Direct Air Darwin
 

Talk amongst the Mitchell Street latte set is that Direct Air has gone bust.

Wouldn't be surprised.

Their flying school arm has gone bust, and without the feed of stooges paying squillions for their instrument rating and 'icus', it was only a matter of time.

The bills would have finally caught up with them when the staffs credit cards got maxed :cool:

Sympathy to the staff. Not a nice feeling when you lose your job. Especially if you lose a bucket load of cash too.

It was a great place to work when I was there despite some of the hassles and gave more than a few a good start in aviation. If it has gone bankrupt then the fallout among the directors will be devastating and I am not talking just about the directors unless there has been a change of ownership in the last couple of years.

The Darwin operation was a gold mine for a few years and despite a few hiccups along the way could have continued as such. However, I have heard that there were problems not entirely due to the operating environment in the NT. The charter operation was never dependent on the training arm or the steady stream of MECIR/ICUS from there.

I wondered about the health of the company when I recently saw an advertisement for a chief pilot given that the fellow who occupied that position when I was there was one of the best I have met.

Interesting times up in darwin thats for sure!

Indeed, not to drift the thread but surprised no one was mentioned that Hardys have lost their IFR and RPT approvals pending retesting of key staff yet.

Have a friend at Direct air, sad for all the crew involved. Here's hoping they can all land on their feet somewhere soon:ok:

Re Hardy's - Rule #1 of Fight Club is...?

Seriously, I imagine that the challenge a CP faces is finding adequate time to maintain personal flying proficiency when having to deal with all the other administrative matters that get loaded onto them... Made doubly hard when your structure does not have an "alternate" CP. I'm sure Greg will work through it.

Re Directair - given their directors have a long history of not paying bills and ignoring creditors, I wonder if those they owe money to will get some success from the administrators. I guess "pay for ICUS" scams only get you so far...

Bear:
I can imagine the issues a CP would face in a company that size and agree it would be hard to maintain the standard required. It's not a job I'd ever like to take on that's for sure.

I was just surprised that no one had mentioned it as it was on the ABC news yesterday.

I am sure it will be sorted shortly. Hardys do a lot of vital work for the island communities around Darwin am employ a large number of people. I'm sure it will right itself quickly. :cool:

This is probably a dumb question, but anyone know if their Engineering arm is going to go under as well?

Hardy's
 

Airline grounded after pilots fail test - ABC News (Australian Broadcasting Corporation)

Hardy's not going well at all.

Are they still operating pax charters or is the whole thing grounded?

Flightaware still shows some of their aircraft flying about.

Hardy's
 

Civil Aviation Safety Authority - Hardy aviation operations restricted

Anything IFR?

Just wait - this is the first blow in a battering from the Authority, still stinging from the recent Senate hearing into PelAir.

They have to show that despite the implications from PelAir they are still tough on the big operators.

I hope I'm wrong - good luck Hardys.

casa and the effect on commercial operations
 

Good luck Hardy's

This appears to be like another AirTex operation by casa.

Suspend Chief Pilot = Operation on the ground.

Senators please note - Is this get even and to show casa's right arm.

Key personnel (always stash a spare key somewhere)
 

It is a poor situation when at least one of the other pilots (especially T+Cs) can't step into the position in the interim. Is he being undermined by the wet season exodus? I hope they get themselves out of this situation quickly.

All hardys call signs I have heard last few days have been VFR, even the C441s. I'm surprised that they don't have a dept CP being that size. They are looking for a new HOTAC on afap also so maybe it's a dual role considering they are offering up to 150k for the gig.

If CASA used this as cause for action in any way, they may be making decisions based on "commercial" values. Their role is safety, No?

I smell a RAT.

In Directair's case, I don't believe that CASA had anything at all to do with why their doors are shut.

Something about "stop credit" with the refueller and can't (won't) pay the staff probably indicates more the reason behind their (possible) demise...

On the face of it, the verdict on CASA for Directair would appear to be "Not guilty, your Honour...".

However, I have read in depth about Directair's recent challenges in the Court regarding charter vs RPT, but that has been asked and answered by those charged with making our laws. I fail to see how CASA could possibly have acted based on commercial issues with that, or any other, Directair issue.

You are right, though - CASA's primary role is to act in the interests of air safety (this is enshrined in the Civil Aviation Act) - but there may be a whole litany of self-identified "secondary" roles, as we have seen over the years!!

A friend of mine worked at Hardy's until recently as C & T as well as flying the C441 and Metro. I believe it was his job that was advertised. It doesn't surprise me that there are problems since his leaving as he was constantly been called on to fill in on short notice. Even if you are an aviation tragic as he is that would get tiring.

As for Directair, the training school and engineering shop were all run as separate entities so the closing of one does not mean the closing of all although that might depend on how they are closed. If it was through a creditors application for bankruptcy then that might close the lot but not otherwise. I have my suspicions as to how its problems arose but I am not going to say further on an open forum.

Hardys
 

Frank, You are quite astute in more ways than you may realise……..:sad:

To make Hardys operate VFR for whatever reason, is a decline in safety.

Did CASA complete an RA for that? I doubt it. They are, in them majority, a bunch of First Class ********.

I heard one of Hardy's conquests depart IFR out of borroloola this afternoon. Ops normal?