coming from. The commercial upgrade requests have also been a major blow to the golden goose that was once almost guaranteed business class on most flights. These days I’m just happy to get on the flight. I find that staff traveling on JQ, you are also a good chance to get an exit row, whereas on QF, if you don’t get business, it’s usually a middle seat, which on the 737 isn’t much fun at all.