Ask The Pilot

[747sp]

JB what plane ,rego, did you fly the most ? Also which 747 did you fly most ?

 

[jb747]

JB what plane ,rego, did you fly the most ? Also which 747 did you fly most ?

That didn't take as long as I'd expected, as I done most of the work some time last year.

The 744 that I'd flown the most was OJH, at 318 hours.

Classic, EBR with 173 hours.

On the 767, it was almost a draw between the two first in fleet aircraft...EAJ with 432 hours, and OGA 435.

The surprise winner, as the QF aircraft I spent the most time in, was OQE, with 650 hours.

 

[OATEK]

That didn't take as long as I'd expected, as I done most of the work some time last year.

The 744 that I'd flown the most was OJH, at 318 hours.

Classic, EBR with 173 hours.

On the 767, it was almost a draw between the two first in fleet aircraft...EAJ with 432 hours, and OGA 435.

The surprise winner, as the QF aircraft I spent the most time in, was OQE, with 650 hours.

So Lawrence Hargrave wins! He flew his kites not far from where we live, so is regarded as a "local".

 

[Quickstatus]

That's what an extremely lucky career looks like.

So approx 5% as FO all up?. That’s extremely lucky. How does it compare with your peers.

Pilot’s lives are often carry a cost. How many Christmases did you miss?

OGA 435.

It’s still flying. As a freighter
N316CM

 

[jb747]

So approx 5% as FO all up?. That’s extremely lucky. How does it compare with your peers.

My RAAF and RAN peers who joined within a year or two of me, spent slightly longer as FOs, but overall had a similar run. In my case, I was given my 4 bars three months shy of 8 years in the company, and if you joined soon after me, you’d probably have had the chance within 10 years. But, shortly after that, it stretched out quite appreciably. There was always a lot of right place and time, and simply being prepared, in how things worked out.

My initial years in QF were greatly affected by the advent of the 767. That opened up a lot of new seats, so promotion opportunities were much better for a few years. But, the 767 turned out to be a bit of a hot potato training wise, as it had a much higher failure rate on the command courses than the company had been used to. There were a few reasons for this. The aircraft itself was somewhat unforgiving, which is what made it so loved by many of us. But the biggest issue was that some people simply had not ensured they were getting ready for the training a couple of years out. It’s much easier to keep on top of the study if you do a bit here, and there, constantly....but not everyone did. The upshot was that many people who could have bid for the slots on the 767 didn’t do so for a few more years. That meant that the successful bidders were coming from the middle of the seniority system and not near the top. They also tended to be the ones who were prepared and more confident, and there was a fairly high percentage of RAAF amongst them. A few years down the track, this reversed itself, as the people who’d held off, now felt confident enough to put their hands up.

Within a bidding system, in which there are multiple ranks and aircraft types involved, you’ll find all sorts of reasoning behind the way that people bid. For some, stability is the most important factor. Others, will bid for the highest rank, or perhaps the highest rated aircraft. I always pushed for the best seat I could find, with one exception. I could have had a command slot on the 747 Classic, but I simply wasn’t interested in going back to an analogue aircraft. I also never delayed taking a new course, again with one exception. I actually had a slot to start my 380 training very soon after QF30 happened. The deputy chief pilot suggested that it might be a good idea to delay that for a little while, and as he guaranteed my later slot, I took his advice.

In a company like QF, where there were approximately equal numbers of Captains, FOs, and SOs, the average time in each rank would be a third of a career. The reality is that averages are just that, and expansion, or contraction, or dumb luck, make a vast difference to any individual’s progression. Basically though, you have to be in it to win it. You have to be prepared, always.

 

[Quickstatus]

The deputy chief pilot suggested that it might be a good idea to delay that for a little while

What was his reasoning?.

analogue aircraft

What do you mean by analogue?

 

[AviatorInsight]

I’d expect a lot of that to change now in the current climate. I wonder how many retirements will come early as a result of this, depending on the sweetness of the deal I’d imagine.

VA is a much younger airline with a lot of younger captains by comparison. Of course there’s a couple of retirements that were coming in the next couple of years but whether that happens earlier or not now remains to be seen.

Anybody who gets made redundant will have a first shot to come back and retain their position for 5 years. So progression will now be even slower. I was already looking at a command after about 10yrs in the company (currently at 7), but that has now blown out.

The other problem is, FOs who go for their upgrade and fail, come back as FOs for another 12 months. That position then never gets given to the next pilot in line but rather just gets axed. When the next round of positions come up those same FOs get to have another crack at it, thus prolonging the rest of us down the line.

My advice to anyone wanting to join an airline at any point in their career is get in as soon as you can. Seniority is everything.

Pilot’s lives are often carry a cost. How many Christmases did you miss?

My bidding strategy must work as I’ve only worked 2 christmases in the last 10yrs. Rex was great in that there weren’t any flights on Christmas Day. I’ve missed pretty much every other occasion though. I seem to work every Easter though according to my logbook. But I’d prefer Christmas off anyway so that doesn’t worry me too much.

 

[jb747]

Pilot’s lives are often carry a cost. How many Christmases did you miss?

Sorry, didn't notice this.

The answer is just about all of them. In 33.5 years, I never had leave over Christmas, and about 90% of the time I was away working. The most depressing Xmas of all was a standby in Sydney (when I lived in Melbourne). There was a chance that one of the people who habitually caught plague on Christmas Day would call in sick, but it ended up being a dead day.

The second most depressing was a day in Perth. We were planned to do the red eye at midnight back to the east coast. So, wandering around Perth on Xmas day, and the place was simply shut. Hundreds of tourists, of various nationalities, were also wandering around in varying stages of bemusement. The only place to get food was the overpriced Xmas meals in the hotels. Seriously depressing place. I hope it's improved. QF added insult to it at the end of the day though. We turned up to do the flight, and I was handed the flight plan. But it was for a 737. Our flight had been switched, and we could have had the day at home. Of course, they'd also neglected to schedule a 737 crew, so it was overall a huge mess.

In the later part of my career, I could have had the day at home, but I remembered how I was never there when my son was young, and so I resolved to bid to be away to give others the chance. Obviously, not everyone felt that way.

It’s still flying. As a freighter
N316CM

Thanks. Didn't know that.

What was his reasoning?.

The leap from Boeing to Airbus was pretty steep, so he wanted to ensure that my head was really around the course, and that I wasn't still being distracted by the QF30 goings on. It was a good call.

What do you mean by analogue?

In this context, a non glass (CRTs, etc) coughpit, without an FMC.

 

[Quickstatus]

Everything behind the fight deck is payload. But are there differences for pilot career between passenger and freight flying?

 

[jb747]

I’ve heard that among others they are standing up “number 1” for the final flight of OEJ. If it’s who I think it is that’s a start date of April 1980. I’d imagine his breakdown wouldn’t be as diverse as yours. One long and impressive career nonetheless!

As best I can tell, there's only one bloke left from that course. I certainly don't mind if he gets to do the flight. The joy flights seem to have been shared around a bit.

 

[serfty]

The surprise winner, as the QF aircraft I spent the most time in, was OQE, with 650 hours

Being delivered in late 2009, it is not surprising with an aircraft that mainly plied the airways between between East Coast Oz and USA & Asia/Europe.

I wonder what the average segment length you commanded on it was?

 

[AviatorInsight]

Everything behind the fight deck is payload. But are there differences for pilot career between passenger and freight flying?

None. It’s the same way you operate the aircraft. It’s all about time on type and time in the appropriate seat.

 

[Mogul]

Everything behind the fight deck is payload. But are there differences for pilot career between passenger and freight flying?

All the freighter pilots still have their jobs.

 

[Saab34]

AV where did all your colleagues from Rex end up moving onto as time went on? I note there seems to be a lot at Jetstar ex Rex.

I understand Rex Pilots would be quite valuable to to QF/VA/JQ but I don’t think I’ve seen many at QF.

 

[AviatorInsight]

AV where did all your colleagues from Rex end up moving onto as time went on? I note there seems to be a lot at Jetstar ex Rex.

I understand Rex Pilots would be quite valuable to to QF/VA/JQ but I don’t think I’ve seen many at QF.

I can’t actually think of anyone who has gotten into QF from Rex? Many went to EK when they lowered their minimums to just include the Saab on weight. I think the cut off was 13.0t MTOW so a number of them jumped on it. At the moment they are all safe (all B777).

As for the people who stayed domestically, a lot are at JQ/VA, with many of those jumping ship from Rex straight onto the ATR with VARA.

 

[jb747]

There were plenty of Rex pilots in QF. They’re spread across most of the fleets. The most recent are all on the 787.

 

[Quickstatus]

Rex pilots in QF...on the 787.

Big change in lifestyle - short flights sleep in own bed mostly to ultra long haul “sleep” on airplane

 

[Hvr]

For the pilots, once you finish a flight, what is maximum time you can be away and retain currency before you have to do another SIM/flight?

Is there a maximum time you can only do SIMs before you must do an actual flight?

Given this pandemic probably has another 12 months before we can see its end, how long will it take to get pilots back flying?

TIA

 

[p--and--t]

For the pilots, once you finish a flight, what is maximum time you can be away and retain currency before you have to do another SIM/flight?

Is there a maximum time you can only do SIMs before you must do an actual flight?

Given this pandemic probably has another 12 months before we can see its end, how long will it take to get pilots back flying?

TIA

Also interested in that question. I read online of a dispute between Delta and its pilots, where the pilots are asking for SIMs before they go flying again because its been so long and the company is refusing.

 

[jb747]

For the pilots, once you finish a flight, what is maximum time you can be away and retain currency before you have to do another SIM/flight?

Is there a maximum time you can only do SIMs before you must do an actual flight?

Given this pandemic probably has another 12 months before we can see its end, how long will it take to get pilots back flying?

The longest break that I ever took was 4 months, and then it was 3 sims and 2 flights. There are limits for everything, but by the time we reach a year of this, I think it will require close to the full course to get people back. So call it something like a month of ground school, 10 sims, and 6 or so sectors in the aircraft. Per pilot. It will take about 2-3 months per pilot. About a year to get a reasonable proportion of an airline back.

In more normal times, you had to do something, be it flight or sim, approximately every 30 days to maintain currency. There was an increasing scale of training required as the time away increased.