Been eating popcorn on the sidelines on this one, but josephfeatherweight has a valid point.

Seems many are questioning the capability and readiness of the new incumbent, who some admirers are giving sycophantantic support, as the argument to dismiss of the question of readiness or capability

I have no dog in this fight, and have friends on both sides of thisfence, but seriously, is there any employer out there that deserves the support some here are giving this one, to the point of almost gleefully saying some guys were not up to the task of getting onboard.

Never ever seen the perfect employer, nor seen the perfect aircraft for a task....that is once a bean counter has got involved in what the aircraft is tasked to do.

Hopefully there is some sort of trolling going on, otherwise the conversation (IMHO) seems a little lower than normal banter/arguement that occurs here.

Not affected or bothered, however I am seriously concerned by the lack of SAR coverage in large areas of the country due to a delay in contract startup. Cairns will also be delayed.

I hope I am proven wrong but Search and Rescue (SAR) is about peoples lives and the longer this goes on the closer we will get to the loss of life, who knows lives might already have been lost due to this.

Im sure someone clinging to an overturned vessel in the Indian Ocean would share your lack of concern

Eclan, if you contracted a builder to build a house for a certain price so you can move in on a certain day and it wasn't ready would you feel ripped off? How about if you find that the contractor couldn't get enough bricklayers, or if the doors werent big enough for entry as per your agreement, is this now your problem, you did have an agreement in writing with a reputable contractor and they assured you this wouldn't happen. But hang on, half the appliances you contracted for were not fitted or didn't work in the fashion agreed, and the roof leaks. Do you just accept this standard.
Wouldnt you rather tear up the contract and start the process again making sure you learnt from your mistake and end up with a product on time that fits your specification after all a deal is a deal,If you don't do that you have no option but to live in that dodgy house.
The point is this is a SAR contract for the best part of a billion dollars, how many " professional " aviators out there have seen such a high profile, important, complex aviation solution run so late without a compliant solution in sight and without any repercussions , a couple of complete clusters in the military come to mind but very uncommon.
People need to be held to account, that's what is expected of Pilots, Engineers and SAR crew.
Seems to me that you want to make this personal, just stick to the facts and be nice:-D

So... Anyone putting in for the Cairns FO slot advertised...?! :E

"Your (sic) welcome Trevor."


Good comeback mate. Answered the questions beautifully.


My dog's out of this fight now.

Your indeed correct about the delay after MH370, however they still had 2 years to get their **** in order.

Cobham Cairns SAR base starts contract at midnight
 

Moot point here, but out of curiosity are the Dorniers that are bumped off contract still being paid on standby by AMSA under a short term gap coverage agreement or have they packed up the machines and are no longer available?

For clarification I don't consider a machine as available unless it's contracted to be on standby with crew on-site/re-call etc, call when needed doesn't count.

No Sar jets
 

This is a joke,
The Aerorescue cairns base has now closed.
There is no longer SAR coverage in WA or FNQ, there are NO jets, let alone something that can drop. Clearly Cobham are in breach of contract. Why is this acceptable, the mind boggles.

Why not ask AMSA, or take it to the media, or your local parliamentary rep? If you really cared you'd do more than just yabber about it on PPRuNe, surely.

RAAF is currently available for use by AMSA on an as required basis

Interestly a second Dornier landed in Cairns today, I wonder why??

As they've always been.

It appears there's still a major gap in capability from what has been in place and what is contracted to currently BE in place.

Re post 100, and for all you aviators, let me put this in perspective, whether you fly a 172 or a 737, if you ditch, or have a forced landing, or of you activate an Elt for any reason up until recently an aircraft would be airborne within 30 mins by day and 60 mins by night. Depending on the circumstances your position would be isolated by DF then if you needed a raft, a satphone, water, first aid, or survival equipment that would be dropped to you, generally landing a few meters away at worst.this has been the case for ten years. Today, no.

Yes, so if you are so concerned, why aren't you doing something useful?

I flew into Cairns a few days ago & seen the 328 still there, I thought the base was closing, have they decided to keep something there?

The base is closed. Cobham not ready yet, still not ready in Perth.

What do mean not ready? I seen AMSA on the news last week saying all systems are go with the 604, thought they must of got everything sorted last minute.....

Because nobody lies to the news!