Dont tell me ALG :ugh:

JHAS still do all hanger maintenance for TT, but have lost the line work in MEL...

How's JHAS doing?
 

Hi guys and gals,

Hear (and read on pprune) JHAS is losing contracts in MEL and may soon fall over.
How much of that is real? And how are the line stations doing then?

If MEL falls down so will the other ports?

Hope anyone has some genuine info.

Thanks!!

Yes they are losing contracts.
They are losing another contract on Dec 31 in the hangar in Mel.
So I guess the NG guys will get the boot on Jan 01.

Not sure about the falling over bit, thats debateable.

Your post sounds like you may have been offered a position with a JHAS line station?
Since your profile has "EU" for location, I don't need to ask your nationality if you have been offered a position. Thats another debate on another thread.

The majority of people here at JHAS have their resume's out in the market, just like everyone else. So as soon as another operator starts hiring there will be movement away from JHAS. Right now the guys left standing are just waiting for the next round of layoffs in 6 weeks or so.

Thanks aintsaying.

To stop new rumours from starting; I hold a 175 PR visa, not a 457 and I've read the 457 thread. I haven't been offered a position.

The LAME jobmarket is extremely difficult right now (specially VIC) and I don't wanna get onboard the wrong ship. But still,...if ever offered such position I may have to consider since there's nothing else.

Its not a bad place to work. The majority of the people on the floor are really great to be around. The knowledge base of the guys is quite extensive. But if the place continues to be run in its current direction the people will leave, weather they have a job to go to or not.
JHAS has its fair share of problems. And from a shop floor perspective, we know mistakes are being made in the other operators shop floor as well, but their issues are kept quiet. Any little issue at JHAS gets blasted across the forum.
Biggest issue at JHAS is communication. Email communication is too big, actual speech via mouth is too small. Its at all levels, and is not helped by the division of day/night shifts.
Best of luck with your job search if you decide to come to Australia, best option is jump into the contracting positions to stay afloat and then hope/pray/wish a full time position comes your way.

Quote"They are losing another contract on Dec 31 in the hangar in Mel.
So I guess the NG guys will get the boot on Jan 01"
Ouch !!

JHAS rumour mill
 

Yes, the black cloud is still hanging over JHAS. 30+ redundancies in the last couple of months inc 10 from the line/ perm night shift - plus a few who tried to get voluntary redundancy and weren't successful and have decided to leave the ship before it sinks!

Tiger & Jetstar at present have re-signed until mid 2013 and talks on going with VA. Trouble being it appears there are no more 'V' checks booked in at JHAS after 31/12/12..............a little bit ominous I feel! If that is the case then the axe will certainly be wielded!! Guys are certainly looking elsewhere and hope that Jetstar/VA do some heavy recruiting or they'll be joining Ford on the handout queue - but at least they got a decent payout.

Word has it a guy who was made redundant hadn't reached his target hours for the past year, so JHAS deducted the hours short from his redundancy payout leaving him with virtually nothing - what an absolute disgrace, surely illegal??:\

JHAS For Sale?
 

Is Leightons about to cut JHAS loose? Anyone working there able to shed some light on the news article recently published in Western Australia?

Holmes a Court dismisses sale talk - The West Australian

JH Melbourne XXXX
 

did i hear right John holland MJB shut its hanger today , cant find any threads on it ???

Hey golden rivet nice name and interesting post!

As I'm hearing it from some of the guys they got told Heavy is finished.

40 redundancies in Heavy, plus some more in Line and Admin.

Virgin down to A330 and Wheels/Brakes
- probable pulling of contracts to get value down so they can buy the place for a rock bottom price

Jetstar - contract terminated at end of year.

Tiger - gone to a crew who want to win RAAF work on civilian platforms

Qantas - never gave JHAS a lot of work, rather unlikely to now as they have been trying to get JHAS on board for a fair while but JHAS couldn't put the right package together.

Shame really, it's a fantastic set of assets and skills. Hopefully whoever picks it up will make something more of it. For those who worked there in 2007, I still remember a lot of names and the faces that go with them. Good luck guys, hope something good comes your way.

B1 B2 ERJ 135
 

JETGO are looking for several engineers in Brisbane I am led to believe both B1 and B2 Also a Engineering Manager Good Luck!

dam you got it first

That I don't know. The intel suggests Jetstar gave JHAS some very specific requirements when they were last negotiating the contract and it was touch and go back then. JHAS scraped across the line with a 6 month extension but they dropped the ball commercially and Jetstar have had enough.

Personalities have also come into play which is an even tougher problem to overcome.

I'd love to see an employee collective or similar structure take the opportunity to really make a difference. The numbers are very very tough, no question of that, various overseas MROs are selling LAME hours for less than a base LAME
salary, that's a very tough market to compete in. There are solutions but they involve some really tough, cooperative decisions.

There *IS* a solution that keeps aviation engineering in Australia but it represents a fundamental shift of HOW we work. I have always argued that salaries aren't the problem, it doesn't make that much difference if Qantas give a 2.5% or 3% or 3.5% pay rise, if we want to keep the engineering side alive in this country we are going to have to figure out how to get rid of as many of the inefficiencies that we can and get our maintenance programs well and truly "leaned out". That was part of the principle behind bringing in salaries, the concept is to give the guys an opportunity to work less hours but with a guaranteed income whilst getting the aircraft out by actively rewarding people for getting the job done more efficiently.

It didn't work, not sure why, it has worked elsewhere, but somehow something got lost in the translation.

I have seen many times in career statements to this effect. There is a simple problem that won't go away - and that is the human element in itself. The legislation is quite clear on what is required of a LAME to do his/her job, ESPECIALLY in regards to supervision. It's explicit, there is no grey area. There are punitive fines out there for breaches in the legislation.

When I hear management types say we need to do things differently, it usually means join the race to the bottom and have minimal comparatively higher paid LAME's overseeing the AME's doing the work. The thing is, generally, you won't get LAME's in Australia that will accept a system that has them 'overseeing' vast numbers of unlicenced people doing tasks. There never will be a possibility of competition with other MRO's in the region that only have 2 LAME's overseeing an entire C check with cheap labor doing the work. If that's what it takes to keep jobs in this country, then in my opinion it's work that doesn't pay enough for the potential risk of losing your livelihood should something go wrong. And it only needs to go wrong once for your life to be ruined.

And good luck defending yourself against 1000's of pages of legislation, policy manuals and the like. They're not written to protect the actual worker at the coalface.

The belief that managements will be "happy" with the dispatch of the inefficiencies that apparently plague the industry is misplaced. No management has ever been content with agreements that contain increased efficiency practices for long. It's about them getting bonuses for meeting their KPI's than anything else. There is ALWAYS the next one after the current one. Conversations go something like this." You beauty, we've held them down to a fraction of the demands and forced them into financial hardship enough to pressure them to accept our meagre offer. The bonus is locked in now so let's see what we can do to trim down the cost to us in delivering the agreed terms. Hmmmm.. what about delaying the PPE for 6 months saying we are negotiating with a supplier and a further 6 months saying that the quality of samples aren't up to acceptable standard. We'll save on that one.......now where's that Chivas Regal?"
To take that further, distrust between employer and employee has been endemic for years, no, decades, and this has been despite the efforts of some very good managers along the way. Employee reps and union officials have next to no chance when planning like this is under way.
There are limits to changing the way things are done and when those limits are reached, companies look to overseas MRO's. Those MRO's offer lower costs by paying lower wages, having less oversight, minimal OH&S and supervision complicit in ensuring "on time and under budget" outcomes. Bonuses are paid to encourage this. Lower wages look to continue for quite some time to come.

This might just sound cynical about airline companies, but the truth of the matter is that no company is happy to spend more money than they have to get the outcome they want and as a result the employees become disengaged. Especially when they find that the extra they put in through dedication and commitment is not appreciated and look for something tangible.
It would be nice to keep work in Australia, but it's all hanging by a thread at the moment. For instance, Qantas is on a restructuring program to reduce LAME's to a minimum and get AME's to do more for less.

Gents (600ft lb, Aeromedic): That is the KEY reason behind introducing salaries. It preserves and protects what the guys who do the work get paid regardless of how many hours they spend on the job. As such the focus shifts from being about hours in attendance to work completed. If you get paid the same for doing the same work in 75% of the time the incentive becomes all about finding the efficiencies to get the job done.

Again, to be clear, pay rates are not the problem. I can't comment on what it is like today but previously the pay rate differential for a SIAEC LAME and a QF LAME were not major contributors to cost problems.