Ahhh, better get my CPL, MECIR, Twin Endorsement, Turbine Time, ATPL and about 1500 hours so i can get out of this internal office and stop buzzing around in bug smashers on the weekends...

Norman

Once again they cant even fill the currently advertised commands how are they going to fill another 70. Their C&T department will have to change its philosphy from no training and all check although its forgives its own when they overspeed just about everything on the aircraft but retain their sim and C&T position.

Not entirely sure how you came up with 70. Based on 7 new airframes you can expect to see 30+ extra crews, so 30 Captain Upgrades and 60 New FOs. When you look at the level of recruiting going on at the moment I would say they would have the 60 new guys by mid next year. None of those numbers includes natural attrition of pilots which seems to be picking up now Virgin are recruiting.

WA tenders close this week and winners announced in Aug/Sep - so not long till we find out where these extra q400's are going then.
Plenty of local talent in WA for Qlink to pick up - particularly if they go for direct entry commands. As vigi stated, they can't even fill current vacancies so DECs are entirely feasible.

Not sure on how the union will look at dec, but then like ppl have said may not have a choice

rmcdonal,

Do the math buddy. 7 new airframes and where are the commands coming from??? The Sustaining Fleet!!

Who's going to fill the sustaining fleet commands. 30+ to 400 and 30+ sustaining fleet, plus normal attrition etc etc. When I went to school these figures added up to @ 70 give or take a tad :ok:

Vigi,

You are preaching to the converted mate, I know I was one. However, not all the T&C Capts are as you described. There are quite a few great blokes there, but unfortunately a couple of individuals spoil it for everyone. PM, JT,JF, MN just to name a few are great guys, and the Mgr of T&D is a great guy and friend of mine, and doesn't get the support he needs.

will they look overseas?

Pin

The last 400 commands went to 400FOs, none of the 300 Capts wanted to move across. But even if they do that still only equals 30+ extra commands. Either way it's happy days for any FO that has been in for about 2 years and has the requirements. :ok:

DECs are possible based on the current EBAs, however you would still have a seniority less then anyone employed before you, so as all the FOs you jumped come up for command they will straight away be more senior to you in bidding/ holidays etc.

....and you'll be first laid off when they pull out of WA

Don't get too excited yet. In true Qantas style you will need to bid for the WA work against Cobham to operate the aircraft as was the sham when they bid against Jetstar to fly the B717's. And of course it will all come down to pilot wages as the governing factor as to who gets the gig......

Hi from the Northern Hemisphere!

We had our 146 replaced by a Q400 a couple of years ago, and it's not bad at all to fly. Matches the 146 on 1 hr sectors and is as quiet and comfortable as the old lady was. It'll out climb a loaded airbus too, so the performance is remarkable considering you can get through less than a tonne of fuel in that hour.

One thing though, Q400s don't age well. They don't like wet weather and don't like sloppy maintenance either. The NVS system is overworked if the prop vibration is left close to limits and cold weather plays havoc with the boots and prop de-ice systems too.

Not that you suffer too much down there with that.......

The APU has plenty of air for air/con but they boil over very quickly if the APU is u/s.

Landings take a lot of patience and luck too......one good thing about older examples is the compression damping goes off so the landings get luckier as a result.

Enjoy!

If Qantaslink (sunstate/eastern) decide to operate Q400's in WA they may well be crewed out of sydney/brisbane/melbourne a WA base may not be necessary. Remember the cadets are now getting ICUS... so i doubt DEC will be needed

It's not up for QF to decide to operate in WA....

If they tender and are awarded any routes then you will see the Q400's operating. But I would have thought 70seats into some towns would be a little too big?

Push towards RPT services
 

There are a few other subtleties at play here - if you read the WA air services proposal it also states that charter companies are only allowed to fly ONE charter service to any RPT destination per company per week. That will push a lot more people onto the RPT services and could quickly fill a few 74 seaters.

If you read it again, you will see that they are allowed to operate more than one charter per week with ministerial approval...

Roger, that's the current policy now anyway so I don't think that will change the loads significantly. The routes up for tender that Qantas would be looking at for the Q400's (ABA & ESP) wouldn't be classed as mining Centres so the fly-in/out charters are minimal anyway. GEL is becoming more mining orientated now with the mid-west iron ore but rumours are it will become a jet route anyway.

However, increased competition and the subsequent air war would more than likely increase the loads to the ports.

Did anyone think that QF link ordered these additional 400's to replace their 300's on eastern states routes? We may then see some 300's in Perth operated by Cobham for Qlink. Cobham already operate 300's and have their association with Qlink so the transition would be simple.

A captain moving from the 300 to the 400 is not a new command.

7 new machines = approx 35 new commands.

Your mathmatics logic has been compromised!

Back door,

Who said NEW commmands?? Your words not mine. I said " word on the street is there will be 70 commands". I did not mention the word NEW. YOU DID.
Anyway, whichever way you look at it, there IS 70 Commands next year.

YOUR LOGIC AND REPRESENTATION OF WHAT I SAID HAS BEEN COMPROMISED.

So when does the next ground school kick off?

Normasars and BackdoorBandit.
How about we just leave it as 70+ commands possibly to be advertised with only 30 of those to be on the new 400s, and the remainder to be consequential.

bagchucka
1 every month or so. :ok: