Air New Zealand Recruitment - Latest
 

Just wondering if anyone has any inside knowledge or “hear say” on whether this latest round of recruitment is going to be for Second Officers or a redirection onto he A320 like in 2016? Have heard that they are crying out for A320 Pilots?
And also the amount of Pilots they are forecasting in the near future that they will need?

New Zealand has run out of useful pilots and has almost run out of useless pilots too

I’m sure there’s plenty in Australia if they’re looking hard enough

Good post mattyj

Useless pilot here who can't get anything. Where do I sign? :}

Recent update added quite a few more courses this year. Can't recall the total number, probably 60+

Recruiting on all Fleets. Mainly SO 787 & FO A320 but there's also a few SO 777 slots. They'll ask successful applicants their fleet preference but guarantee's.

Thanks for the update ElZilcho. In your experience do you think a successful candidate that has a few thousand hours on the A320 would be given a SO spot if that was their preference even though they had all this experience on the A320?

All comes down to who bids for what...

At the moment there a lot of people (capt and FO) who want off the bus.

HOOROO,

I went through the interview process Mid 2016 and was successful (A320 FO) but unfortunately due to family reasons at the time was unable to accept the job ☹️. I'm from across the ditch (Aussie side) and sounds like the same operator as you (I had around 3000hr on the A320).

The 2 day process is well run, very enjoyable and professional. They really want to get to get to know YOU as a person. Everyone is very friendly and is there to see you succeed not try and trip you up. I was the only Aussie on my interview day and after a few little jokes and some friendly banter they were very accepting (mind you I do have family in NZ so having a connection to the land of the long white cloud helps with showing your motivation as to why you want to commit to AirNZ...remember it's a career commitment and you will have to move).

I was in the same boat as you - fair bit of experience on the A320 but really wanted an SO slot to experience long haul international ops etc HR is very accomodating to your request for fleet preference but with AirNZ being such a seniority based airline they are limited in what they can do. I'm lucky that I already had a few mates there already and I knew that my chance of getting an SO slot was pretty much non existent as guys who were recruited directly onto the A320 ahead of me were scrambling for any SO slot. Remember, all the internals get offered the SO/A320 FO slots first before the left overs are released to new hires. Prior to my recruitment day there were a fair few new hires who got 787/777 SO but pretty much from mid 2016 it was all A320 FO bar a few.

It's a brilliant airline and I am gutted that I had to say no but family has to come first.

If you need anymore info send us a PM - more than happy to help

Question for the moderators.....

Why do the air nz recruitment threads get moved to the GA and questions section while similar jetstar and qantas threads remain in the other D&G forum?

Cheers

I’ve been wondering the same thing? I’m guessing that Air New Zealand isn’t a real airline, because it’s not based in Straya, the centre of the aviation universe.

Air NZ Numbers
 

Latest update from an official source is that they are looking for 44 A320 F/O’s and 20 S/O’s on the 787 this year.

Anyone got the call yet?

More likely if you work for Mount Cook or Air Nelson. Last I heard 80% of interview slots will go to pilots in those airlines first. Then 20% to outside the group.

They’ve already closed the Wanganui and Kapiti service and the latest I heard they’re stopping half the flights out of Gisborne..word on the ground it’s because of crewing issues rather than financial..I wonder which town will be next if the jets clean out the turboprops again

Not really, they mainly sourcing their A320 F/O slots from external type rated Airbus pilots. The S/O slots could apply to the link guys. Its all down to the cost.

The ideal ratio is a 70/30 split, 30% being the externals. That works well when we hire 30 Pilots a year, not so well when we're hiring 100.

There's a few things coming to fruition at the moment, which is unfortunately having a negative effect on Link Pilots progressing into the Jet Fleet.

Air NZ has been expanding while also seeing an increase in Retirements. The Link group has also been expanding and are short on experience for the LHS. They also lost a lot of experience to the jets from 2012-2016(ish) and are still recovering. When supply cant keep up with demand, 70/30 is simply no longer a realistic target.

I'd say the number of Link Pilots getting hired this year wont change, but the percentage will be well below 80% with the increase in numbers.

Anyone got any latest updates yet?

Word on the street is the latest course plan will be updated again with a significant ramp up in recruitment. The break up with virgin will probably result in more flying.

Can’t see how they can maintain a 70/30 split. Bit of a bummer for the link crews but they need some perspective. Quick commands on ATRs were unheard of up until pretty recently. Can’t sniff at that.

Course planner delayed as there's likely to be another large increase in manpower requirements. No numbers as yet.
NZALPA (and I assume the Federation) are in meetings with the Company in regards to Link Pilot Career pathways. Rumors of Joint seniority and Cadetships.

Nothing will happen overnight of course, but changes are coming....