Job Prospects - NT
If young Aussie pilots are willing to go north, put up with the heat, flies and general lack of entertainment offered in our typical bumf*#nowhere country towns, I’d venture that most of them already have the right attitude. It’s the sooks that hang around the capital cities and bleat about not getting straight into a jet that are best left to sip their latte’s while they wait…and wait.
Any good operator would want to give new pilots enough induction training to look after their aircraft and customers. You can’t tell me a pilot coming from overseas would be any more instantly ready to do the job.
Any good operator would want to give new pilots enough induction training to look after their aircraft and customers. You can’t tell me a pilot coming from overseas would be any more instantly ready to do the job.
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Just look across the Tasman for your answers on where these pilots come from.
No issue with visas, not tied or trapped to my Company (why would I want that? Only breeds bad attitudes…). They also seem to be better at the basic flying skills (which is the major problem we are trying to address). They just need to learn some radio work & airspace procedures.
As for making the journey & the attitude required - they’ve moved to another country to put up with the heat, flies, etc of northern Australia… that definitely shows the right attitude, or at least a willingness to have a go.
More than happy to provide the induction training, but the reducing quality of basic training combined with the attitude of entitlement fostered in the Aussie sausage factories is becoming harder to deal with. Leave the latte-sipping sooks in Sydney, for sure - but they frequently end up being the ones teaching in the sausage factories… the problem worsens…
I can’t get my head around the ones that come to the NT with the overt attitude of what an embuggerance GA is to their airline career & not willing to learn from those who’ve been here for years - whilst being happy to trash our aircraft with no desire to look after them, which are challenging enough to maintain as it is. Rare to see young pilots washing aircraft willingly these days. The bad attitudes used to be a rarity, now they seem almost to be the norm. Or maybe I’m just getting older…
No issue with visas, not tied or trapped to my Company (why would I want that? Only breeds bad attitudes…). They also seem to be better at the basic flying skills (which is the major problem we are trying to address). They just need to learn some radio work & airspace procedures.
As for making the journey & the attitude required - they’ve moved to another country to put up with the heat, flies, etc of northern Australia… that definitely shows the right attitude, or at least a willingness to have a go.
More than happy to provide the induction training, but the reducing quality of basic training combined with the attitude of entitlement fostered in the Aussie sausage factories is becoming harder to deal with. Leave the latte-sipping sooks in Sydney, for sure - but they frequently end up being the ones teaching in the sausage factories… the problem worsens…
I can’t get my head around the ones that come to the NT with the overt attitude of what an embuggerance GA is to their airline career & not willing to learn from those who’ve been here for years - whilst being happy to trash our aircraft with no desire to look after them, which are challenging enough to maintain as it is. Rare to see young pilots washing aircraft willingly these days. The bad attitudes used to be a rarity, now they seem almost to be the norm. Or maybe I’m just getting older…
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Flying Bear, I agree that Kiwis are usually well trained and have a good work ethic. But they are token Aussies anyway, so by all means I think give them a go if they can handle the heat. Although, when it comes to their shout at the bar, some are afflicted with short arm/long pocket syndrome. Most have their sights on Air NZ - to be expected - so as soon as they get an interview, they are gone.
Spoken by one who has worked with a few Kiwis.
Spoken by one who has worked with a few Kiwis.
Must admit I didn’t think of Kiwis as Kiwis with the Transman agreement, Manly’s just a suburb of Kiwiland after all.
Mach E Avelli, for once, we agree!
However, nowadays young Aussie pilots don’t often shout at the bar, either, in my experience…
Sadly, I’m hiring to fill pilot seats, not bar stools - and as much as I’d like to say our local training product is good, the experiences of the recent few years doesn’t support it.
What I’m complaining about is a function of many years of neglect & rotting in the Aussie flight training space - VET funding, sausage factories, COVID effectively teaching young people that they no longer have to work & things will still work out (money seems to fall from the skies for them…). It’s more a societal thing than anything else, but a higher than acceptable portion of our young pilots are afflicted by it.
I accept that it’s all a cycle, no doubt the wheel will turn…
However, nowadays young Aussie pilots don’t often shout at the bar, either, in my experience…
Sadly, I’m hiring to fill pilot seats, not bar stools - and as much as I’d like to say our local training product is good, the experiences of the recent few years doesn’t support it.
What I’m complaining about is a function of many years of neglect & rotting in the Aussie flight training space - VET funding, sausage factories, COVID effectively teaching young people that they no longer have to work & things will still work out (money seems to fall from the skies for them…). It’s more a societal thing than anything else, but a higher than acceptable portion of our young pilots are afflicted by it.
I accept that it’s all a cycle, no doubt the wheel will turn…
Lucille is on the money.
No need for the IR until there’s been some time to consolidate on SE VFR ops - saves the trainee money & ensures a better product in the end.
As a “hirer & firer” in the region in question - I place no credit on an applicant with an IR over one who doesn’t - in fact, I view the applicant without the IR as a better prospect as they clearly have a more realistic viewpoint & are likely to be a little more stable for my companies over their tenure. We will work to support their training for the IR when the time comes - provided they’ve made an effort to help us achieve our business goals along the way. As always, business is a “two way street”. You help me & I’ll help you…
At time of writing, there is plenty of opportunity in the NT for young pilots who are keen to succeed but who understand that the relationship needs to be about a mutual respect - they need the opportunity to start their career & the Company needs a genuine team player who will invest in making things better than they were found. I interview heaps of wannabes, but am happy to pass on them if I don’t think they understand this basic concept.
It has become such an issue with young pilots in Australia that our Company, as well as others, are looking at pilots trained overseas to fill our needs.
At the end of the day, it’s all about attitude & mutual respect.
No need for the IR until there’s been some time to consolidate on SE VFR ops - saves the trainee money & ensures a better product in the end.
As a “hirer & firer” in the region in question - I place no credit on an applicant with an IR over one who doesn’t - in fact, I view the applicant without the IR as a better prospect as they clearly have a more realistic viewpoint & are likely to be a little more stable for my companies over their tenure. We will work to support their training for the IR when the time comes - provided they’ve made an effort to help us achieve our business goals along the way. As always, business is a “two way street”. You help me & I’ll help you…
At time of writing, there is plenty of opportunity in the NT for young pilots who are keen to succeed but who understand that the relationship needs to be about a mutual respect - they need the opportunity to start their career & the Company needs a genuine team player who will invest in making things better than they were found. I interview heaps of wannabes, but am happy to pass on them if I don’t think they understand this basic concept.
It has become such an issue with young pilots in Australia that our Company, as well as others, are looking at pilots trained overseas to fill our needs.
At the end of the day, it’s all about attitude & mutual respect.
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You need to move quick to lure those that are potentially older with previous life/management experience. We had a candidate a few years ago, ex corporate guy, mid life crisis. We got him in for an interview asap, but was taken by the outfit who interviewed an hour before. Didn’t even need to put on ground ops. He is now their CP.
But as posted above, there are decent candidates out there but one has to be quick. Combine a decent candidate with a well trained one, well… need to be quicker still!
It helps, but certainly can’t reverse 1-2 years of sausage factory attitudes or nearly two decades of entitlement…
But as posted above, there are decent candidates out there but one has to be quick. Combine a decent candidate with a well trained one, well… need to be quicker still!
But as posted above, there are decent candidates out there but one has to be quick. Combine a decent candidate with a well trained one, well… need to be quicker still!
Gone are the days of spit shining the hangar floor. Newbies have never had it easier so long as they are focused with their head screwed on properly.
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