Back on the road...
 

So throwing it out there,

Currently I'm on the East Coast, stuck in a job that I am hating and am properly over it (not flying), the upside, is that the job has payed me well and I've enough funds to really do whatever I want- at least a couple of months anyway..

I'm kind of excited/ convinced that maybe going for broke and doing a small road trip toward the West Coast and stopping in at the offices (Adelaide, Alice and Perth + in-between) that take my fancy.. kind of like most of us would have done when chasing that fist GA job, only difference now is that I'm significantly more experienced.. Will definently get a few no's but may just get that opportunity to start back as an ops assistant or something...

Now before the haters come in- I have Turbine and Jet type ratings, so not just a fresh cpl, I've got my Lux and interested to give it another crack.. Somewhat reminiscent of when i did it 6 years ago as a freshy, or maybe the romantic nostalgia has taken over and it will be horrible..

Thoughts and Opinions?

Be aware of the quarantine requirements when traveling between different states. Whilst I wouldn’t hold out much hope, you never know unless you try.

As long as you aren’t going to run out of money and are gambling everything on finding a job, it can’t hurt. Worst case is a knock back from every operator, but you might make a few useful contacts for when things pick up again.

Let us know how you get on.

At this moment, so does everyone else out there on the road!

Up skill yourself in other areas that you may be interested in or get into the ag industry driving headers.

Pilot jobs are like hens teeth at the moment, even flying a Cessna 172:

Unless you have some deep desire to fly a c210 around the outback for less than jobseeker income, why would you bother?

I’d stay put.
do something you half enjoy and wait for things to pick up again.
By all means send cvs and put the feelers out, but I wouldn’t be packing up the 4wd and heading north mid pandemic/recession.

Would the local operator up north hire the young local boy or girl just starting out that is familiar with the area or someone with multiple thousand of hours On Jets that has been earning 3 times as much, that will probably run away at any time?

Well that is the answer I got from one from one of my mates who runs a local operator way up north when I asked him how recruitment has changed for him.

To digress slightly, that reminds me of what can happen when an airline jock tries his hand at GA. True story coming up, but as it happened over 50 years ago, the guilty party is unlikely to be identified.
My boss was very pleased to have engaged an ex-Bristol Britannia pilot who had returned from Blighty. He thought this guy's experience would teach us sprogs a thing or two. Anyway, off goes the ace in a Cessna 205 (maybe it was a 210 or a Comanche 260 - my memory fails me - but the important bit is that it was fuel-injected). Somewhere out the back of B.F. Nowhere he decides he needs a leak, so lands on a salt lake, shuts down, relieves himself, then attempts to start a very hot injected engine. Soon he has run the battery flat. I can't remember whether he had enough amps left to call for help on HF or whether someone picked him up on VHF, but he was rescued soon enough. Too soon really - a couple of days out there may have taught him some respect for the outback.
For punishment he was banished to a base we had at Dampier (now Karratha), but this guy had a problem concentrating on the task at hand. Failing to show for duty one morning he was eventually flushed out of the pub at Roebourne where he had met and fallen madly in love with a barmaid.
Last heard of working in pub.

Does the story have a happy ending Mach E Avelli? :ooh:

Or did he wind up marrying her?:E

TCH TCH .....................................

To be fair, don’t the young ones run away at any time? Shiny twin/ turbine/ jet syndrome is probably stronger for them.

At the moment, probably not. Not many places to run off to for around 5 years.

I agree, but that applies to all. Personally I would be looking for the right fit for the job, not saying that ex jet jocks are necessarily that (at all!) but shouldn’t just rule them out.

Perhaps Skippy had a solid GA background before onto the jets and possibly the turbine rating(s) are decent ones such as Caravan or King Air ? Being in the right place at the right time is the key and he could walk in to an operator who needs a decent level of experience to meet the insurance requirement for a mine contract.

I wouldn't hold out much hope for those who haven't touched anything smaller than a B737 for the last 20 years, but GA pilots had a falling experience level prior to COVID as people were moving through to the airlines relatively quickly and operators might want a few old hands as replacements.

There are jobs out there Skippy, I pulled a gig that a few laid off airline pilots applied for. I had the skill set they wanted. And everyone knows that as soon as things come good, those fellas would have been out of there. A mate of mine lost his airline gig, but has just gotten back in with his old mob. Goes both ways eh, the reason he got his old job back? He didn't skip out on his bond when he left the last time, he's not a d!ckhead and he told the boss he would give them at least two years, he did last time so they trust him.

Get into drones, there are quite a few ex airline pilots who have jumped over. The transition is reasonably easy and there are plenty of good opportunities which will continue for years. Dollars aren’t to bad either if you can get hooked up with a good operator. If you’re a bit of an entrepreneur and got a bit of cash to splash, get your own ReOC and start your own business!

Go do it.
Don’t listen to the haters