Rex leaves Dubbo passengers stranded in Sydney
 

Article in the Daily Liberal today...

http://dubbo.yourguide.com.au/news/l...r/1186169.html


Sorry, couldnt work out how to copy and paste the whole article into the forum.

Thought it may interest some. Seems like a common occurence these days.

Stranded Rex passengers prompt action - Reserve pilots for all flights on roster


After 30 passengers on a Rex flight from Sydney to Dubbo were left stranded because a pilot called in sick and no reserve pilot was available, the company yesterday promised reserve pilots would be available for all flights from next Monday.
Managing director Jim Davis said more pilots had become available after air routes from Melbourne to Griffith were cut last week, making it possible to maintain reserve pilots for each flight.

“By cutting some of our newer services and recruiting more pilots in the last few months we will have reserve pilots for each flight on the new roster starting Monday,” he said.

“By forgoing the revenue from the cancelled flights to Griffith we are actually spending money to make sure we have reserve pilots.”

Mr Davis claimed the number of active pilots employed by Rex had increased by 10 per cent since October last year.

“This is quite a significant increase considering Australia is experiencing an acute shortage of pilots,” he said.

“Late last year we were terribly short of pilots, now we are slowly recovering our numbers.”

Rex currently employs 212 active pilots but has a target of 240 pilots still to meet.

These pilots work five days a week, one of which is a reserve day.

“In the last few months our pilots haven’t had a day off. They are normally always called in to work on their reserve days which wouldn’t have happened a few years ago,” Mr Davis said.

“We will reach our target soon but at the moment those pilots are in flight school or simulation training.”

Mr Davis said the worldwide shortage of pilots would continue to decimate regional airlines.

“We understand that pilots use regional airlines as a training ground but the drop in available pilots has never been so dramatic,” he said.

“As the larger Australian airlines expand they need more pilots and we can’t compete with the salaries they can offer. Obviously pilots make more money flying a plane of 300 people than they do flying 30 people.

“Lately even the larger airlines have been losing pilots to international

companies so there is a real drain of pilots from Australia at the moment.

“The next few years will be extremely hard on Australian airlines.”

Rex is attempting to halt the pilot drain by training their own pilots in their own pilot school.

“Our cadet program lasts eight months and anyone can apply,” he said.

“Anyone interested in becoming a pilot can apply for our pilot cadet program through the Rex website www.rex.com.au”.

[email protected]

They must be tired Probably pleases aircraft mark 2 though. :yuk:

how can he stomach his own filth?
 

It is so annoying to hear this man talk such rubbish, and act so innocent when it comes to explaining to the public how the flight was cancelled due to the pilots.

Thats right go on and keep blaming them all.......has nothing to do with the fact that numbers are low due to the T & C's the rex pilots work under.......nothing to do with the fact that he is not even interested in offering some money increase to try and hold pilots in their company.......No the rex pilot school will save the day!!!! Everyone just sit back and relax, the school of pilots will save the day.....thats if they even start flying soon, I mean they are graduating in July and haven't seen much of an aircraft yet!!!!!

When will Davis and Kim Hai wake up and realise that they are the cause of most problems and not the pilots calling in sick all the time. Someone needs to alert the public to the b*****t these people keep spinning and tell the public why the rex pilots are all leaving. Majority I know would stay for more money......the jet is not everything to everyone. Of course the money will not be the same as what jet jockeys will get but offering some more has got to help, they should at least try.

With regards to reserve days, he mentions his pilots usually end up working reserve days.......from what i hear it is uncommon at all to have a reserve day, and they usually end up working RDO's as well. Working five days and having a day off, rarely occurs! never mind the RDO,s........ I wonder how safe that is?

Bloody pilots, once upon a time you could shake a tree and they would just fallout or if you advertised a job in NT they drive day and night to get it.
Next the lazy p###ks will want to be paid.
Somebody get on to Julia or Teflon Kev and get this fixed!

Remember REX & the likes are delaing with the general public when they come up against this situation. That same gen public think pilots are paid very well & do little fo it. As`if the spin Dr's of any major airline Co's are going to say pilots are no longer available 'cause we pay 'em peanuts! No, they say what the public want to hear so as to not rock the 'real' boat, not the truth. Should the truth ever be told then I think you will find you have died & have gone to heaven, or wherever pilots go after being flogged up on the surface `!:}(that should be a hint !)


CW


CW

Silly me! I thought that there were Regulations covering flight/duty times.

Dr :8

What did he say that was "rubbish"?

The flight had to be cancelled because a pilot was sick, and he stated this - so it was a perfectly accurate and honest statement.

The shortage of pilots within Rex may be related to their T & Cs, but that is not, strictly speaking, why the flight was cancelled.

"These pilot's are such head cases.......the worst part is that we need more of them!" :E :E :E

Hey, aircraft you moron, he said this that is rubbish. :yuk::=:=

Well, I think it IS why the flight was cancelled. The fact that rex cannot / WILL NOT hang on to their pilots IS the reason that they are short.... and when they are short, they will NOT have reserve coverage when someone IS sick.

Aircraft... are you suggesting that pilots should not call in sick ?

This mess is all of REX's own doing.

Whilst JD may have not said anything that was inherently false, he is misleading the general public, and the even more misinformable media by telling half truths and not actually answering direct questions, which leaves the answer open to interpretation. Which, since these lazy hacks are too irresponsible to get a response from the pilot group or UNION!!!!! means that the pilots are again, painted in a bad light.

Haha, love that they are throwing that little pearler in at the end of the article! Mind you, anyone from Dubbo (given that it was a Dubbo newspaper) would run a mile if they knew that on completion of the cadetship they might be placed with 'old mate' at Airlink! Watch out!

TL

Qualified?
 

I wonder how many applications REX has had from pilots who are qualified and experienced on the equipment they operate.

Ah that's right aircraft mark 2, the truth is because "a pilot called in sick" not because a team of sorry arse mismanagers run an airline that cannot cope with somebody taking a sick day - yea real clever dude.:yuk:

Anybody know what flight/day it was?

Was last Friday, not sure of flight number. Last flight into Dubbo on Fri arvo/evening...

Heres the earlier news story, with flight info...

http://dubbo.yourguide.com.au/news/l...e/1185396.html

OK chaps..... the "journalist" has put his/her email address at the bottom of the last article. Are you all just gonna stay on here preaching to the choir? or is someone actually going to do something about it and email the reporter with THE FACTS as we see them ???

Here is his/her email address : [email protected]

I do not work for REX, or Qlink, and never have worked for KD, QF etc....so I am not in a position to email any "facts" .

Or is PPRUNE going to be like a meeting of the Peoples front of Judea ?

The "story" you're on about is not the same story as was written. Email that reporter and she will tell you that - and then point out that your story probably does not have enough interest relevent to Dubbo.

The story that appeared in the Dubbo paper was about why the flight was cancelled. Your story is about why there was no replacement pilot available.

This seems to be a difficult point for PPRUNERs to grasp, but these are not the same story.

So the relevant facts are different.

That the flight couldn't depart is because it was short a pilot. That is an indisputable fact and that is what has been written - so don't try to tell her that she has her facts wrong.

Your story is about the pilot shortage within REX and your "facts" are to do with things like T & Cs.

It is not the case that the flight was cancelled because of poor T & Cs! Surely that is obvious.

Given that the Dubbo paper has probably already printed articles about REX flight and route cancellations, your story could well be considered not of sufficient interest.

NO!!!! they ARE related. The fact that REX does not have any reserve coverage IS because of their, alledgedly, p!ss poor conditions for pilots! Surely THAT is obvious! When a pilot goes sick, as he or she is responsibly required to do from time to time, there SHOULD be a reserve of pilots! even if there is NO-ONE on reserve, they should be able to ask another pilot to work on their day off.... and not many pilots will do that, as the money offered is, in line with all the other conditions, not very good.
so really.... the flight was cancelled because:
a/ the pilot called in sick AND
b/ REX do not have enough pilots because they have poor terms and conditions, AND
c/ they have not been pro-active in securing experienced pilots who would stay to fly their planes, AND
d/ they could not entice anyone to work because they do not pay enough to work on an RDO.

Aircraft.... why is it that YOU are the only one who thinks that your arguments are valid? why is it that EVERYONE else disagrees with you? doesn't that tell you ANYTHING?

I agree with your argument on this one aircraft.