Rex and the Media Release
 

Media Release
9 October 2007
REX WARNS OF LOOMING CATASTROPHIC SHORTAGE OF PILOTS IN AUSTRALIA
Regional Express (Rex) today warned that Australia is facing a severe shortage of pilots and that this will turn into a crisis in 12 months time as demand by the larger airlines intensifies to cope with their unprecedented expansion plans.
Commenting on this shortage, Rex Chief of Staff Jim Davis said "Already some airlines are struggling to find enough pilots to crew their regular schedules and many are resorting to cancelling flights to cope with the situation. The Rex cancellation rate, for example, is now running at four times historical levels. The latest DOTARS statistics, which are for July, show Rex with 0.9% of flights cancelled, Qantas at 1.6%, QantasLink at 1.0%, Virgin at 1.1% and Jetstar at 0.3%.
"However the situation is predicted to get much worse. Based on industry feedback, we estimate that the net additional requirement for pilots will be of the order of 1,800 over the next two years. The supply of new Airline Transport Pilot Licences (ATPLs) every year in Australia is less than 400.
"It is obvious that the major carriers will not allow their brand new jets to sit idle on the tarmac. They will do everything they can to fill up the shortfall by raiding the regional airlines, general aviation, flying schools and specialist organisations like the Royal Flying Doctor Service, something they have already started doing in earnest. Of particular concern will be the loss of experienced flying instructors to the airlines.
"The smaller operators have no defence against such massive recruitment as they are in no position to match the salaries and conditions of the large carriers. Over the last three months, more than 20% of our pilots have been poached by Virgin, Jetstar and Qantas and I am sure the situation is similar or worse in the other regional carriers.
"It is almost too late to avert some of the disastrous consequences in Australia of the looming pilot shortage as it takes at least eight months to train a new pilot. We foresee the possibility that many smaller regional cities of below 30,000 passengers per annum will no longer have an airservice as regional airlines are forced to concentrate on the bigger and more profitable routes. Also we foresee that some regional airlines and General Aviation businesses will be unable to maintain their operations as they struggle to keep up with the massive turnover of pilots.
"While Rex has taken a big hit recently, we currently have our full establishment of pilots. However 15% of them are undergoing various stages of training and will be phased in over the next two months.
"Rex is fortunate in being able to attract a sufficient number of applicants to join our ranks. Furthermore our very healthy financial situation has allowed us to implement a cadet scheme whereby 40 cadets annually will be sheltered from most of the cost of the pilot training in return for a five year commitment. We are also in discussions with several parties to run our own flying school so that we can be assured of a regular supply of pilots of the high standard that Rex requires.
"Rex has done all it could and we call on the Government to respond to this looming crisis by urgently implementing similar bold and decisive measures. The high cost of flying training, estimated at around $80,000 per individual, is the main reason why there are not enough commercial pilots being produced today. If the government can subsidise the education of lawyers, accountants engineers and other professionals, surely it can recognise that the piloting profession is equally worthy of assistance. Today there is not even a fee loan scheme outside of the tertiary institutions that aspiring pilots can tap into to turn their passion to reality" Mr Davis said.
Rex is Australia's largest independent regional airline operating a fleet of 34 Saab 340 aircraft on 1,300 flights weekly to 25 destinations from Sydney, Melbourne, Adelaide and Brisbane. The Rex Group comprises Regional Express, air freight and charter operator Pel - Air Aviation and Dubbo based regional airline, Air Link.
END

Rex lures pilots with cheap loan deal, The Australian


How ironic, luring prospective cadets with the prospect of moving to the 'majors', then complaining when they do.

Seems Airline execs have some tough lessons to learn,It is their right to cut pay and conditions as they see fit,but don't be surprised if your average or for that matter above average 16 year old ain't interested in a flying career when he can invent the next computer game and can buy his own airline!:eek:

There is so much crap and spin in this release that it makes me sick.

Poaching is when you trepass onto someone else's property and take something that doesn't belong to you. I'm pretty sure that QF haven't directly approached REX crew to get them to jump ship and so you can take your hyperbole and shove it. You don't 'own' the pilots. They don't 'belong' to you no matter how much you want that to be the reality. Perhaps if you didn't treat them like ****e they wouldn't be thinking about jumping ship.

Drongo. It takes about 12 months to get them to CPL standard and it'll take another few months beyond that to get them online. You're not outof the woods on this one until 2009. Don't bitch and moan because pilots have been telling you now for a couple of years that this was coming. You didn't believe them because you were still focussing on driving down terms and conditions. Reap what you sow.

Which sounds like you're currently down by about 15% of line pilots. Any you lose in the next few months- and you will lose them- mean that you're still going to get caught short.

Sheltered from most of the cost? Hardly. If I read it correctly REX just guarantee the loan. The candidate still has to pay it off. Either way, a five year ROSO for just $40K worth of training (they only do half) is still a crap deal. This won't save your backside.

No you haven't. You've stuffed this one up mightily. Whilst I don't disagree about the funding you're full of BS to state that you've done all you could. What you have done is to bury your head into the sand right up until the day that you started to park aeroplanes. Reap what you sow.

No it's not. It's the crap rates of pay that you and your ilk offer people who need to pay off that $80K that is the reason.

Reap what you sow you morons. You can't say you weren't warned! :twisted:

I like this part...

"Of particular concern will be the loss of experienced flying instructors to the airlines".

Do you think there could be a substanial pay rise for experienced instructors within the next three years?

Payrise will be the last resort, they will exercise every option before it comes to that!

Wake up REX (& every other operator in Australia for that matter)

The horse has bolted. You reap what you sew.

Ask why 16 of 20 guys I learnt to fly with have now permanently left the industry.

Ask why of the 4 of us left only one is left in Oz.

Whats good for the goose is good for the gander. Management bonus'.......LMFAO

If you want a profit generating, proactive and stable crew levels. How about putting in as much as you want out.

Management 101?
CRM (Company Resource Management - is should be)?

Oh thats right, you dont get up at 4.30am to crew the 6am departure. Oh, you dont get home after midnight because the last flight just made the curfew due to delayed arrival of the aircraft.

I am so glad to be out of the Oz, bitching, wingeing, moaning, cut to the bones, outsourced, top heavy managment, bean counting society that Australian Aviation at all levels has become.

You only have one person to blame and that is yourself. No point in wingeing to the government because you cant find'em.

How about raising the crew remuneration so that it actually is more than a local council worker in Sydney.
How about scheduling crews with respectable rest periods (aka lifestyle)

Productivity Bonus' LMAO
Performance Bonus' LMAO
Financial reward for financial control...... WTF are you smoking.

Productivity means that the aircraft actually fly with fare paying passengers.

Started in the year before 1990, continued in the mid 90's. Nailed in 2001, cut to the bones in 2003, Hospice in 2006, RIP 2008.

QF EBA Late
DJ EBA Stalled
Eastern EBA (nobody remembers - they've all left)
NJS - Work Choices..... my rodents rotund rectum!

Last one out - please remember to turn off the lights as part of your reduced carbon footprint.

LMFAO:}

Keg you are spot on. I think we will see retetion bonusus soon. I really think some of these airlines like Rex and Qlink will realise the train new pilots option is too late. They have to stem the blood loss somehow. Cadet schemes aint a good bandage. Retaining your current staff is.

HOLY SH!TE KEG....!,

I was planning my own response, but you hit just about every nail squarely on the head!

Very well put my friend.

I think it might be time to enlighten Mark Vaile as to the real issue and compare what Rex and other regionals pay their pilots to that of other professions. Sh$tty pay is the main reason for the pilot shortage. It is so obvious it’s frightening. Can anyone suggest an effective means to get his attention on the real issue? It is time to act!

This sort of misinformation from Rex and the like needs to be publicly challenged and corrected. If they don’t want to remunerate properly than that’s their death sentence, but to publicly spout this sh$t is crossing the line.

Watch this space!!!

QANTASLINK can solve their attrition rate overnight by allowing career progression into mainline, lets say minimum time in QLink 5 years.

Allowing 40 - 50 pilots a year to progress through, controlling the attrition rate at 40 -50 rather than the 100 + a year. In that time new crew will have a command within lets say three years, then move onto mainline themselves.

At this stage it is easier for QLink drivers to gain career progression into Virgin than it is into their own Q group airlines.

If they don't do something very soon it will be way to late, and like Rex the cancellation of flights will follow. :ugh:

What Keg said...

b.

What Keg said...

Well said Keg.:ok:

There's only one thing I would add...

If your financial situation is so 'healthy' why can't you pay your pilots what they're worth?!:ugh::yuk:

Shortage?
 

Are there any pilots who have applied to airlines and not got in, or had a reply? Is there a real shortage, or is this just a scheme to get government to foot the bill for basic training, type endorsement etc?
How many CPL's can our flying schools and MPL schools turn out per year for our own airlines?
Airlines will never pay decent wages if they can persuade enough people to train at their own, or government expense so they can have a large pool of wannabies parked in GA until they need them.
They have almost destroyed GA by doing that, and it is now affecting the regionals.
Flying schools and our airlines have killed the goose that laid the golden egg.

I'm getting out of this business.
When industry chooses long term options like subsidising training over looking after existing staff then f*^ck em.
Its gonna be low cost for ever more.
Grab what you can while you can folks, I don't think $30 airfares are gonna keep us all employed.

So long
Chad Sexington

Has MPL become a fait accompli, then?

Seems to have become an accepted factor in the game.

Both Bushy and Chad have very valid points.

I know quite a few Aussie B737 rated guys here in Europe (self included) who have never even heard a peep from VB. Shortage……maybe, maybe not can anyone at the coal face actually say they have parked aircraft against the fence for the need of additional crew???

A young fella I know was given the ultimatum by the new wife, flying or her, he chose her. After being punted from pillar to post by operators who need the requisite 3 shuttle landings, 10 renewals, rated and current on every type in the fleet blah blah blah that we have seen in days gone past . Why would you want to.

Chad….. sunrise in the cockpit as you pop through the low stratus just past o-dark-thirty is very hard to beat as a career choice. :ok:

Im a Captain ,applied for tiger virgin and jetstar, heard nothing and im willing to go right seat. im considering giving up flying and getting into the mining industry just to live at home. What shortage......................

Mate, i couldnt agree with you more....

Ive got a couple mates here in Europe, aussies, who have over 6000hrs and TR and still nothing from VB or QF!!!

So much for a shortage!

Aussie, Rambo, Hog Driver, when did you actually apply to Aussie airlines?

We all know memories of HR departments are short and many administrators will not go through CVs that came in months ago unless they really really have to, and it looks like things aren't bad enough for that..

Maybe pilots who recently applies can share some of their experiences about responses..

Rumour I heard was that VB had "updated" their hold file and subsequently lost many applications.
If your O.S mates have not heard it may be they have dropped off the Radar.
Re-apply and hopefully they will be more succesful

Keg, Love your work.

This looks like a cynical, rent seeking attempt to extort the next Federal government using regional Australia as the hostage, to gain another subsidy for profit.

Here they are boasting that their Return On Equity is 23% in the latest Investor Briefing.
‘Privatising profits, socialising the costs’ - Straight out of the National Party play book.

What Keg said.

I am a shareholder in Rex. At least until they release them out of hold and I can sell them.

In other large Companies, lack of Action from Management leading to such a poor situation for Shareholders would result in HEADS ROLLING.

Wun-Hung-Low has in the past indicated his displeasure in the management team he inherited.

--- quote from an email Oct 06:
i will be the first to agree that these managers will not be my first choice for my dream team of the perfect management team. i work with what i have and i think on balance we have done some pretty fabulous things in spite of obvious limitations on the part of most managers.
---

What a waste.

Keg,

A very accurate summation of the situation ! :ok:

When will these management faarkers wake up ??? :ugh:

"You reap what you sow" !........... hear hear ! :D

"If the government can subsidise the education of lawyers, accountants engineers and other professionals, surely it can recognise that the piloting profession is equally worthy of assistance."

Should it be "If Rex can see the pay scales of lawyers, accountants, engineers and other professionals, surely it can recognise that the piloting profession is equally worthy of greater remuneration."

Its a start at least that they recognise it as a professional position, now they just have to recognise it in dollar terms.

Cheers

And the AFAP, God bless their souls, sent me an email regarding the press release with the title:

Pity the big pennies the members pay you are not working for our benefit... :{:ugh:

Still they don't do anything to help the pilots already at REX. :=:rolleyes:

No wonder NJS went to the TWU to get some REAL help! :E

Keg,

Your post was rubbish.

There is a certain little reality that you and most posters to this thread insist on remaining breathtakingly ignorant about:

Rex cannot afford to pay the T&Cs posters here are demanding!

How many times do I have to say this? Don't you think it obvious, especially given that all other similar operators in Australia pay about the same?

You seem to think that upping the T&Cs is as simple a matter as flicking a switch. If it were that simple, don't you think the management would have done that? Obviously you think the management would rather threaten the existance of the company and their own jobs than flick that switch.

And how about a little more honesty? A number of posters are suggesting that with suitable T&C increases, the experienced pilots will remain at Rex.

This is simply not true. You know it, and management know it. The management have recognised that the cadet scheme will bring them far better return on the investment than paying it to the existing pilots.

The Bottom Line
 

What a load of PR Bull#*%t

Media Release " Rex has done all it could and we call on the Government" also quotes They have a very healthy financial position...

so then I don't know maybe >>> PAY MORE = KEEP MORE.. not rocket science

but that is not good for the annual Bonus review is it

... However the minning industry is not paying unskilled labourers well over 100 grand due to the goodness of their hearts... its due to the Operation needs then to keep turning = keep feeding the profits thru = shareholders happy

All these Virgin / Jetstar / Rex / others ..Management types :
Read the other posts here and over the last year or more

We overseas based aussies with more time than you can poke a stick at (realative to recruitment) and not yet grey... are sick of reading about the pilot shortage when our applications go unanswered...

So why is this so... :hmm:

Don't recruit pilots who are used to being paid what they are worth ?....

Don't recruit pilots with more experience than the Management Pilots .....as may pose a threat to their cosy position down the track.

Yes there are those ( minority) who may come in and tell them how to run a real airline ... but that is possible with any recruit given the ego's of many in this industry and just maybe that in itself (ego) helps explain the recruitment thinking of these Recruitment Managers.

" Stuff them all, They chose to leave Aus and go fly that Heavy O/S.. now after making some bucks they want to come home, they can Go Get Fu%#@d " -
We will cancel services rather than meet crewing demands with available Pilot applicants>>>> :ok: Genius

The Aussie mind at work / one hopes this is not the case !

Pilot Shortage ?? Aussies based outside Of home wanting to come home
in their 30s's many with widebody left/Right seat time or
Bizjet or ...the list just goes on.

....Yeah I know .." Flogging a dead horse "

Surely you meant Labour Party play book?

Welcome back aircraft, I hope you’ve acquired a nice tan.
This says otherwise.
Don’t know about this thoughWhich would certainly affect their outlook forThis latest press release was nothing more than a public slap in the face to all of Rex’s current pilots. You might be right after all. It doesn’t matter how much Rex pays now because the pilots won’t stay with a company that despises them. The management mentality obviously wont change.

Aircraft, there are two camps that are widely opposed and you're in the one with big areas of open ground between tents. In my opinion, I don't think Rex can NOT afford to pay pilots more. It's as simple as that. If they can't afford to be in business, then they don't deserve to be in business. If fuel prices go up by 100%, they can afford to pay that. They have to! They are a small fish in a big pond with no influence over fuel prices. What's so different when the price of pilots goes up? They can bleat and bemoan the shortage, appeal to the government and start a cadet scheme. They can blame other airlines for "poaching" their crews. At the end of the day, they're cancelling flights for lack of crew. If they can't afford to pay pilots more, then so be it. They'll simply go out of business. It seems to be a classic case of "cutting off your nose to spite your face".

I'm going to borrow a great saying from a colleague on Qrewroom.

Being monstered by aircraft is like being gummed by a two day old puppy.

I thought you were an advocate of supply and demand? REX doesn't have the supply, they need to pay more. Obviously they need to find the money from somewhere. I'm sure the shareholders would accept a cent or two less per dividend adn pay the pilots more rather than park aeroplanes and get no dividend at all. :rolleyes:

Alternatively they can cut the terms and conditions of the management....they're obviously a dime a dozen considering that these ones couldn't foresee or do anything about a looming pilot shortage in time to avoid parking aeroplanes.

Maybe that's the problem Keg...bonuses tied to share price. Dividends go down. Share price goes down. Cost of capital goes up and bonuses go down.

Lodown...whilst that maybe a component of management bonuses, surely profit is the main driving factor.

Cancelled flights equals lost opportunity for revenue which equals lost profit.

Unless of course they were flights undersubscribed by pax and would not have turned a profit in the first place.

and then..
 

I believe the current "crisis" is two fold.
First, local airlines have had it so good for so long they are very reluctant to try and meet international T&Cs, meaning local pilots flock overseas for better paying jobs etc. This in effect causes a flow on effect at home causing the local airlines to pillage the regionals as they know they will fly the big shinny jets for the going rate. etc etc.
Secondly, the big guys have managed to rape this industry/career so much that young guys/gals no longer see a return for the big investment needed to become a pilot. As was mentioned, get a degree, work Mon-Fri and earn as much..no brainer!!!
My point, the airlines are to blame for the current crisis, the government has helped them out over the years and our cries of foul play have been ignored. (Whinging glorified bus drivers) The profits of these companies are still soaring and they dare ask the government for help!!!! No doubt it will be our fault again!!!
REX: Increase your T&Cs, yes less profits next year. To compete with airlines, how about lifestyle rostering, part time, roster share, profit share, free jumpseat travel and weekend penalty rates. Might just attract some senior guys, fed up with the international flying, come ack to enjoy some good old fashion regional flying without the crap rosters etc etc!!

The solution I believe is not only salary, although they will have to increase and should as they have declined in real terms since '89(no I'm not involved in that dispute on either side) but also one which can offer an improved lifestyle. At present all operators see staff as a liability not an asset and treat them with something akin to utter contempt. F&D limits are'nt limits anymore but targets no matter how ridiculous a roster it produces and pilots basically are expected to show incredible flexibility in accepting changes for no benefit.
There is no reputable union at present, although the NJS pilots seem to be having some joy with their union so that may be a bit harsh, but if there was I suspect it would'nt matter under the present regime in Canberra. What is needed is more input from staff, after all most staff want to see their operator succeed not only for job security but for personal gain as well. That I fear is extremely unlikely as we have a mutual loathing, management treat staff appallingly and in return they are hated for it - all very mature!

Aircraft
Why is it that supply and demand or the "we need to pay the big money to management to attract the people we need" applies to management positions yet the same principle does not apply to the pilots? If REX cannot find pilots at the current pay level surely the wages must rise? And don't forget that REX are hardly coming off a high base wage. Given the cost of a license REX's salaries are well below what would be considered big salaries. I have read your stuff of price elasticity but using that logic REX will just park aeroplanes.

Management teams across the country need to deal with reality. They want people to fund their training and expect to pay them very badly. After 50 years things have come full circle. Either you pay the money for self funded pilots or you pay for all the training and keep salaries at a lower level. I don't see any alternative, as importing pilots won't be an option because there aren't any to import. I suppose you just park you gear against the fence.

Keg, I believe it actually "like being savaged by a dead sheep"

Ladies & Gentlemen, fellow highly esteemed ppruners, I am truly puzzeled as to why, with such a high collective IQ, anyone here actually dignifies Aircrafts fragrently ludicrous posts with a response, let alone reads them - the mind boggles :yuk: