What will become of REX
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What will become of REX
2% of scheduled flights cancelled in Feb mainly due to crew shortages
Scheduled services cut back in March to avoid further flight cancellations
30 plus pilots currently with definate start dates elswhere/resignations pending
Holiday allocations for next year cut to 5 weeks
several check and training CPTS departing
several training captains resign from training role
15% of cadets already dropped out
I suspect in the comming months there will be furhter schedule cut backs as the next wave of resignations takes place
I hope management have a plan to save this company for those who want to stay.
Scheduled services cut back in March to avoid further flight cancellations
30 plus pilots currently with definate start dates elswhere/resignations pending
Holiday allocations for next year cut to 5 weeks
several check and training CPTS departing
several training captains resign from training role
15% of cadets already dropped out
I suspect in the comming months there will be furhter schedule cut backs as the next wave of resignations takes place
I hope management have a plan to save this company for those who want to stay.
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A thoughtful first post Underpass! The question you need to ask yourself (and all others interested in the REX story), is why if your comments are correct did the REX Executive Chairman (who IS the REX management) buy a further 725,868 shares in the company yesterday.
If you go to the ASX website and peruse all the large individual share transactions in recent months they show the REX Executive Chairman as the buyer. He is acquiring all the stock available on the market in order to increase his shareholding in the company! Food for thought!!?
If you go to the ASX website and peruse all the large individual share transactions in recent months they show the REX Executive Chairman as the buyer. He is acquiring all the stock available on the market in order to increase his shareholding in the company! Food for thought!!?
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An interesting thought 'G', but as only a small proportion of the shares in REX are actually available on the market to trade (the Executive Chairman either owns or speaks for the majority shareholding), in a sense he would really be bidding against himself in any effort to try and influence the share price. REX shares have traded at values in excess of $2.80 which is a long way from the current 'on market' value! Food for thought!!?
Rex management only have themselves to blame if it falls over. They could have done something to correct the situation but chose not to. I don't think a non aviation company would have reacted the same way if they had such ridiculous attrition rates.
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The reason the chairman has purchaced a large number of shares back is simply because he will be able to sell them for a significant profit in the not too distant future. With the cadet scheme moving along at impressive speed a number of cadets will soon be crewin Rex aircraft. The resignation rate of current pilots is starting to slow significantly and within the short term future we will again see crew numbers in excess of that required to crew all flights and increasing profits for shareholders.
Shooter.
Last night the Tooth Fairy left a gold coin under my daughter's pillow!
The reason that Mr Lim is still buying shares I must admit alludes me, but unless your comments are tounge in cheek, be prepared for another crew hit in the not too distant future. It's no secret that the CP puts great stock in his flow charts. Back in August last year he told a group of assembled pilots that July was the peak of attrition with 21 pilots resigning. He stated that the numbers would then steadily grow and all things will be on track for a recovery. At that time the annual attrition rate was in the order of 25%. Since then the rate has risen to 60%! So much for the flow chart.
The reality is that REX management have absolutely no idea of how many pilots they will lose in the next six months. My conservative estimates are of at least 40 REX pilots that currently have start dates with other carriers that are yet to give notice. A captain who had recieved a start date with DJ in August has just had that brought forward to next month! DJ's 1st EJ190 is now in Sydney, with many more to follow. Another senior REX captain has just been accepted for V Australia. These are in addition to the senior Check and Trainers that announced their resignations this week alone.
Last year was just a foretaste. The major Airlines will require approximately 1800 pilots over the next 3 years. Those words were spoken by none other than REX's own Chief of Staff! You can put your faith in the Tooth Fairy and the charts, or you can see the reality for what it really is. 60% last year, 60% next year, and probably the year after.
Cadets will not save REX. Unless the exodus of experienced crews is stopped now, they will probably not even see the Simulator, let alone a seat in the real thing!
Last night the Tooth Fairy left a gold coin under my daughter's pillow!
The reason that Mr Lim is still buying shares I must admit alludes me, but unless your comments are tounge in cheek, be prepared for another crew hit in the not too distant future. It's no secret that the CP puts great stock in his flow charts. Back in August last year he told a group of assembled pilots that July was the peak of attrition with 21 pilots resigning. He stated that the numbers would then steadily grow and all things will be on track for a recovery. At that time the annual attrition rate was in the order of 25%. Since then the rate has risen to 60%! So much for the flow chart.
The reality is that REX management have absolutely no idea of how many pilots they will lose in the next six months. My conservative estimates are of at least 40 REX pilots that currently have start dates with other carriers that are yet to give notice. A captain who had recieved a start date with DJ in August has just had that brought forward to next month! DJ's 1st EJ190 is now in Sydney, with many more to follow. Another senior REX captain has just been accepted for V Australia. These are in addition to the senior Check and Trainers that announced their resignations this week alone.
Last year was just a foretaste. The major Airlines will require approximately 1800 pilots over the next 3 years. Those words were spoken by none other than REX's own Chief of Staff! You can put your faith in the Tooth Fairy and the charts, or you can see the reality for what it really is. 60% last year, 60% next year, and probably the year after.
Cadets will not save REX. Unless the exodus of experienced crews is stopped now, they will probably not even see the Simulator, let alone a seat in the real thing!
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All of the above is pretty much true when it comes to reasons for REX to be floundering. BUT these events would have happened to even a more stable Co. that had happier employees because expansion/opertunities has hit everybody & we are seeing the Neg impact of that now. Maybe not to the degree we are seeing here now but to some extent the exit of pilots to other more lucrative jobs purely for reasons of MONEY & further education would still be happening!
There's unhappyness at all the Majors just that from those positions there is no further to go unless OS, which isn't worth it to a lot of Aussies anyway. The bigest probelem for the larger Co's is jumping ship to another major for money alone. Any Exec knows that to pay large sums of money by way of wages to keep the staff would cause the ship to sink in another way. One way is to use a lot of profit to pay employees high wages or the other is to loose the employess for not paying them higher wages in the first place.
Like that saying in a famous recent times movie....."do you want to go bankrupt by the big plane or by the big airline"? Diff words obviously but the meaning behind it is the same.
A part answer (it's never that cut & dry) is to keep the wages as high as possible bearing in mind that there is a limit & to keep the one thing that REX is lacking the most happening,....COMMUNICATION! The mindset of 'them & us' is hard to remove within any Co. but communication goes a long way towards a stable & prosperous working relationship for all concerned esspecially whilst the world is on a roller coaster ride.
That like some airlines won't last either.
My opinions only of course.
CW
p.s............btw 'krusty' the tooth fairy needs to leave a Gold credit card under kids pillows these days, a simple gold coin just doesn't cut it anymore !
There's unhappyness at all the Majors just that from those positions there is no further to go unless OS, which isn't worth it to a lot of Aussies anyway. The bigest probelem for the larger Co's is jumping ship to another major for money alone. Any Exec knows that to pay large sums of money by way of wages to keep the staff would cause the ship to sink in another way. One way is to use a lot of profit to pay employees high wages or the other is to loose the employess for not paying them higher wages in the first place.
Like that saying in a famous recent times movie....."do you want to go bankrupt by the big plane or by the big airline"? Diff words obviously but the meaning behind it is the same.
A part answer (it's never that cut & dry) is to keep the wages as high as possible bearing in mind that there is a limit & to keep the one thing that REX is lacking the most happening,....COMMUNICATION! The mindset of 'them & us' is hard to remove within any Co. but communication goes a long way towards a stable & prosperous working relationship for all concerned esspecially whilst the world is on a roller coaster ride.
That like some airlines won't last either.
My opinions only of course.
CW
p.s............btw 'krusty' the tooth fairy needs to leave a Gold credit card under kids pillows these days, a simple gold coin just doesn't cut it anymore !
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Capt Wally I think we would all agree with your comments on the current pilot labour market dynamic which is unprecedented and has caused the pendulum to swing completely from the long standing 'buyers market' for employers of pilots to a 'sellers market' for skilled pilot labour!
Notwithstanding all you have said, employment terms and conditions is a measure of the level of esteem between an employer and an employee. Yes, the T.C's on offer with operators of larger Jet equipment support much more than turboprop operators can afford to pay, however, the other significant operators of turboprops in Australia (Surveillance, Qantaslink, Skywest, Alliance, Air-North, Sharp and Brindabella) have already improved their T.C.'s to show their pilots that they are valued and that they are wanted. REX is Australia's largest independent turboprop operator, second only in size to Qantaslink and it has not yet moved on this issue.
By not engaging with the REX pilot group, management, wittingly or otherwise, is sending the message that pilots are not esteemed and is thus encouraging them to move to more lucrative jobs! At the end of this cycle REX management may find that significant numbers of it's staff have moved to other comparable turboprop operators simply because they felt they would be better valued (esteemed)with the competitor!
I suspect that REX is no different to many other airlines and has at it's core a group of very dedicated people who genuinely like the company and the work. It is these people that the REX Board cannot afford to lose and from the other threads on this subject, it now seems that perhaps this is the group that may be disintegrating due to the lack of engagement.
A good manager once told me that advice received from accountants must be weighed very carefully because as a breed, accountants generally know the price of everything and yet they know the value of nothing!!
Notwithstanding all you have said, employment terms and conditions is a measure of the level of esteem between an employer and an employee. Yes, the T.C's on offer with operators of larger Jet equipment support much more than turboprop operators can afford to pay, however, the other significant operators of turboprops in Australia (Surveillance, Qantaslink, Skywest, Alliance, Air-North, Sharp and Brindabella) have already improved their T.C.'s to show their pilots that they are valued and that they are wanted. REX is Australia's largest independent turboprop operator, second only in size to Qantaslink and it has not yet moved on this issue.
By not engaging with the REX pilot group, management, wittingly or otherwise, is sending the message that pilots are not esteemed and is thus encouraging them to move to more lucrative jobs! At the end of this cycle REX management may find that significant numbers of it's staff have moved to other comparable turboprop operators simply because they felt they would be better valued (esteemed)with the competitor!
I suspect that REX is no different to many other airlines and has at it's core a group of very dedicated people who genuinely like the company and the work. It is these people that the REX Board cannot afford to lose and from the other threads on this subject, it now seems that perhaps this is the group that may be disintegrating due to the lack of engagement.
A good manager once told me that advice received from accountants must be weighed very carefully because as a breed, accountants generally know the price of everything and yet they know the value of nothing!!
Worf emfersizing
A good manager once told me that advice received from accountants must be weighed very carefully because as a breed, accountants generally know the price of everything and yet they know the value of nothing!!
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Agree 'oracale', yr just adding to my thoughts that's all. I can't explain it all I haven't that much brain power (who has!). Remember everyones opinion/s here is based purely on self experience or what they percieve to be correct.
If any one person had the answers complete then he/she/they would be considered a hero with God like status. Where's superman when you need him ?
Sorry Capt Wally is way too busy to fix it all
Some years ago now ( & I have mentioned this elsewhere ages ago, yr 2000) I attended an interview process with Kendalls (Rex now) with 15 others.
2, just 2 where offered a job (one an inst from YMMB & the other a GAM pilot flying only AC500's, good luck to them both anyway)& that was from guys/gals who had many 1000's of hrs on turbo props some with Metro time to work for Kendalls. In hindsight they did us a fav 'cause a couple of years latter when Ansett went tits up Kendalls was a wreck & has been ever since! I & 13 others where lucky ! The moral of the story here is that REX`couldn't organize a R**t in a brothel!
CW
If any one person had the answers complete then he/she/they would be considered a hero with God like status. Where's superman when you need him ?
Sorry Capt Wally is way too busy to fix it all Some years ago now ( & I have mentioned this elsewhere ages ago, yr 2000) I attended an interview process with Kendalls (Rex now) with 15 others.
2, just 2 where offered a job (one an inst from YMMB & the other a GAM pilot flying only AC500's, good luck to them both anyway)& that was from guys/gals who had many 1000's of hrs on turbo props some with Metro time to work for Kendalls. In hindsight they did us a fav 'cause a couple of years latter when Ansett went tits up Kendalls was a wreck & has been ever since! I & 13 others where lucky ! The moral of the story here is that REX`couldn't organize a R**t in a brothel!
CW
K.C.
Not true. I love my Job and would happily stay if it were the career path that it ought to be. I say ought to be in the context of what an airline pilot (yes Regional pilots do have to posess the same credentials as the bigger guys) is now worth. As I have said before, the profession has slipped markedly in terms of respect and remuneration over the years. The only way to redress this is to offer the professional pilot (now in short supply) remuneration commensurate with their worth.
C.W. Don't be misled by the bean counters arguement of going broke if they choose to compete for labour. The cost of matching the wages of the REX pilot to their DJ counterpart would be in the order of $20 per ticket! If they do not compete for labour they will go broke. They need qualified pilots to fly the things, and the numbers simply do not add up (see my previous post).
Not true. I love my Job and would happily stay if it were the career path that it ought to be. I say ought to be in the context of what an airline pilot (yes Regional pilots do have to posess the same credentials as the bigger guys) is now worth. As I have said before, the profession has slipped markedly in terms of respect and remuneration over the years. The only way to redress this is to offer the professional pilot (now in short supply) remuneration commensurate with their worth.
C.W. Don't be misled by the bean counters arguement of going broke if they choose to compete for labour. The cost of matching the wages of the REX pilot to their DJ counterpart would be in the order of $20 per ticket! If they do not compete for labour they will go broke. They need qualified pilots to fly the things, and the numbers simply do not add up (see my previous post).
Last edited by KRUSTY 34; 29th Mar 2008 at 09:10.
Very strong rumour has it that one of the senior fellows of training & checking at Rex has recently been interviewed by a major.......Will the last one out please turn out the lights.
Shooter, it is great to see the cadet scheme progressing so well.
Have they timed it right or will there be no flight crew to fly with when they complete their trng?
Shooter, it is great to see the cadet scheme progressing so well.
Have they timed it right or will there be no flight crew to fly with when they complete their trng?
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'krusty" there in lies the basic problem here with yr statement. An extra $20 per ticket is what the whole concept of expansion is about to cater for the masses who can & want to fly for peanuts. LCC's or cheaper ticket prices is the way of future air transport. Make them (ticket prices) higher then we are right back where we started from !!!
Expansion & all it's associated problesm which we are seeing now has been created by one sinlge thing. The more people that fly the cheaper the ticket price can be. It's like dog chasing it's tail, make it cheaper to fly make it harder to do so!
CW
Expansion & all it's associated problesm which we are seeing now has been created by one sinlge thing. The more people that fly the cheaper the ticket price can be. It's like dog chasing it's tail, make it cheaper to fly make it harder to do so!
CW
I do hear ya Wal,
but I'm still not convinced. 10 Years ago the cost of flying was approx twice what it is today. Yet the profits of the larger regionals are now greater than ever. In REX's case it was by retireing debt, growing the business, and in no small measure the advantages of forward internet bookings. Pilots wages, or the lack of them have had little or no bearing on this phenomenal growth. The problem now of course is that due to the efforts of airline managements in keeping Terms and Conditions low, and in the process qualifying for the obscene bonuses to the select few, the profession of pilot has become just too unattractive to many of those that may have otherwise taken up the challenge.
We are now in a golden age of flying. Ironically, further expansion is being restricted by the very mindset that helped create it! Having said that, airline management have never hesitated to pass on the cost of doing business. Fuel levy, Security levy, even the Ansett levy! I honestly think that the current batch of airline executives are deludeing themselves as to the seriousness of the situation. Either that, or they are philosophically incapable of increasing wages above the normal 3 year EBA bunfight.
The penny will drop. those that act first will snare the lions share of a fast dwindling resource!
The remainder will be left scratching their heads as they are forced to shrink their business during a period of unprecedented growth! Doesn't make sense in my book.
but I'm still not convinced. 10 Years ago the cost of flying was approx twice what it is today. Yet the profits of the larger regionals are now greater than ever. In REX's case it was by retireing debt, growing the business, and in no small measure the advantages of forward internet bookings. Pilots wages, or the lack of them have had little or no bearing on this phenomenal growth. The problem now of course is that due to the efforts of airline managements in keeping Terms and Conditions low, and in the process qualifying for the obscene bonuses to the select few, the profession of pilot has become just too unattractive to many of those that may have otherwise taken up the challenge.
We are now in a golden age of flying. Ironically, further expansion is being restricted by the very mindset that helped create it! Having said that, airline management have never hesitated to pass on the cost of doing business. Fuel levy, Security levy, even the Ansett levy! I honestly think that the current batch of airline executives are deludeing themselves as to the seriousness of the situation. Either that, or they are philosophically incapable of increasing wages above the normal 3 year EBA bunfight.
The penny will drop. those that act first will snare the lions share of a fast dwindling resource!
The remainder will be left scratching their heads as they are forced to shrink their business during a period of unprecedented growth! Doesn't make sense in my book.
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krusty I don't have a problem with yr thoughts, yr correct mostly (well said actually) but I don't believe it's about being 'convinced' We as pilots know the real truth but the airlines aren't trying to convince us. They (the airlines) must continue to 'fool' the travelling public into believing that their doing strong passing on savings by way of cheaper fares & safety is above everything else even though we know different.
Passing on the costs of business is a common business practice these days, it's just that in the aviation industry that cost is being used to bolster the the belief that the airlines are doing it hard, again we know better.
Interesting tho that if the likes of QF was purely a private Co (almost impossible I know) rather than having to share with the share holders would they (the owner/s) be doing business any different? I doubt it.
Anyway we as pilots have a lot more choice these days as has the travelling public, one bonus out of all this mess I guess !
CW
Passing on the costs of business is a common business practice these days, it's just that in the aviation industry that cost is being used to bolster the the belief that the airlines are doing it hard, again we know better.
Interesting tho that if the likes of QF was purely a private Co (almost impossible I know) rather than having to share with the share holders would they (the owner/s) be doing business any different? I doubt it.
Anyway we as pilots have a lot more choice these days as has the travelling public, one bonus out of all this mess I guess !
CW
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Krusty,
I believe the error of the management team is far more fundamental than being pig headed.
As a manager, you must lead the way in implementing necessary change.
For example, if the company is having trouble holding and/or recruiting pilots, thats means both their "Practices" and "Package" is not competitive.
"Practices" are the tools used to deal with the everchanging industry ( LCC is a step in that evolution ).
"Package", whilst we are all saying more money, stable rosters, it really is not a negotiatable statement, like being able to lick your own testicles, you either can or can not
( i just wanted to see if testicles would be blanked out by pprune 
).
I believe the error of the management team is far more fundamental than being pig headed.
As a manager, you must lead the way in implementing necessary change.
For example, if the company is having trouble holding and/or recruiting pilots, thats means both their "Practices" and "Package" is not competitive.
"Practices" are the tools used to deal with the everchanging industry ( LCC is a step in that evolution ).
"Package", whilst we are all saying more money, stable rosters, it really is not a negotiatable statement, like being able to lick your own testicles, you either can or can not
( i just wanted to see if testicles would be blanked out by pprune ).