No one is offloading Q400 frames. Even then, whos money are they going to use to buy them?
I honestly think their quarterly will be very interesting.

The world is just returning to pre-Covid levels of travel. The post Covid travel bubble was just the unexpected kick off, that everyone thought would be much slower. Interest rates are at normal levels, not high or low, sub 3% is very low, 1980s style 12% is high. The only thing that's different today for Australia is house prices, but considering the amount of Aussies that have paid off, or have paid down their mortgage considerably it does not affect a huge segment of the population. That is why there is no house price crash or adjustment, people can still afford houses, even paying cash outright. Add to the equation that higher interest rates is better for retirees with cash accounts.

If you are cash poor with high debt, life sucks right now. If you have cash and assets of value, life is good.

As for lots of used aircraft becoming available. That's completely against the current trend. Deliveries on new aircraft are slow, Airbus is way behind, Boeing is still struggling with Max issues. The news at present is that more pressure is on airlines to retain older fleet pushing up the price of used 'frames'. Q400s are high usage aircraft, with lots of maintenance issues, if anyone thinks they can buy old ones and they will be like the SAAB 340 in terms of reliability, they are digging a big muddy hole to wallow in.

Between five lessors there are 48 Q400s stored at the moment, out of 151 of the fleet stored, including ex Horizon birds and other fleet retirements, so there is no shortage of frames. NJE lease all of their newer equipment anyway, so they can just rely on the operating cashflow to do it.

The cancellations are not due to low load factors but because of a lack of crew. REX on the other hand is looking more like Wiley Coyote as he runs off the cliff, the fall is delayed a few seconds until he realises there is no ground beneath him.

My guess is the only current cashflow is from PAG, which is running out fast. They're having to send Saab crew to the US for type rating training because they pissed off Ansett Sim centre. The crew that are left, both on the 73 and the Saab are still leaving in droves (moreso from the Saab). No one is applying other than for the cadetship and that is putting a huge strain on available lhs upgrades. It's hard to take a RHS on a saab at a 60k salary. You can make the same at Bunnings or Woolies.

How would they even expand with Q400s in the current financial climate? It would mean they would be limited to routes also served by Qantaslink which is completely against their own business plan.

New here, can any current employee enlighten me on what's the roster like for SAAB captains?

Thanks

Sydney based skipper
65-75 flying hrs a roster
2-3 Perth trips a roster flying over there seems to be standard now
8 RDOs a roster
Message me if you want to know anything else!

Pick a base you don’t want to live in because you will never be there anyway.

28 day roster, 8-10 days off, most east coast captains getting rostered anywhere up to 1-3 weeks out of base in Perth, Brisbane, Cairns, Townsville

How many legs/sectors do you guys fly in a day?
Thanks for the response!

Anywhere from 2 to 6 sectors

Rex is a great product. Better aircraft and friendlier cabin staff than everyone else they compete with.

Suggestion to slow the departure of aircrew would be to immediately bin the Lowly Flt Ops gent (ex-other airlines) who seems to be the catalyst for so much disharmony in that dept & make the pilots feel a vital, respected part of the team.

Big egos like that do way more harm than good. The industry needs to purge this 1950's, self-serving nonsense and get with the times.

Eric, I left the place just under a decade ago, comments from follow pilots that are still there, seems nothing has changed.
So don’t hope for it to change.

How are their B737 better?

​​​​​​​Cabin crew, well that varies on the day. Good and poor with both the majors. Mostly good though.

Not sure how you define better aircraft if you are referring to their regional operation.

Sure the Saabs are reliable and economical, but better in what way? Comfort on the ground on a hot day? Not sure a Saab could compare to the APU equipped aircraft that the competitors are using....

Ice cold, better than my APU in my opinion thanks to their air con hose setup…

eric culturally they despise direct entry captains. I started with 8. We all quit within 3 months, most didn’t make the aeroplane.

Quit? Or were you relentlessly pillaged by a rival?

Meanwhile over at Pel Air there is an issue with three failure to pressurise ascents over a short period, I suppose you get what you pay for ;)

Thanks for all the info, this helps a lot but it doesn't surprise me. Most concerns,issues and dilemma pilots face between airlines are same-same around the world. Correct me if I'm wrong.
Despise? Thats a strong word mr. dejapoo. Are you saying rex SAAB fleet culture would make things difficult particularly for direct entry left seat?

You wont have an issue with direct entry LHS if you take a regimented approach to the way they fly the saab. The people are great, the management is by far the worst I've dealt with. Your decision making is always under the microscope. It's never the fault of fatigue, 35 year old aircraft with crappy refurbished parts or management team.

You wont have an issue with direct entry LHS if you take a regimented approach to the way they fly the saab. The people are great, the management is by far the worst I've dealt with. Your decision making is always under the microscope. It's never the fault of fatigue, 35 year old aircraft with crappy refurbished parts or management team.