That order will be made later in the year. Roughly around 10 A350s, along with the announced 20 A321s. The Winton SH replacement project will run for 12 years so more A320/321 aircraft will be progressively introduced over that decade.

Now if you're waiting for firm orders to be made before jumping ship from a "secure" job you'll just start further down the list when you do apply. A group of new hire SOs has already started last month, and more every month now indefinitely. Wait until a confirmed order of new aircraft is made, and you'll be dozens, maybe even hundreds of places further down the list. However if you make an intelligent guess about what's going to happen (ie a lot of recruitment planned from now into the future) you can see they've got plans, and aren't just recruiting people for fun.

So the exact number of current orders is........................................?

Not totally true. That was the plan until the next two courses got cancelled, due to the clogged pipe that is the training department……

Who knows after the two cancelled courses. Might be even more canceled due to a rumored record NTFS for this training year. Or just lots of outsourced training, but good luck with that given how much training is going on in the US, they’ve probably locked in training all over the world.

Lezzeno, it is a very round number.

Basing a major career decision on the last 2 years and being influenced by which group fared best would be a big mistake. Having pandemics on the scale of Covid-19 is NOT the new normal. I will be surprised if we see something similar to this again in our lifetimes/careers. Remaining at National Jet would carry as much risk as moving to QF mainline. For example, the B717 is being retired, and there's no guarantee that the A220 will replace it. NJS's fate will ride on the negotiations and if an agreement is reached, otherwise known as 'Alan has you by the short and curlies'. The truth is no one has any idea how things will play out. Some will make the right decisions, some will not, but such is life.

It may as simple, to some, as observing how the Airlines were impacted during the last two years. Airline pilots were working at Hardware Shops and Auspost, while the Regional world (FIFO) continued on almost "Ops Normal". So I can very much appreciate how making the move would be a difficult decision. Yes, it's unlikely to happen again in our life times, but we now know how the Aus Gov react and what it means for us.

Gaining a command in this business is personally very important, but remember there is so much more to life than sitting on the left hand seat.

I make no judgement on peoples decisions. All I know is what I would do.

I wonder if AU airlines are thinking they will struggle in the near further as things ramp up. AJ offering shares to eligible employees as retention bonus, VA doing a spread on ACA tonight need employees from Pilots to gate staff. JQ will need crew to cover the LR arriving from July. Already looking like a pilots market again and China hasn’t even come knocking yet.

Just keep in mind that the QF pilots voted in a B scale for new SOs back in 2020
So on the Airbus you will top out at 65% of current top Airbus hourly rate
Say its all good , well you might feel different if as a 12 year SO you make 200 versus other SO on the trip who makes 300k

Welcome back, Telfer. What have you been up to whilst on LWOP? I’m guessing you made a lot of money as an industrial advocate.

Thank you for persuading all the S/O’s to take LWOP. If it hadn’t have been for you, so many S/O’s would have joined the long list of compulsory redundancies.

I’m very happy for you that you are back on $300K, and I really feel for the jealous $200K S/O’s who are flying and drinking with you. Perhaps if you bought them a beer and shared your remarkable insights with them they would forgive the salary inequity, and look up to you as a true aviation industry industrial mentor.

If you buy them a nip of single malt they might even vote for your next tilt at AIPA President.

We really have to fix this $200K S/O problem, otherwise we might be getting the wrong people in the job.

I wonder how many pilots who left or were otherwise not working as pilots will be coming back?

How many have found driving trains or trucks a much better option?

Not many. A few who are well established in other employment have asked to have their training deferred - something the airline are happy with as they cant train everyone at once and there's far more wanting to start now than defer. One I know of, bought an excavator and established a successful business for the last 18 months and loved being home with family every night, but that doesn't pay the bills quite as comfortably and thus he took the first opportunity to re-train and get back to flying.

A few who retired or resigned are still in the industry flying corporate aircraft and other GA flying.

None that I know of and I know of at least a dozen. Some are doing a little casual driving as their flying rosters are fairly 'relaxed'.

Tried it, hated it, couldn’t find the crew rest or any hosties to bring me a coffee.

Couldn’t agree more. The other factor that gets dismissed too easily - don’t forget why most of us got into Aviation - passion for flying. The lifestyle that it brings is just the icing on the cake.

I reckon fellas and ladies with seniority will flock back, those without may be making other decisions.

With the rumoured recruitment about to take place over the next few years those without seniority are going to have it very soon.

Whenever there has been a pause in recruitment in recent decades there generally isn’t a mass abandonment of the company. There’s few things more desired than a number on the mainline seniority list. Sure some will take LWOP, but very few will bite the bullet and resign for good to venture into other pastures. I’d estimate less than 1% of the total pilot group have resigned prematurely in the last 20 years to take up another career, whether it be in aviation or out.

Qantas link Canberra - 717
 

Is Qantas doing recruitment for CBR 717 jobs or does Cobham still do it?

Qantas. National Jet Systems (the 717's) are no longer part of Cobham.

Anyone currently an SO care to share a rough idea of earnings, or is the current thread we have on it still correct?

Info from current SOs
 

Hi All

Lifestyle has been mentioned several times and I understand that LH crews typically work about 30 to 50% of an equivalent full time roster of eg domestic crew. What I'm interested to hear is what's the journey like. For eg are you looking at your watch every 30 mins dreaming that this epic flight would finish?

2) how much does it knock you around both on slips and back home?

3) is there enough time to see things at destination?

4) does it effect home lifeuch with being away for 4 to 6 days at a time?

5) is the job interesting? To be honest I don't care much about being pic after all these years and quite happy for someone else to worry about whether there's enough fuel but interested to know if the trips are still interesting enough? I guess it's what you make of it?

Anyway keen to hear. I'm now 40 and so just interested to hear how it effects us maturing folk.