HNZ wins SAR in Oz
 

HNZ have pulled off another big upset, snatching offshore SAR away from CHC and Bristow (who had a SAR S92 on site!).


HeliHub.com HNZ Group announces offshore SAR contract in Australia


Now they are scrambling for crews after the government changed the 457 Visa Rules.


They approached me but want 3 week tours, no DTA and no annual leave!


Anyone else been approached?

Doesn't the other 26 weeks off per year offset that a little bit? Not exactly slave labour!

Yea I figured they were having trouble getting crews after they extended the EOI an extra month on their website.

But I'm pretty sure they will get a way round the 457 issue, especially with the requirements as they stand.

I wouldn't keep your fingers crossed. CASA pilots with the right to work and live in Australia!

Maybe in a few years this CANZUK International becomes reality!!

I'm not surprised they're having trouble finding pilots if this is the agreement they'll be working under:
https://www.fwc.gov.au/documents/documents/agreements/fwa/ae423097.pdf
Very short on detail and far worse than any of the competitor's offshore agreements in Australia. Casual rates, overtime, roster details, annual increment, salary level based on "performance"???

So they do get leave after all - 6 weeks. So 20 weeks work, 32 weeks off.

But check how the leave must be taken: 11.3.b

Ideally the changes to the 457 visa could see more Australian pilots getting better opportunities in their chosen fields, but since 457 is to be replaced with another selective visa programme their is every chance that the gates will be re-opened to allow internationals with specific skills to be brought in for these sort of jobs.

The gates have been re-opened. HNZ just need to pay a one-off $5000 for a visa to employ a foreign pilot, plus $1,800 per visa per year thereafter. In the overall scheme of things the cost and effort for them to bring in foreign pilots to work on this contract is nothing.

Crews are off to France in the coming months for type ratings.

It's sad to watch the "race to the bottom" with wages and conditions in Australia.
Like many places I'd imagine, it's a long hard road to get into a ME IFR job with good pay and conditions. To see the current climate/situation is very disappointing.

It appears the "new players" have either no "award" (EBA), or a pathetic one, that no current ME IFR pilot would voluntarily entertain. Then they pay as much as is required to get the pilots they need on a "secret individual basis". They can then erode these conditions over time. Again, without anyone knowing what anyone else is receiving .

When times are tough, they can get some guys for peanuts.

They just tell every pilot confidentiality, that "they are the highest paid pilot in the company", and "don't tell anyone, or they will want what you have!" Next it will be: "Yours is the smallest pay cut in the company, don't tell anyone else!"

One clueless HR department have glanced over one of the recently drafted "bottom of the barrel awards" and are, stupidly or dishonestly, (hard to tell most of the time) claiming it as the new industry standard.

An experienced, qualified, motivated, loyal, stable pilot group, is apparently valueless in the brave new world.

It's all a cycle. The big winners will be the SIM operators. A large pilot turnover makes them plenty of money.

:(

Forgive me but this seems to be a SAR contract based in Broome. If HNZ had the crews living in Broome & not touring, then it would be on fixed based conditions & not touring. This is what Lloyds did in Karratha where the company provided housing & the crews had normal annual leave & a 5 day week.
If they flew to the oil rig as usual, then it is still a fixed base situation.

Brother I'm curious why now you feel it is inevitable that terms and conditions should be reduced across the industry?

A quick browse of your posting history showed a quite different viewpoint in the past.

I'm glad you are happy. That's great.:ok:

But to list all the hard fought for remuneration and conditions you are personally happy to do without, and claim it is not a race to the bottom doesn't make any sense.

With your logic, the next company just has to reduce the accommodation standards some more, and pay a little less, win the contract on price, and "this will be how things are now" (till it goes further down). Where does it end? Sharing a tent and flying for food?

Make no mistake, it's a race to the bottom, and HNZ is winnning, for now.

A serious and easily answered question: Do you know for sure you are being paid the same as similarly qualified and experienced work colleagues?

Schedule 1, page 17 (Classification and Wage Rates) and Schedule 2, page 18 (Allowances) of the Award has the required rates. If the employees don't get those rates then FWA would be taking action.

John,

I believe most pilots are currently paid in excess of the advertised rates, via individual negotiations. Because, for now, they can't attract the required qualifications or experience for those rates.

I'm not certain, but this is the information circulating the industry.
Hence my genuine question.

HNZ will be in the same position, when another company manages to find some pilots to "work for a bit less" with an even more "different roster" and start tendering. - Race to the bottom.

Confirm, or correct "different roster" means more time away from your family, traveling during your time, on weekends?

Why is it that HNZ are always asking for rated guys, is no one willing to train anyone anymore? Can't expect to pay peanuts and not invest in training staff, only trying to poach rated guys from other contracts so they can keep profits high!!

Brother

Don't take any of these comments as personal attacks.
I'd personally gladly take a lower paying job with a company that treated me better. (But this better treatment would probably have to include travel and accommodation standards if it were a touring position.)

You say you personally only have a 2.5hr flight. What if the next contract the company wins is in Darwin, Victoria, or East Timor? Then traveling in your time becomes less attractive.

You seem to be dodging answering some of the questions, which is one of the biggest concerns of the "new era". "Divided, and deceived we fall."
Also the crazy rumors grow, if no one will provide facts.

If you are willing to share, how many full weekends - Friday night till Monday morning, do you get at home with your family in your 6 week rotation? (3 weeks on, 3 weeks off.)

The rumors suggest at least some HNZ S92 pilots are required to travel on weekends, in their own time. This would indicate 2 weekends home every 6 weeks?

Brother,
If your able, could you check your PM.
Thanks,
LP

This is getting ridiculous! How do you stay current at only working 20 weeks?!

I'm curious to hear from older pilots about how the rosters used to be, and if they were fair?
Were they better flying days and rosters 10 years ago compared to what they are now?
Or are we just princesses that need to harden the F up, and work hard like the rest of the heli pilots overseas?

Where do you get that roster?
The best touring roster I'm aware of in Australia has you "on" 15 days, "off" 13.
Then annual leave for 29 days (42 minus 13 earned as field leave).
About 164 days in 365. (According to my late night maths)
Remember, these are 24hr days, away from home/loved ones/motorbikes/etc, not your average 8hr days.

It's been this way for a long time. A hard fought for compromise. One that has not created problems remaining current.

The "race to the bottom" is seeing people agree to travel and train in their own time.:yuk:
Watch the relationship failure rate go up.

Feel free to "harden the F up, and work hard like the rest of the heli pilots overseas?"

Just do the Aussies a favour, and do it overseas.:ok:

Some of you guys make me laugh , there are lots of unemployed pilots out there, would love a job with HNZ .

You need to wake up, the nose in the trough days are over

Some of you make me cry.
Can you remember a time when there wasn't "lots of unemployed pilots out there"?

What you call "Nose in the trough", many professional pilots call "remuneration commiserate with skills, experience and qualifications being utilized by the employer".

Some are talking like these jobs wouldn't exist if remuneration and lifestyle cuts weren't accepted. Do you think the oil companies would leave their workers on the rigs or something?
Do you see your petrol getting cheaper?
Are the oil companies accepting contracts with S76/B412/AS332 to save money?

HNZ claim they couldn't get pilots to work for what they offered, and needed to bring pilots from overseas on 457 visas as I understand it.

The current tactic appears to be: make secret "individual" offers until they get enough pilots. With no EBA protection, it's obvious these "deals" will be eroded as much as possible over time.

The logic on this thread seems to be: just tell the pilot we need to pay you less, and if you don't agree, there are plenty of unemployed pilots around.

Some pretty simplistic and short term ideas being justified on here.
Divided and deceived we fall "Brothers".

I'm with you ersa, for the mean time the glory days are over.
The Australian offshore were and probably still are some of the best employment conditions you would get anywhere in the world,but when things go south as they have done in the last few years why all the whinging and moaning. It's been good for a long time and now things are changing, it happens, well actually it is happened.
It's not just the helicopter industry that the oil downturn has affected yet some of the posts on here you would think the oil industry is there just to give pilots a job.
Everyone else has had a whinge on this thread so thought I would to even if it is from a slightly different angle

Twist and shout... do you work for Bristow ?, the gold plated deals are over, the oil companies now want value for money , they want the budget carriers not the legacy carriers.

In Oz Jetstar fly the same route as Qantas....for a 1/3 of the price using newer planes. This is happening to helicopter off shore operations....

ersa is right. Lots of oil companies now looking at using boats to cut costs even further. All operating expenses need to be cut by another 20%. Its tough out there.

Probably from my earlier post. If you work 3/3 that means 26 weeks work and 26 weeks off. If you get 6 weeks leave, that implies 20 weeks work.

The agreement says that all training is done in time on duty......

There is some smoke and mirrors on most of these rosters.
E.g. The 3/3 might be 20 days at home 23 days away if you travel in "your" time. (And haven't got too far to go.) The "6 weeks leave" might include the 20 days at home you have "earned" during your 23 days away.

Seems pretty clear cut to me:
For reference, my employer is one of the customers, and we do not get any additional leave when on equal time touring posts (including offshore).

Quite 212. A number of employers do not even pay their pilots on equal time tours when on time off. Others expect pilots to attend recurrency training in their time off. I know of no other country that gives pilots annual leave when they are on equal time tours.

Some people don't know when they are well off.

In the race to the bottom I'm wondering when the helo industry will adopt a practice, I believe used in some airlines (737 & similar), of copilots paying the operator a per hour rate for the privilege of sitting in the seat and gaining "experience".

Well, not precisely, but I do know of a fellow of experience who is paying for his own recurrent simulator training to take a position. Those nudge-nudge-wink-wink hints are being tested currently, apparently.

Hmmm... Just heard that HNZ failed their CASA audit and Bristow have been stood up to provide SAR services...

If that's the case it's down to gross incompetence. They had the option to get help from European/Canadian arms of the company when setting up the operation but were too arrogant to listen.

Do HNZ have any European operations?

Not any more...

But did at the time of planning...

Hmmm.... Just heard that they did not fail it....

Well, it is a Rumour network.

One Rumour, among several, is they didn't have "winch" approved on their Operators Cerificate, hence the need for another operator to cover the SAR requirements. Pretty sad state of affairs if there is any truth to it. (But technically not "failing" an inspection.)

Maybe they are not only "second tier" in employment conditions, but other areas as well?