Pilot Shortage Strikes Again
 

Announced today due to Pilot shortage the first flight to Brisbane from Gladstone as well as the last flight out of Gladstone will be axed due to quote Qantas Region Airlines Group General Manager Narendra Kumar " the Airline had recently experienced a higher than normal Pilot attrition rate"
These two(2) flights are probably the most important to the Region, used by Business people for a full working day in Brissy or to return to Brissy after a working day in Gladstone, also the General Public who have Appointments in Brisbane such as Medical, as we have no Specialists here.
This can also be seen as a spinoff of the Runway upgrade here not being supported by either State or Federal Govts. If the Runway is upgraded and extended we would have a competitor here to take up the slack and possibly provide some healthy competition. (try pushing $500 one way to Brisbane over the counter).
At least finally the Chamber of Commerce is now waking up to the fact that this Region lives and dies by it's Air Link.
If we have any sort of Wet Season(plenty of time to go) the Runway will, I have no doubt, be closed as it is suffering now. In fact the Q400's are asked to use rwy 28 when operationally possible as the worst area is on rwy10 about taxiway Delta.
The Pilot shortage as mentioned on this Forum, does not happen overnight. The bleeding of GA over the last 15+ years by all Govts. have certainly got a guernsey to wear. Airline management reponsibility surely includes Resource Management which does include Human Resources. No Drivers, No Flights, it's not rocket science.
Forward planning is obviously not a requirement, the dogs have been barking this situation for years

Frothy

Sink or swim.
 

Too true, too true...

Its sink or swim time for many operators. No doubt there will be the ones who are and have already been pro-active. Then those that are now seeing the shortage for what it is and being reactive (changing t's and c's), and then the down right ignorant who will keep on sticking their heads in the sand. These types will be continuously cancelling flights, blaming others for their incompetence and ultimately will suffer the consequences!

FMC

Unfortunetly it's going to take a lot more of this type of event before any of the boffins at the top take enough notice to do something about it in the long term. Often we see in numerous industries the horse needs to bolt almost to another planet before something gets done!
Sure their hiring now more than ever, but their still picking & choosing along the way & the pool of pilots these Co's want is fast drying up !

I feel for the country communities, their the ones that will suffer & unfortunetly they can't vote with their feet 'cause it's a blo..y long way to where they need to go & they rely on flying.

The answer?....................find that & you'll have God like status !

More to come here am sure

CW:)

Stevie Wonder could see this coming.
Wake up Geoff !!!!! :ugh:

>insert Wiggles 'disco hands' here< WAKE UP GEOFF :}

Unfortunately DOTRS and the new Minister (Absent as he has said nothing about aviation since the election) believe the "industry" is QF and sometime VB.

They will say we need more initial pilot training and rob everyone else of their Captains.

Government will impliment HEX for pilots but only for initial training, nothing else.

So their are now no pilots availabe to be Captains of transport catagory 2 crew aircraft. The only pilots available are F/O's who will need many hours before they can become a Captain. In the mean time the big boys will pick them up and the regional industry will have passengers, aircraft,, F/O's, but no one to sit beside them.

It is starting now and will increse until mid year when there will be no regional RPT operating, only mining FIFO work.

Yes there will be pilots capable of flying RPT but the companies who operate these services will no longer be with us. They are all set up for X revenue, when that drops slightly, the whole house tumbles down.

The smart operators will survive, all 2 of them, the rrest still have their head in the sand and don't want to face facts!

We Live In Interesting Times

........well delivered "NC" we do indeed live in interesting times. It's never been this good employment wise as far as I can remember & I firmly believe that it's going to get a whole lot more interesting before it's over, whatever 'over' is !
The airlines have built their core business plan based on one single factor, cost, & to reduce it as much as physically possible. But even that comes at a cost ! That cost is US, YOU, ME & anybody else that's heading down the path of becoming a commercial pilot. We pilots now have a price on our heads & it makes no 'cents' !:bored:

CW:)

You Blokes are right on the Money(or lack of it), this Ms. Kumar had a Letter to the Editor in the Gladstone Obsever saying these cuts are only 'til June. What happens in May. THE SECOND COMING:ugh:
The 0645 Flight is out and is being taken up by a Rocky Flight at 0735hrs, so full load ex RK then GLA can forget BNE for that Meeting or Appointment that day plus going back to BNE you can cut your day short 'cause the late flight ex GLA is GONE.
I can't get around the hide of these "spin doctors" how stupid do they think people are ?
NR your right, where's young Athony, silence is golden
Capt Wally indeed interesting times, I feel sorry for the Blokes and blokettes:\
Who are committed in their career direction or the the young'uns who aspire to a lfe in Aviation .

Shortage?
 

When they say that 99 applicants out of 100 are unsuitable there will always be a shortage of "suitable" pilots.

Bushy, those unsuitability figures would suit the present Board Members and those within CASA would be close too.
Where does it :mad: end

Frothy

Which two are the smart ones???:confused:

Extorting money out of the local communities because there is no competition is not smart, any halfwit can do that.

Looking after your operational staff is smart (as most other business sectors realise), and I haven't met a regional that does that yet.

You reap what you sow:E

Rex held interviews in Melb last week. Be interesting to see what sort of candidate that produces? Some of those interviewed do not even posess a CPL! Whereas they may have been looked at for the cadet program, they appear to be diverging more and more from the profile. Middle aged ppl holders who suddenly think that a career in aviation would be nice.

Pardon my sarcasm, but please! Is this what we have been reduced to? Word is that most of these interviewees were totally unsuitable. Some didn't even know the basic principals of aircraft controls! The writing has been on the wall for some time. It is now completely spattered on it in neon!

If REX cannot even find CPL's to interview, then crunch time has already arrived.

Retain your existing pilots now, or prepare to go out of business.

a good time for Dj to bring in the Ejet on Brissy to Gladstone route :p

Well, may be if REX came up with something similar to the Qantaslink traineeship programme, they might get some interested CPL holders? I'd doubt many CPLs would want to go from ab-initio again and have to pay twice for their qualifications.

Job Share
 

Maybe this should be a thread but here goes:-

How many pilots out there would be eligible to help fill the "void" if there were part time positions.

I have a couple of friends who live away from large centers. They both are ATPL rated but only have commanded twins (GA) etc. Both want to fly but having young children inhibits them somewhat of going full time. They would be willing to work two weeks on & off.

Are there many others out there who would be willing to share jobs..... so to speak????

At the rate of Rex's pay; not a chance! Flying's the best job in the world when it's fun and you're young and single and rapidly deteriorates into one of the worst jobs in the world when it's not fun, you're older, married and have kids. Unless they change their expectations and practices, Rex et al won't be encouraging nearly enough older pilots back into their ranks.

Instructing! That's another matter entirely and is something that can be accomplished on weekends and irregular days. I'm surprised there aren't more schools using casual instructors, or maybe I just haven't heard of them yet. Provided the pay is there...

Quote:

"Provided the pay is there..."

That's what it's all come down to Lodown. Pay peanuts and you get....

Well just look at some of the latest REX candidates!

Vee1 rotate
Virgin have done an Airport inspection at Gladstone but the pavement strength has got to be increased and the length will go out to 1800m so the 170's will be no problem. The plan is to lift the 28 end to take the hump out.
So the present situation here is the lack of forward planning by the "Brains" for Drivers and also the lack of Govt' support for an essential Service.
Roll on Competition, at this stage I don't care who it is:}
It's all been in the media as stated above and put to ALL Candidates in the Runup to the Federal Election and not one of them made a Commitment

Frothy

Heard it is pretty difficult to work in Australia as a foreigner.
Considering the pilot shortage, can we eventually expect any ease in immigration?
crazy eight

As someone who sits down south in Vic out of the environment concerned here, I will prewarn that the following question may be tainted with some naivity.

Why doesn't a certain QLD regional operator move his Metros into this route?

Walrus