Norwegian Lack of Pilots
 

The company has sended a letter to all pilots explaining the reasons why they are short of people and offering double day off payment from today until August.

Wasn't this the same last summer....holiday chaos??

Well maybe if they started giving out real contracts they would not have this mess ?

Norwegian strands passengers again

It is not going to be the only low cost in Europe. Let see...

Hardly surprising when they sack most their pilots in the winter.

This seasonal employment trend cannot last for ever. People need to pay to live.

And some pilots are negotiating 5,6, 7 day off payments to do the flights.. read " demanding" airlines may do this to get the bums in the air, but nearly always reap their revenge at the end of the season! on the other hand, make hay while the sun shines as job security is about as long as it takes to read the contract

Well. Well done Norwegian :D

Not a single pilot was laid off over the past winter or even offered reduced working.

This summer's shortage is less to do with poor forward planning and more to do with a wider (quality) pilot shortage in the industry, Ryanair are also having to cancel flights.

Its a viscous circle, crews hitting max hours, insufficient training sectors, bottle necks in CRC checks, Licensing, additional sim training for US operations and a lot of new aircraft.

100% agree.

Si Why airlines prefer to cancel flights and stop their expansion instead negociate with pilots their working conditions for this new age in aviation conditions industry?,

Why they pretend to buy constantly our days off and to live in the edge of the limit? They don't care their pax or reputation?

In other words, the incredible short-sightedness of airlines when it comes to training pilots, as in taking a zero hour person and offering training up to and including ATPL, comes back yet again to bite them in the posterior. 'Someone else will solve my training problems' seems to be their operating mantra.

@EFISchap ... So many people in these management/HR offices having no clue
of what they're doing :ugh:

And yet the major LoCo's are still ordering a/c to expand. Some how the equation is not balanced. Pilots think this will cause a significant rise in remuneration packages. The airlines will be scared like heck to do this because once the high salary is on the table to entice more pilots to join them it will be very difficult to remove it later on. As yearly increments are a % of salary their wage bill good be soaring for years. I know there are some imaginative remuneration constructions out there that could be adjusted i years to come, but pilots will not accept a reduction in income in the future. It will be a fine balance.
Many species went into rapid decline due to lack of food supply. Airline expansion, and their rising share price, could go the same way if they cancel flights and/or do not expand. In their medium term planning there is an assumption that the oft feared 'lack of pilots' will never happen. That can only be avoided by either the industry as a whole improving the T's & C's, or there being a jungle war to entice pilots to the highest payer away others. However, for that to succeed the beneficiary has to have enough training capacity to accept such an influx. That will be a huge bottle neck.
Airlines that have a large retirement bulge in 1 year at the same time a having a huge recruitment burst to both replace the retirees and expansion will have the worst problems. You can't pluck simulators & training captains off the trees.

Weirdly though BA are having no such issues, wonder why?

They still refuse to give out decent contracts and try to run the airline with the minimal amount of people. Well done Norwegian. They are lucky that the fuel prices are still low otherwise it would get very very difficult. Although with their massive debt.......

If there is a REAL shortage of experienced pilots, I just hope those who do accept positions in these companies hold out for a very extortionate package. Just to balance the risible terms offered when the boot is on the other foot. Let's show them how expensive "low cost" is when it comes to people.

There is no real pilot shortage at all. However, there might be a certain shortage of terms and conditions that appeal to experienced pilots. What some airlines in europe do not realise, that especially on the captains market they actually do compete with chinese airlines which offer european bases, working half a year at twice to three times the pay. And of course they do compete with european airlines that do offer better terms and conditions as well. Although those usually do not hire DECs, they can and do train internally.

In the place I am working at the moment, there is a very noticeable pilot shortage. The wet lease factor is at 19%, the sickness rate is 15% and everybody is flying 900 hours this year. All companies do about it is requiring more and more compromises from the pilots councils and the unions, if such things don't exist, they just do it. FY seems to have lost a considerable amount of pilots this year.

IMHO the airlines are still arrogant enough to employ "the right people". I don't know if authorities or the carriers are to blame, but age discrimination in China is a fact.

Well they have other issues, like fixing broken customer relations and making up for 100s of million GPB in losses due to their IT Desaster a couple weeks back :E

Agreed, although I think you know the point I was making. Companies that provide their pilots with decent T and Cs are not struggling for pilots. And whilst IAG are making 1.5 billion in profits you will have a hard time convincing the investors BA have "issues".

Enzo don't you complain about BA on the BA Thread?

Yeah I sure do! I never said BA were perfect simply that they don't struggle to get pilots and the reason for that is obvious when compared to Norwegian. My discontent with SOME aspects of life at BA are well documented on the other thread, this is not the place to repeat them. As I said before decent employers are not struggling to get staff, make of that what you will.

Not involved in Shorthaul but right now, Norwegian Longhaul is overflowing with applications, Recruitment is far from desperate to find pilots, in fact they can pick and choose who they invite or not, as it should be. Likewise, simply having the hours does not entitle you to a job on the 787, although some individuals feel that way because its Norwegian and then wonder why they get turned down.

Can we now therefore conclude, by your logic, for everyone on the platform here that Norwegian is a decent employer? And please spare me the agency straw man argument crap...

HAHAHAHA!!!!

Parkbremse,

Utter tosh.
They are also desperate on the B787.
Enough applications, but barely any from experienced pilots, let alone those with the official requirements.
Captain applications with Widebody glass cockpit experience: almost nothing, those who apply get the job.

I would hazard a guess that the reason they are 'short' on pilots is because they can't find enough people with the required enthusiastic, green type, charismatic personality to pass the BS selection processes.

It's seems it doesn't matter how well your sim goes if you can't demonstrate a time you delivered excellent customer service, in fact you might not even be offered a sim if you can't answer that question :sad:. IMHO, recruitment and selection format is one thing Ryanair got right!

Really?

FTEJerez cadets selected by OSM to join Norwegian Airlines as First Officers ? FTEJerez | News

Supply and demand, t & c's slashed over the years, now if you want experienced crew a need to pay premium $ and also offer lifestyle working patterns by airlines, as those with experience also have a life outside of aviation. Aircraft on the ground with no crew are the only tool that awakens the bean counters or middle upper management having to account to owners/shareholders why their expensive aircraft are parked up.

You really are a funny chap.

It made me chuckle recently pre dawn when a very arrogant D8 TRI/TRE marched through the Crawley SIM coffee shop (with fledgling interviewees in tow) and ordered me (sipping my Late) to get a move on and join the group for the Interview. "Piss off" I said, I work for a real LCC.

Good for you; that's another job that you needn't bother to apply for when the :mad: hits the fan.

It is usually better to be polite at least in the aviation world.

It is, but then the ego of some TRI/TRE's can be astonishingly poor. Said chap shouldn't have just assumed Nightstop was there to attend interview. As you come down from the hallowed lofty heights, you can also meet others going up. Two ways to look at things. Just saying.

The majority of European airlines would rather slow down, or completely stop, their expansion plans than offer proper terms and conditions to their crew.

Regretably, you are not far off the mark there. . . .

In respect of Norwegian, the "fairy-dust" has well & truly blown away, & the great unwashed have wakened up to the fact that embittered ex employees don't issue warnings here to be merely confrontational, but actually with the best of intentions to help their fellow pilots NOT to embroil themselves in a ship that is slowly losing its way (certainly in terms of being seen as a decent employer)

The truth is that the European Lowcost companies didn't copy the Southwest model completely... only one part

Hello guys

Just asking, I know Norwegian is not the best, but could be better than my present position (dash 8 captain in Uk)

I found this online
We offer the opportunity for a permanent position.
Competitive terms & conditions.
Roster planned 1 month in advance. (5 Days On / 4 Days Off)
Diversified flying on a modern fleet.
ID tickets after 3 months.
Minimum of 12 days off per month.
Vacation: per Norwegian Law.
Sick Leave: per Norwegian Law.

Is that really true the 5days on 4 days off ? Does pilot fly max FTL like I heard ? (In my airline, I m limited to 750hr a year, but far less days off than 5 on 4 off ... More 5 on 3 off 5 on 2 off.

Thanks

Can't speak for Norwegian but Ryanair achieves 850hrs some years with a 5/4 or even 5/5 roster so perfectly plausible

No 5-4 roster anywhere but in Scandinavia! Totally variable roster with 12 days off is all you'll be guaranteed and expect to work hard!

A 5-4-5-3 roster will be TRIALLED at LGW and FCO later in the year, but with no guarantees that this will become a permanent fixture.

The 5-4 roster is one thing the company would like to do away with ASAP and one of the reasons the Scandinavia based pilots went on strike. It's been made crystal clear again and again that 5-4 will not happen at the Euro bases!

So yes, they prefer to cancel flights

https://www.thelocal.dk/20170627/were-back-on-schedule-norwegian-after-pilot-shortage-cancellations

The one thing, which makes the possible lack of competent pilots especially bad for Norwegian is the shear net debt of the company. The debt being over 2,3 billion. Almost equal to the turnover of the whole company last year. And when compared to the rival LCCs: Ryanair don't have any net debt and Easy have only around 200 million. As it was pointed lately in an article in the ecomics section, Norwegian can't afford large disruptions in their operations, like for instance strike actions etc., because they have around 400 million worth of loans to sort out in the current year alone. So I think it is definitely a case of all or nothing for Norwegian. They have to attract the pilots somehow or they can put sign on the door already and just give up. Especially because the whole business plan relies on expansion.