Alphabet wars continue on 457 pilots - 
Via the Oz:
Union wants bush pilots ahead of foreigners
![[Image: 21293d6175dd1eca82d55ce717ce8f3a?width=650]](http://cdn.newsapi.com.au/image/v1/21293d6175dd1eca82d55ce717ce8f3a?width=650)
Jesse Moll flies Navajo Chieftain ferrying remote workers. Picture: Justin Kennedy.
The Australian
12:00AM January 19, 2018
![[Image: matthew_denholm.png]](http://media.theaustralian.com.au/authors/images/bio/matthew_denholm.png)
MATTHEW DENHOLM
Tasmania correspondent Hobart
@MatthewRDenholm
Australia’s largest pilot union is demanding a review of the use of foreign pilots in regional areas, arguing there are hundreds of young bush pilots who could fill the vacancies.
The Australian Federation of Air Pilots, which represents more than 4500 commercial pilots, says the decision to grant two-year visas to foreign pilots on regional routes was a cop-out and a blow to hundreds of young pilots desperate for airline jobs.
“There are hundreds of Australian pilots across the nation who are qualified, ready, willing and able to fill these airline roles,” federation president David Booth said. “These are local Australians who are coming through the training system and flying up in remote areas in the Northern Territory, Queensland and the Kimberley.
“There are many more with dormant licences who could easily reactivate their careers if demand warranted. Furthermore, there are many Australian expat pilots eager to return home to Australia after years of being abroad. This latter category are willing to take a junior position just to get back home.”
Some young bush pilots, such as those flying charters or shifting workers in and out of remote worksites, already have sufficient experience to work on regional passenger routes, while others could be supported to gain the necessarily levels.
Mr Booth accused regional airlines, which lobbied the Turnbull government for the visas after the abolition of 457 visas, of preferring to replace experienced pilots with overseas captains rather than investing in training first officers for those roles.
Regional airline pilots are being poached by the major airlines for the big city routes, as global demand for pilots increases and Qantas shifts some 737 crews up to its new 787 Dreamliners.
Regional Aviation Association of Australia chief executive Mike Higgins rejected the union’s claims, arguing that the speed of the attrition of regional captains and constraints of pilot training regulation meant foreign captains were needed as an urgent fix.
“Whilst there are young guys out there, they simply are not qualified enough, or experienced enough, to move across,” Mr Higgins said. “Therefore the 457 visa pilots we’re looking for are only experienced captains. They can mentor and train the young guys to come through.”
Mr Booth said the definition of “regional” for the purposes of granting visas to foreign pilots was anywhere outside Sydney, Brisbane and Melbourne.
“It’s impossible to say Perth, Adelaide, Darwin are regional areas,” Mr Booth said. “We say a better way for the industry to deal with this is to train Australians into the positions, improve the working conditions (at regional airlines), and that will drive better retention.”
Jesse Moll, 30, who moved to Darwin from Perth to take up a job flying staff in and out of sandalwood plantations in a seven-seater Navajo Chieftain, is one young pilot ready to move up to regional airlines. “To go up to a turbo prop (passenger plane), I wouldn’t need much at all,” he said. “I’ve applied a couple of times to a few places and I haven’t got the hours just yet. Some are asking for 1500 (flying hours), some are asking 1000. I’m just short of 1000 but I have enough twin (engine) time.”
Mr Moll, who has had his commercial pilot’s licence for about three years, said it was disappointing to see regional airlines import foreign pilots. He said airlines needed to lift salaries and were partly to blame for the shortage.
“Surely if they had a bit of forward thinking they could have seen they would need more pilots soon, especially as a lot are going to be retiring,” he said.
However, unions and employers argue for streamlining of what they see as overly burdensome regulation recently imposed by the Civil Aviation Safety Authority on pilot licensing.
Mr Booth said this had led to “serious delays” for “no safety benefit”. “They’ve imposed a huge amount of red tape on to especially the smaller operators, who can ill afford it. For example, if you flew small turbo props you used to have to do one instrument rating flight test a year. That changed to requiring you to do as many checked flights as types of aircraft you fly, so you might have to do four or five of these tests a year, at a cost of $5000 a test.”
Home Affairs Minister Peter Dutton did not respond to requests for comment but has defended the use of visas for pilots as balancing the need to give priority to local workers while also meeting skills shortages.
& from Jamie Freed, via Reuters this AM
:
Outback Australians grounded as pilot crisis worsens
Jamie Freed
(Reuters) - A recruitment drive by Australia’s Qantas Airways Ltd (QAN.AX) after a seven-year hiatus is exacerbating shortages of pilots at regional air services that provide a lifeline to remote communities in the country’s sparsely populated Outback.
![[Image: ?m=02&d=20180118&t=2&i=1223167989&r=LYNX...25U&w=1280]](https://s4.reutersmedia.net/resources/r/?m=02&d=20180118&t=2&i=1223167989&r=LYNXMPEE0H25U&w=1280)
A Qantas Airways Airbus A330 aircraft can be seen on the tarmac near the domestic terminal at Sydney Airport in Australia, November 30, 2017. REUTERS/David Gray
As airlines from Asia, Europe and North America vie for pilots amid a global shortage, there is growing concern among people in Australia’s vast interior who rely on flights to major cities for medical treatment.
Ewen McPhee, a doctor in the remote mining town of Emerald, said that when he referred patients for specialist care they often needed to travel nearly 1,000 km (621 miles) to the nearest big city, Brisbane.
“Then they have to fly,” he said. “It is an 11-hour drive otherwise for an ill patient with quite a significant problem.”
Over the last four months the 80-minute flights have not been as reliable as usual, McPhee said, with last-minute cancellations for lack of pilots.
Regional Australia’s predicament illustrates the broader risks the aviation industry faces from a lack of pilots as the number of annual air passengers globally is expected to nearly double to 7.8 billion over the next 20 years.
Around the world, airlines will be forced to review the wages, training and conditions they offer younger pilots as they open new routes and pursue ambitious expansion plans.
Australia’s pilot shortage closely parallels one in the United States, where major airlines are on a hiring spree and regional carriers like Seattle-based Horizon Air have canceled hundreds of flights because of a lack of aviators.
Both countries have a culture of pilots paying up to $100,000 of their own money for training and flying for years at regional carriers on low pay to gain experience to be hired by major airlines.
To help fill in the gaps, the Australian government has reopened two-year visas for foreign pilots. Regional airlines however say longer visas are required to attract pilots from overseas.
MTF...P2
Via the Oz:
Union wants bush pilots ahead of foreigners
Jesse Moll flies Navajo Chieftain ferrying remote workers. Picture: Justin Kennedy.
The Australian
12:00AM January 19, 2018
MATTHEW DENHOLM
Tasmania correspondent Hobart
@MatthewRDenholm
Australia’s largest pilot union is demanding a review of the use of foreign pilots in regional areas, arguing there are hundreds of young bush pilots who could fill the vacancies.
The Australian Federation of Air Pilots, which represents more than 4500 commercial pilots, says the decision to grant two-year visas to foreign pilots on regional routes was a cop-out and a blow to hundreds of young pilots desperate for airline jobs.
“There are hundreds of Australian pilots across the nation who are qualified, ready, willing and able to fill these airline roles,” federation president David Booth said. “These are local Australians who are coming through the training system and flying up in remote areas in the Northern Territory, Queensland and the Kimberley.
“There are many more with dormant licences who could easily reactivate their careers if demand warranted. Furthermore, there are many Australian expat pilots eager to return home to Australia after years of being abroad. This latter category are willing to take a junior position just to get back home.”
Some young bush pilots, such as those flying charters or shifting workers in and out of remote worksites, already have sufficient experience to work on regional passenger routes, while others could be supported to gain the necessarily levels.
Mr Booth accused regional airlines, which lobbied the Turnbull government for the visas after the abolition of 457 visas, of preferring to replace experienced pilots with overseas captains rather than investing in training first officers for those roles.
Regional airline pilots are being poached by the major airlines for the big city routes, as global demand for pilots increases and Qantas shifts some 737 crews up to its new 787 Dreamliners.
Regional Aviation Association of Australia chief executive Mike Higgins rejected the union’s claims, arguing that the speed of the attrition of regional captains and constraints of pilot training regulation meant foreign captains were needed as an urgent fix.
“Whilst there are young guys out there, they simply are not qualified enough, or experienced enough, to move across,” Mr Higgins said. “Therefore the 457 visa pilots we’re looking for are only experienced captains. They can mentor and train the young guys to come through.”
Mr Booth said the definition of “regional” for the purposes of granting visas to foreign pilots was anywhere outside Sydney, Brisbane and Melbourne.
“It’s impossible to say Perth, Adelaide, Darwin are regional areas,” Mr Booth said. “We say a better way for the industry to deal with this is to train Australians into the positions, improve the working conditions (at regional airlines), and that will drive better retention.”
Jesse Moll, 30, who moved to Darwin from Perth to take up a job flying staff in and out of sandalwood plantations in a seven-seater Navajo Chieftain, is one young pilot ready to move up to regional airlines. “To go up to a turbo prop (passenger plane), I wouldn’t need much at all,” he said. “I’ve applied a couple of times to a few places and I haven’t got the hours just yet. Some are asking for 1500 (flying hours), some are asking 1000. I’m just short of 1000 but I have enough twin (engine) time.”
Mr Moll, who has had his commercial pilot’s licence for about three years, said it was disappointing to see regional airlines import foreign pilots. He said airlines needed to lift salaries and were partly to blame for the shortage.
“Surely if they had a bit of forward thinking they could have seen they would need more pilots soon, especially as a lot are going to be retiring,” he said.
However, unions and employers argue for streamlining of what they see as overly burdensome regulation recently imposed by the Civil Aviation Safety Authority on pilot licensing.
Mr Booth said this had led to “serious delays” for “no safety benefit”. “They’ve imposed a huge amount of red tape on to especially the smaller operators, who can ill afford it. For example, if you flew small turbo props you used to have to do one instrument rating flight test a year. That changed to requiring you to do as many checked flights as types of aircraft you fly, so you might have to do four or five of these tests a year, at a cost of $5000 a test.”
Home Affairs Minister Peter Dutton did not respond to requests for comment but has defended the use of visas for pilots as balancing the need to give priority to local workers while also meeting skills shortages.
& from Jamie Freed, via Reuters this AM
:Outback Australians grounded as pilot crisis worsens
Jamie Freed
(Reuters) - A recruitment drive by Australia’s Qantas Airways Ltd (QAN.AX) after a seven-year hiatus is exacerbating shortages of pilots at regional air services that provide a lifeline to remote communities in the country’s sparsely populated Outback.
A Qantas Airways Airbus A330 aircraft can be seen on the tarmac near the domestic terminal at Sydney Airport in Australia, November 30, 2017. REUTERS/David Gray
As airlines from Asia, Europe and North America vie for pilots amid a global shortage, there is growing concern among people in Australia’s vast interior who rely on flights to major cities for medical treatment.
Ewen McPhee, a doctor in the remote mining town of Emerald, said that when he referred patients for specialist care they often needed to travel nearly 1,000 km (621 miles) to the nearest big city, Brisbane.
“Then they have to fly,” he said. “It is an 11-hour drive otherwise for an ill patient with quite a significant problem.”
Over the last four months the 80-minute flights have not been as reliable as usual, McPhee said, with last-minute cancellations for lack of pilots.
Regional Australia’s predicament illustrates the broader risks the aviation industry faces from a lack of pilots as the number of annual air passengers globally is expected to nearly double to 7.8 billion over the next 20 years.
Around the world, airlines will be forced to review the wages, training and conditions they offer younger pilots as they open new routes and pursue ambitious expansion plans.
Australia’s pilot shortage closely parallels one in the United States, where major airlines are on a hiring spree and regional carriers like Seattle-based Horizon Air have canceled hundreds of flights because of a lack of aviators.
Both countries have a culture of pilots paying up to $100,000 of their own money for training and flying for years at regional carriers on low pay to gain experience to be hired by major airlines.
To help fill in the gaps, the Australian government has reopened two-year visas for foreign pilots. Regional airlines however say longer visas are required to attract pilots from overseas.
MTF...P2