Ask The Pilot

[D747]

Over the weekend a post from Crikey popped up in my feed.

Non-Pilot note: Never believe anything you see or read in the press. I should know, I used to work for a large media organisation.

 

[jb747]

.....I've attached a screen grab about the new A220s. In it they say that they are having difficulty getting pilots to fly them. Why would this be so? What are the pilots who flew the older aircraft that the 220s are replacing doing?

The pilots who flew the 717s are being retrained to fly the 220. The one bloke I know who's in that boat hasn't actually started his training yet, so, like all things "new QF", I expect they've left everything to the last minute, and are now wondering why they aren't prepared.

But, where 220s might displace 737s, there's no crossover of the pilots. The 220s are flown by a subset of pilots who are not part of the mainline airline. Part of the divide and conquer strategy. None of the mainline pilots will fly the 220.

And surely there must be a whole swag of pilots outside of the airlines chomping at their respective bits to get in.

As they aren't actually getting in to QF, and there is no avenue from the 'links, etc into mainline, it's not the sort of deal that would attract qualified people. There's probably any number of people from the inexperienced end of the pool, and it all depends on how far down you feel like looking. If you subscribe to the theory that all pilots are equal, then you won't have any issue.

 

[RailFlyer]

The pilots who flew the 717s are being retrained to fly the 220. The one bloke I know who's in that boat hasn't actually started his training yet, so, like all things "new QF", I expect they've left everything to the last minute, and are now wondering why they aren't prepared.

But, where 220s might displace 737s, there's no crossover of the pilots. The 220s are flown by a subset of pilots who are not part of the mainline airline. Part of the divide and conquer strategy. None of the mainline pilots will fly the 220.


As they aren't actually getting in to QF, and there is no avenue from the 'links, etc into mainline, it's not the sort of deal that would attract qualified people. There's probably any number of people from the inexperienced end of the pool, and it all depends on how far down you feel like looking. If you subscribe to the theory that all pilots are equal, then you won't have any issue.

Why doesn't Qantas provide a route for promotion from 'links, etc. into mainline', even if it involved leaving one company and joining another and associated loss of seniority? What's to lose for Qantas in allowing/promoting this path (they would ultimately control how many based on their demand)? As you say, not having this must put off younger pilots from joining their regional subsidiaries.

 

[Quickstatus]

None of the mainline pilots will fly the 220.

Meaning there is no opportunity for them?

 

[mjt57]

Meaning there is no opportunity for them?

I took that to mean that they wouldn't want to fly them. It might be a huge pay cut and a "demotion" in their seniority, I'd guess. From what JB is saying there's no "pathway" (a favorite term that pubic servants like to use) from that sector into QF, I guess.