Which means that every pilot who is based in Sydney would need to be flown down to Melbourne for each and every sim. If it is an early or late sim, then it will also require accommodation.
Now the 747 is going, so that rules them out. But, there are Dash 8, 330 and 380, as well as 737 crews based in Sydney who use those sims. There was to be a 787 base in Sydney too. Just allowing for the aircraft that will survive for sure, you‘ll end up with at least six (and perhaps as many as 12) sessions per day for which you will need to fly crews down. So, a minimum 12 pilots every day. That is in addition to the movement that already happens. There would be a slight saving in the other direction, as you might not need to move Melbourne based 380 crews in the other direction.
That’s not all, of course. The training building also supports all conversion and initial training. There might not be much initial training happening for a while, but there could well be a lot of conversions.
Plus, all security and EP training also has to happen. This is already done in Melbourne and Brisbane, but you would now be adding all of the Sydney based pilots AND cabin crew to mix. I’m not sure of the exact total numbers, but it would have to be around 9,000 training days for the pilots, and at least half that number again for the cabin crew. So, perhaps somewhere around 15,000 crew movements per year for this training. So, around 40 per day. I haven’t even considered the Adelaide and Perth basings which have this sort of movement, nor have I considered issues with regard to the instructors. I’m sure these numbers can be played with in a few ways, but the upshot is that the only reason that multiple training centres already exist is that the costs of moving people made it worthwhile.
Of course none of these issues actually exist if the intention is to remove Sydney as a main crew base. You’d still have some smaller level of basing there, but nowhere near the current size. Domestically it wouldn’t make all that much difference, and is more or less how TAA operated. Internationally though, it is the main crew base by a large margin. But, if the ultimate intention is to downsize dramatically (lets just imagine the already delivered 787s as your only international aircraft), then I guess your main base could be anywhere.
How it would work industrially, I have no idea. I’m sure there are massive financial implications in going from having 20,000 people stood down, to laying off the vast majority. Nevertheless, I don’t see QFi being even a small fraction of it’s previous size.
Mind you, I hope I’m totally wrong, and that AJ has some great plan. The problem is that I think events are moving beyond any CEO’s ability to plan.
