Are you suited to go bush?

The things that they saw as normal would not always be liked by a pilot who may have been trained in a location where there were numerous clubs and pubs, fast food galore, lots of friends, parties to go to all the time and numerous outlets for spare time and money.

The letter spelt out that if the pilot who expressed an interest in working with them could not work under those conditions then perhaps it would be better not to apply at all. The letter also detailed how a new pilot would be inducted into the operation.

The letter could be interpreted two ways. One way is a harsh take it or leave it attitude because that is the way it is.

The second way is that it was telling prospective employees that not all new commercial pilots are suited to working in the remote outback of Australia, a place where frontier towns exist, and that the people who live and work there have to be able to adjust to the conditions or they would not fit in.

The thing that outback operators do not like when taking on a new employee, even for a season, is that they do not want to train a pilot to their way of flying and operating aircraft, and then have that pilot leave after only a short time because they could not cope with the living conditions and the demands of the job.

Some pilots and management will agree that they have seen this all before.

I found the letter interesting in that it was a one page version of a text about working in PNG that I was given some years ago. (Thank you Guy).

PNG may have changed but the basic discussion remained the same. It covered a number of topics but there were three key elements.

Cultural – if you cannot survive without TV, movies, discos, restaurants, shopping centres and constant social interaction with friends and family, then don’t waste your time applying. If you are intolerant of the locals who might think, act and dress differently, then stay home.

Environment – If you find it difficult to cope with humidity, heat, torrential rain, cockroaches and increased risk of tropical diseases, topped with loneliness and isolation, then the outback may not be for you.

Operational – If you cannot work without direct supervision, find it difficult to make decisions or deal with the demands of customers and subordinate staff, or are inflexible in your approach to schedules and plans, you may not be suited to the role of a pilot in the bush. You need to be able to make practical assessments of maintenance, weather, load and external problems.

Another aspect of working in the outback is that of the dangers of flying and working alone. This is of particular concern to the new commercial pilot working in his first commercial position.

New pilots need to be trained in order to get the best performance from them, but this is not achieved by being dropped in at the deep end.

A new pilot needs to be brought up within the company to get to know the people, the aircraft, and what is expected of them.

Management also needs to remember that most new pilots will have ideas and expectations on how they think the operation will be run.

Those two expectations need to meet in order to get the best outcome for both parties and not have a pilot drop out after training has commenced. Training is expensive in terms of time, aircraft and pilots involved in non-revenue flights.

Budding new commercial pilots need to have a serious think about what a remote area job involves and whether they will fit in.

All of this brings us back to the original question; are you suited to going bush? r Contact Dave at flyer02@ optusnet. com. au