Network Aviation East Coast
 

Network Aviation operated an A320 into Brisbane recently. Is this the first step of AJs plan to get rid of those expensive 737 pilots operating QLD mine site charters? Hard to keep up with the cheap E-Jets from Alliance soon to be taking as much work from QF as possible.

What Qld mine site charters? I think Alliance and VA have a lot of dancing to do before QF joins in to the Pride of Erin with the Leprechaun.

The only destination that QF 737s operate to inland in Queensland is Isa, and that’s RPT not charter.

It was a charter direct into BNE from a WA mine. It then operated another charter back to PER

https://flightaware.com/live/flight/...330Z/YEWA/YBBN

I think you'll be seeing a lot more a320 activity on the east coast next year. Was only a matter of time.

Great, might make AIPA pay some attention, instead of worrying whether $400k to fly an A350 is underpaid.

Was always the plan,now just a lot easier.
Similar to the new routes recently announced for the 717s.

There is a new era about to dawn on us all. A refurnished competitor, growing charter company, another new new competitor going to give it a go that has the gov in their back pocket.

The 717 is a completely different scale - it’s there to stop a competitor bringing in E-Jets or CRJs. Not much point flying a 737 around with 60-80 people on board. The 320 is a direct replacement at a lower cost base. Look at the WA market. Where a 737 with appropriately paid flight crew used to operate regular RPT routes to BME, KTA, PHE now cheaply crewed 320s are doing it. From a business point of view it would make sense to start A320 to Cairns/Isa ect

Only a matter of time before Qlink a320's take over all 737 operations. Cheaper crew, easier loading/unloading, better reliability, now with outsourced ground handlers even easier to operate everywhere. Noneed for overpaid pilots or engineer's.

Not at all, actual quite the opposite and significantly too.....

Why stop there? Nothing stopping them from doing SYD-MEL-BNE, it might take that for the union to finally notice

I'm certain the union has noticed but what, pray tell, are they supposed to do?

1. The vast majority of their members are stood downing meaning no $$ coming in.
2. There is no legal option for taking any form of industrial action.
3. Even if they COULD take industrial action, the consequences of any such action would pale into insignificance when viewed against what COVID and border closures have managed to do the company.
4. Take the company to court? With what $$ and on what basis? Unions hardly have a stellar record when it comes to taking legal action against QANTAS.

Network will doubtless expand with red tails and take both opportunities and conditions from Mainline pilots. We've been watching the same pattern now for 20 years since the acquisition of Impulse. The best predictor of future behaviour is past behaviour. Exactly what that means as it plays out time will tell. Expect it to be somewhere in the range between a crap EA offer next time around with a "take-it-or-leave-it" approach up to and including redundancy. That's the range of possible outcomes. Where will it fall? No idea.

knob of the year post material right there.

How many 737's have been replaced with 717's over the years? it is only a matter of time before the 717's get replaced with a320's. your kidding yourself if you don't think this will happen. punter's don't know the difference as long as its a red tail. cobham, impulse, network, qantas, same same.

Would network really be the replacement for Qantas short haul (737)?
There are approx 650 737 pilots in mainline.
There has been the token fso issued inviting mainline pilots to take lwop where after passing the selection hurdles join network. However looking at the fine print to be eligible, one needs to be endorsed on the 320 and have time on type.
We all know that allows training costs to be omitted from the groups cash burn. Bugger all 737 drivers with 320 time.
But what is the end goal?
Will the 650 pilots be absorbed into network to fly the 320?
Or will this pilot group be absorbed into Longhaul? That area of the Qantas due to the pandemic is shrinking for now.
Will the pilot group be made redundant? Probably not possible industrially and also extremely expensive to the qantas group to pay out the pilots in theory.
Isnt this the same pilot group that have provided the greatest profit to qantas every year since the gfc?...

It won’t be a complete replacement, not even close. It will be a gradual takeover of routes as aircraft become available.

Brisbane will be the first base as an all economy Jet can do Cairns and Isa with no-one even blinking.

Even a 20-30% takeover of 737 routes is a huge cost saving to the company. It also provides protection against industrial issues (PIA) as they can keep the punters moving.

Won't happen. It's too expensive and serves very little purpose. It's all been said before. Get your hands off it gentlemen.

Join the PPRUNE Gym where you get your exercise by jumping to conclusions!

Your missing the point of old A320s which are highly unreliable. They are nothing but engineering nightmares. Mainline customer satisfaction and corporate contracts are very important, wouldn’t want to cede too much of that business to Virgin with a young fleet and new machines on the horizon, all due to cheap A320s with bull**** reliability.

It will happen.
The current Eastern/Sunstate Chief Pilot is heading to Network early next year as head of standards / alternate chief pilot. His mission, should he choose to accept it, is to sort out Network, get it integrated into the QF group properly so they can slide into east coast bases in a year or so.
Probably lines up nicely with 717 fleet retirement anyway, those things are about as reliable as my mitsubishi sigma.