NZ aviation market - bottoming out

[Civil Disobedience]

Hello,

just wondering if this would be a good time to get back into aviation. I understand there is now no hiring from 'big brother', and hence the trickle down effect....

I did my CPL in the mid 90's and experienced the bottom of the 'cycle' then, hence my tentativness. So I'm hoping we are not going to go through all that again. e.g. 3000TT min for right seat on 15 seater.

I have 500 TT 150 m/e, and obviously a very uncurrent MEIR.

May contemplate doing the ol' C-Cat, and when I think about it, I have no aversion to doing. Bearing in mid of course, the pitfalls of choosing the establishment where to do this.

Any wise foresight and suggestions would be gratefully received by this Generation X'er.

[mattyj]

Hmmm..even when the aviation job market was pumping 18 months ago, there was still a hardcore group of GA owners who refused to adjust their pay and conditions to suit the times. Its sad that the hiring couldn't go on for a little longer just to make it happen. Now they'll all be chuckling that its back to the 1980s slave labour market

It will be a great day when employers pay the average wage for pilots

[DeltaT]

If you don't mind going to Australia it would be worth a look and trying to get something there. I dare say it might even be a speedier progression there than NZ.

[Civil Disobedience]

Thanks for the suggestion re Australia. I did the Slingair (Kununurra) stint back in the late 90's when still single, unmortgaged, and kid-free (well, as far as I know anyway), but this is not an option now due to acquiring all three of the above.

I did my MEIR training through GBA back when they were touting free (?) 20 hours co-pilot time as a carrot. This co-pilot time was never finished, as I broke my leg in a skiing accident, so I wonder......? Who is the go-to person there these days ?

[DeltaT]

GBA did interviews about a month ago.
(pay $100 a day)

[solowflyer]

So $75 in the hand what a joke

[DeltaT]

I can't remember now if that was net or gross, I think it was net in the hand.
But if you are doing duty of 10hr+ ...minimum wage?

[minimum_wage]

Might be a joke but got me into a nice shiny plane with a working autopilot, and room to stand up.
Small pain for big gain.

[Civil Disobedience]

Thanks for the feedback. I see a lot more diligence required by me on this.

[The Green Goblin]

Might be a joke but got me into a nice shiny plane with a working autopilot, and room to stand up.
Small pain for big gain.

And this is why Pilots bring the doom on themselves, the gain in the end becomes 'pain' because someone will always sell their mother, and do it cheaper than you will. ANZ along with the regionals, have not hired for a while, so suck up the pain and reep what you sowed.

GG

[minimum_wage]

GG,

What the are you talking about? Do you even live in NZ?
Air Nelson are just starting more guys off a recently finished ground course, plus a bunch of guys doing their line training, and Eagle are interviewing for 11 f/o's very soon.

No one will work for free and shouldn't, but GA pays what it pays. Thats life in NZ. No one has to sell their mother or soul. I sure as hell didn't, and wouldn't have worked for free either. I'm reeping the sweet sweet crop I sowed and it ain't too bad from my seat up above the GA crowd.

[The Green Goblin]

Your dreaming mate,

Sun air just lost its freight gig, so the drivers are lucky to do a flight a week and eagle wont be taking anyone on anytime soon!

Let's face it, you can drive everywhere in NZ pretty quickly, that really limits GA charter and plentiful RPT, most kiwi pilots leave the 9th state and head for the mainland.

[flysaucer1200]

Really??

Dear MR/MRS minimum_wage, where did you hear this information from??

Is this true, Eagle hiring 11 fo's, sounds exciting

And, Nelson, too

Is this true????

Fs1200

[solowflyer]

My guess is they are interviewing 11 CTC cadets, not hiring.

Its a rite of passage in any industry to start off on lower wages and work up from there, but they need to still pay a [U]FAIR[/U] wage that leaves a little over for food after having to pay most of their $75 for a tank of petrol to get to the airport in the first place.

[Cypher]

Air NSN just interviewed last week. (hmm you might want to tell the boys and girls that were interviewed last week that Air Nelson aren't interviewing...)

Eagle interviews are up and coming

Pac Blue still interviewing and hiring...

[Variable_pitch]

Let's face it, you can drive everywhere in NZ pretty quickly

?&^&*??

Auckland to Gisborne is a what 6 or 7 hour drive, or a 50 min flight.

How about Wellington to Christchurch? That's got to be 8 hours including the ferry.

I dont know if either you don't live in NZ or just haven't been south of the Bombay hills for a while but the difficult terrain and relatively small population versus land mass area surely make this a country very suited to air operations.

[nike]

It is a bit of a mindset thing though.

Anything over 2 hours, kiwis take a cut lunch. 4 hours, the overnight bag.

I still find the idea of driving for 10 hours strange.

I think I'd rather fly for the 50mins for sure than take on kiwi roads!
(South Island driving was much more enjoyable though)

[Water Wings]

"Sun air just lost its freight gig, so the drivers are lucky to do a flight a week and eagle wont be taking anyone on anytime soon!"

****, you really should tell the Sunair guys/gals who still pass through Ohakea's airspace every weeknight this. I'm sure they will be very interested to learn they aren't carrying anything

[minimum_wage]

Good to see there are people on here who actually are in touch with the scene in NZ as well. Looks like GG is in his little aussie GA world and is in
fact the one dreaming. He also hasn't driven in NZ before. What a .
Sun Air isn't an airline, lets face it. It's GA. I'm talking about the link carriers here that fly the Koru.
Interesting if its 11 cadets for Eagle. Feel sorry for the captains they have to fly with when **** hits the fan.

And don't worry guys who read this who have just FINISHED their Air NSN ground course or have had interviews on Tuesday and in Dec, it wasn't a dream, The Green Goblin didn't spike your drink. It really happened.

[ZK-NSN]

Yes nelson are still interviewing for 2 new aircraft that arrive next year, Havent heard much about whats happening at the NZ division of NASA (Eagle) but the bottom line is things are going to slow right down and probably stop.
The economy is lunching itself, GA Outfits like sunair will find it hard with reduced freight volumes and companies looking to reduce costs.Less tourism as well makes it hard for scenic operators. Not to mention the increase in costs due to the low dollar. Talk of redundencies at Air NZ. If you want a stable job in aviation, join the Air Force.

Green goblin did you come thru GA? It amuses me how everyboby cracks on about how pilots screw it for everyone by accepting **** conditions when they came through the same system. If you came thru before min wage then he reaped what you sowed. get off your soap box.

water wings: just because the planes are flying, doesnt mean their making money which is the important part.