Current Job Climate
Thread Starter
Current Job Climate
Hey all,
I'm just trying to get a few ideas on what the current situation is like out there. I have done a search of these threads, but I'm just after a bit of specific info.
I've got 1000tt, 40multi cmd, ifr with 2 renewals, mainly from instructing with a bit of scenic/charter, and I'm after a charter or freight job. I'm willing to relocate at short notice to anywhere in Aus/NZ, or even overseas (I have dual Aus/US citizenship), and while I know that it's a case of having to be there to get the job these days, I need a bit of advice on which areas I should be heading off to (Darwin/Kunners/Cairns/Broome/Karratha etc). Also, would it be worth doing some time on a 200 series Cessna and/or a Baron before I head off?
Any advice at all would be appreciated, I've been out of the loop on the status of this side of the industry for a while, and I'm not asking for anyone to find a job for me, I just would like some advice on the best way and direction to go about this.
Cheers,
Cap'n
I'm just trying to get a few ideas on what the current situation is like out there. I have done a search of these threads, but I'm just after a bit of specific info.
I've got 1000tt, 40multi cmd, ifr with 2 renewals, mainly from instructing with a bit of scenic/charter, and I'm after a charter or freight job. I'm willing to relocate at short notice to anywhere in Aus/NZ, or even overseas (I have dual Aus/US citizenship), and while I know that it's a case of having to be there to get the job these days, I need a bit of advice on which areas I should be heading off to (Darwin/Kunners/Cairns/Broome/Karratha etc). Also, would it be worth doing some time on a 200 series Cessna and/or a Baron before I head off?
Any advice at all would be appreciated, I've been out of the loop on the status of this side of the industry for a while, and I'm not asking for anyone to find a job for me, I just would like some advice on the best way and direction to go about this.
Cheers,
Cap'n
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Not a lot is happening in the Northern tourist regions or nothing like it was 8 months back due to the R word of course.
Always good to have time on type though 5hrs needed for VFR and 10 IFR on type so 210 time would help.
Be hard to get a twin engine job if you have had most of your experience instructing because a lot of operators like you to fly the singles to learn the area.
Ring up the the operators and speak with the chief pilots.
Always good to have time on type though 5hrs needed for VFR and 10 IFR on type so 210 time would help.
Be hard to get a twin engine job if you have had most of your experience instructing because a lot of operators like you to fly the singles to learn the area.
Ring up the the operators and speak with the chief pilots.
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mate its every man for himself atm. i am in a very very very similar situation to you atm and its all about pumping your resume out there and praying for a break. good luck
Goldy
Goldy
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Capn Arr,
Darwin (and others in NT)
Kunners
Broome
Karratha
All the way down thru Geraldton and to Kalgoorlie back up to Darwin.
Be johnny on the spot. Keep shaking hands and meeting people. Face to face my friend. Get a base set up and do trips to places to meet people. Its like cooking on multiple stove tops - keep all those contacts boiling away.
Don't spend any money on more training - spend it on fuel driving and meeting people.
It will happen just make it.
Darwin (and others in NT)
Kunners
Broome
Karratha
All the way down thru Geraldton and to Kalgoorlie back up to Darwin.
Be johnny on the spot. Keep shaking hands and meeting people. Face to face my friend. Get a base set up and do trips to places to meet people. Its like cooking on multiple stove tops - keep all those contacts boiling away.
Don't spend any money on more training - spend it on fuel driving and meeting people.
It will happen just make it.
Funny how last year with those sort of hours you would have been up for a job with Rex and a skipper within 6 months and would accept nothing less than a 30 seat turbo prop and a jet shortly after.
Now trading down to a 210
Although on the bright side I love flying my 210s and found the flying much more interesting than flight levels and irrelevant small talk to pass the hours by.
I'd almost swap you if the 210 pay was better
Now trading down to a 210
Although on the bright side I love flying my 210s and found the flying much more interesting than flight levels and irrelevant small talk to pass the hours by.
I'd almost swap you if the 210 pay was better
The eternal question...........: "the current job climate" A worthy question for sure but there's no favorable answer anymore.
To put it simply if you have a job or can secure one then either stay put or take the job that even remotely resembles a job as I firmly believe that we shall never see what we saw a couple of years ago re hiring of pilots etc. It's a leaner & meaner world we now live in, aviation is now a very unsafe long term industry. Time to batten down the hatches for it's a brave new world out there & it will be quite a while if ever before we have some level of stability especially in our industry. It's like a lot of creatures that live in this planet, they change their appearances in order to survive, we humans must now adopt that philosophy by adapting.
Having said that for some the love of flying will be yr shield against evil, just make sure yr wearing yr bullet proof undies behind that shield:-)
Good luck to all those still wishing to make flying a life long career, I wouldn't want to be 18 again & faced with the love of flight & fewer & fewer chances to realize it!
Obviously my opinion only & you seek financial advice first before selling yr house & going to live in a cave!
Wmk2
To put it simply if you have a job or can secure one then either stay put or take the job that even remotely resembles a job as I firmly believe that we shall never see what we saw a couple of years ago re hiring of pilots etc. It's a leaner & meaner world we now live in, aviation is now a very unsafe long term industry. Time to batten down the hatches for it's a brave new world out there & it will be quite a while if ever before we have some level of stability especially in our industry. It's like a lot of creatures that live in this planet, they change their appearances in order to survive, we humans must now adopt that philosophy by adapting.
Having said that for some the love of flying will be yr shield against evil, just make sure yr wearing yr bullet proof undies behind that shield:-)
Good luck to all those still wishing to make flying a life long career, I wouldn't want to be 18 again & faced with the love of flight & fewer & fewer chances to realize it!
Obviously my opinion only & you seek financial advice first before selling yr house & going to live in a cave!
Wmk2
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There is certainly work out there, both for companies and people like you.
Take alook at my example, operated two B58's business was going no-where real fast, deciding to purchase 100% of the company I managed to find work...
Saying that, I now have a couple of brand spanking new vans!
I even had to knock back a job for a B58 cause I've sold them
Take alook at my example, operated two B58's business was going no-where real fast, deciding to purchase 100% of the company I managed to find work...
Saying that, I now have a couple of brand spanking new vans!
I even had to knock back a job for a B58 cause I've sold them
Seasonally Adjusted
I love flying my 210s and found the flying much more interesting than flight levels
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I hate to be a bummer, but......
Here in the States the aviation job market sucks. I've been unemployed for 10 months and I have an ATP, 7000 hrs, 1000 jet, 1400 Turboprop, 3500 multi, 6500 command, 1000 Actual IFR, etc, etc. There are THOUSANDS of unemployed pilots here and those that are getting hired have to know someone in the company AND have to be almost God-Like!!!
Most companies are hiring "contract pilots", which means you're an independant self employed type. No fly, no get payed. You pay your own taxes, medical, training, etc. And only those with massive amounts of time/experience get the position. I hope this sheds some lighth on the picture.
Here in the States the aviation job market sucks. I've been unemployed for 10 months and I have an ATP, 7000 hrs, 1000 jet, 1400 Turboprop, 3500 multi, 6500 command, 1000 Actual IFR, etc, etc. There are THOUSANDS of unemployed pilots here and those that are getting hired have to know someone in the company AND have to be almost God-Like!!!
Most companies are hiring "contract pilots", which means you're an independant self employed type. No fly, no get payed. You pay your own taxes, medical, training, etc. And only those with massive amounts of time/experience get the position. I hope this sheds some lighth on the picture.
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Yep, the decline & fall of the American Empire, read all about it on these forums. And it hasn't really started yet, many companies are holding onto people only because they are hoping for a V shaped recovery!
Those of us who are not established in QF/VB/J*, and are looking for long term stability in Aviation will probably have to seriously consider moving to either the Middle East, or commuting to and from China/India for the rest of our working days.
Those of us who are not established in QF/VB/J*, and are looking for long term stability in Aviation will probably have to seriously consider moving to either the Middle East, or commuting to and from China/India for the rest of our working days.
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well if its any consolation, it 'appears' (take this with a grain of salt) that we may have bottomed out of the recession globally. Sure there's still some pain in the short term but the GFC has been a sort of 'enema' for the economy and a lot of global companies that have grown too big too fast and over extended themselves with debt. A lot of companies are going to show losses or severly reduced profits for the FY ended 30 June 09 but this is something the market expects. An old boss once told me - 'if you're going to have a bath, make it a good one' 
this is the time for companies to 'clean out the closet' so to speak. That just means next year should be a bumper year.
Case and point is the RBA's decision to hold interest rates steady. Furthermore, if you look at banks' forward rate projections, they are actually looking at interest rate increases!
Anyway, my point is...at the moment its doom and gloom (not as bad as 3 months ago) but it will start picking up soon, and it already has.
this is the time for companies to 'clean out the closet' so to speak. That just means next year should be a bumper year.Case and point is the RBA's decision to hold interest rates steady. Furthermore, if you look at banks' forward rate projections, they are actually looking at interest rate increases!
Anyway, my point is...at the moment its doom and gloom (not as bad as 3 months ago) but it will start picking up soon, and it already has.
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Fr8dog44 sounds like you would make a great instructor!! Industry is crying out for people who know what they're talking about.
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Fr8 totally agree and Falling leaf has knocked the nail squarely on the head.
I wouldn't work as a pilot in the US for all the tea in China.
There is a recovery going on if you follow the stock market. Unfortunately aviation is very sensitive to economic problems so it tends to to lag in either direction. If the conditions of the US turn up here in Oz I'll be looking elsewhere overseas contracts or another profession.
I wouldn't work as a pilot in the US for all the tea in China.
There is a recovery going on if you follow the stock market. Unfortunately aviation is very sensitive to economic problems so it tends to to lag in either direction. If the conditions of the US turn up here in Oz I'll be looking elsewhere overseas contracts or another profession.
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Business confidence soars to pre-crisis levels
Hopefully things will pick up again soon. Also heard on the radio today that the housing market in the US jumped 11% (they were expecting 2% increase).
Hopefully things will pick up again soon. Also heard on the radio today that the housing market in the US jumped 11% (they were expecting 2% increase).
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Breaks do happen. You either there when it does or your not. I do know of quite a few people who have been employed in the last couple of months into decent GA jobs with around the 1000TT mark. Might be a sign of things starting to pick up, or maybe its just the good old dry season here to employ us all.
I've just done the trip up North and most, but not all, of the operators I spoke to said that things were starting to pick up. They gave the impression that there was a little light starting to show at the end of this very dark tunnel. Of course the Negative Nellie's will call that light a train. I'm not saying that it'll swing to last years lunacy, but the industry is not completely dead. We did see AAA advertise for a couple of pilots this week. At the Katherine tourist info place the guy i spoke to there said that they were busier than ever. He put it down to folks not going overseas this year. Now whether or not they're taking joy flights who knows, perhaps not. Anyway...
Cheers,
Greaser
Cheers,
Greaser