NZ job market and pay?

What's a job in helicopters pay? Does it pay? Why do you get paid more than me?
JNR
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NZ job market and pay?

Postby JNR » Wed Sep 5 2012, 05:34

Afternoon all,

I have been in Aus a few years now and I am thinking it is about time to head back to the homeland. Anyone know of how the jobs are situated over there at the moment? Don't seem to see too many advertised. I am guess coming into summer the tourist season will be kicking off. What about pay? In the past years I have heard the cost of living has gone up considerably but as I have never worked as a pilot in NZ I am not sure as to how we fair there compared to Australia. Any info would be great.

Cheers,

JNR
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Evil Twin
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Re: NZ job market and pay?

Postby Evil Twin » Wed Sep 5 2012, 06:41

Crap and Crap!
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bangequalsbad
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Re: NZ job market and pay?

Postby bangequalsbad » Wed Sep 5 2012, 07:25

Evil Twin wrote:Crap and Crap!


I suppose the request should have been for "useful" information.

:lol:
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Re: NZ job market and pay?

Postby BenThomas » Wed Sep 5 2012, 07:56

That is usefull information, True and to the point.
Water Hammer
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Re: NZ job market and pay?

Postby Water Hammer » Wed Sep 5 2012, 14:19

It's all about who you know mate....jobs are hardly ever advertised in NZ and seldom come up. Depends what your after too, unfortunately what the others have said is very true. I have an ex mil pilot friend with over 3500 hrs (mainly multi) and he was keen to work in any flying role just to be able to fly in NZ and be with his family. After 8 months looking for work he headed back to the middle east on a touring contract because there were no jobs apparently! When guys are paying to be a co-ey on a 76 it doesn't paint a very good picture of the industry in NZ!!!

Oc:=
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Re: NZ job market and pay?

Postby AgRattler » Wed Sep 5 2012, 17:22

Being an ex Mil pilot prob didnt help him.....

Depends what type of flying you do. For example a grade 1 ag pilot in NZ can be on anything from 80-120 odd K or a tourist pilot might be on 50k.

But NZ certainly isnt the land of milk and honey. :roll:
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Re: NZ job market and pay?

Postby Luka » Thu Sep 6 2012, 01:55

AgRattler wrote:Being an ex Mil pilot prob didnt help him.....


Quite true. I don't know a lot of (especially the smaller ones) who will bother the the ex mil types. There are a lot of jobs at the moment for ag pilots, I know of at least 3 companies who have just started training their loader drivers, and that is just in the bottom of the South Island. A new grade 2 ag pilot with about 3 - 400 hours should start on around 60K, and a grade 1 anywhere between 80 - 120.
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Re: NZ job market and pay?

Postby muppet » Thu Sep 6 2012, 04:46

When guys are paying to be a co-ey on a 76


Water Hammer- can you explain a little more about what you meant by this comment? Just curious.
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Re: NZ job market and pay?

Postby Skid Marks » Thu Sep 6 2012, 05:12

muppet wrote:
When guys are paying to be a co-ey on a 76


Water Hammer- can you explain a little more about what you meant by this comment? Just curious.


Hi Muppet. Water Hammer will be referring to HFT's MEIFR Internship - http://www.hft.school.nz/training/meifr.html
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Re: NZ job market and pay?

Postby Water Hammer » Thu Sep 6 2012, 06:34

Thanks Skid Marks, that's what I was referring to....probably not too much of a problem now with the partial collapse of the student loan system over there. But I 'heard' there was lots of people jumping in the queue waiting for a spot! Pretty surprised about the Ag wages that's quite a good wicket for NZ... A lot of expense to get the Quals tho for either the loader/employer but job satisfaction would be right up there so definately worth a look. :D
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Re: NZ job market and pay?

Postby AgRattler » Thu Sep 6 2012, 17:24

Yeah but with Ag is that to even get a seat your looking at a few years of loading for F//K all coin....some guys just cant take driving the landcruiser and earning less that the old mate at Maccas for the HOPE to get a ag rating!!!
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Re: NZ job market and pay?

Postby muppet » Thu Sep 6 2012, 23:45

Hi Muppet. Water Hammer will be referring to HFT's MEIFR Internship - http://www.hft.school.nz/training/meifr.html


Thanks guys, I had a looksie out of curiosity, but still can't work out how they do it. $60k for an instrument rating in an S76. mmmm... Even a crusty A model probably goes out at $4k an hour. Say 40 hours x $4k = $160k. Some problems there. And even if they do some time in a SIM, and some flopping about in a smaller VFR machine, they still need 10 hours on a cross country flight plan. How do they do that? An S76A doesn't have an auto-pilot, so how do you teach IFR on a fight plan when the aircraft requires 2 pilot operations (qualified pilots that would be)... I was asked by a kiwi mate's son who is working out the best way for him to get his IFR ticket, not sure what advice I can give him. Don't want him to get caught up in anything dodgy. Any suggestions? Should I tell him to TTMRA his kiwi licence, come over here, get his IREX etc and go see CHC?? (some thread creep here sorry)
Water Hammer
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Re: NZ job market and pay?

Postby Water Hammer » Fri Sep 7 2012, 00:12

Like you said Muppet...sounds a bit dodgy, and one would have to question the quality of the training provided. If you analyse their page (the link above) they repeat themselves several times just to put more writing on the page. And it seems that the sole rescue outfit involved are constantly looking at ways to subsidise their operations. I read somewhere a while back that they bought a wrecked 76 from Japan, after the earthquakes and were re-certifying parts from it for use on their machines to save money. Perfectly legit but what else are they up to you know? TTMRA could be a good option, he could also look at plank PPL and then an IFR rating. Cheaper to keep current in the long run, but if looking at self-funding any route will be expensive if you are paying for the training. Tough choice... :?
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Re: NZ job market and pay?

Postby Belldriva » Fri Sep 7 2012, 21:09

Greetings,

Yes, I can back up the Grade 1 Ag at $80-$120 for me personally. Quite a few Grade 1 Ag guys have left nz, mostly going to PNG which leaves possibilities for less experienced guys and have heard of one company who trained two loaders (I think they paid for their Ag rating though) but they are flying full time in r44s.

To be a good Ag pilot you learn from the ground up, for pilots with familys, being a loader driver can be out of the question money wise (30-40k) if your lucky.

Grade 2 Ag trained up in house with bond starts on 50k with us, but the problem is (at least the North Island) is that the competition factor is very fierce in most districts and has been cut throat to the max the past 3-4 years, especially in some districts. Most of the time its a new guy on the block wanting a client base who puts pressure on your existing customers by going in 30% cheaper.

I think thats why alot of experienced Ag guys move on, so there is potential for wanna be Ag pilots or low time rated pilots if youre keen and patient, just hope things improve price wise soon, but quite often once low prices are set by one operator farmers expect the same from you, or similiar pricing every year.

Quite often its a thank-less job but is rewarding when you see all the jobs youve done and know yourself you did a good job for the customer.

Thats my 2 cents worth.
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Re: NZ job market and pay?

Postby temporary » Sun Sep 9 2012, 02:20

Re internship, same old story eh, people spreading nonsense based on assumption rather than fact. Do you guys even speak to these people before you make comments like these? in fact do you even engage your brain? Or does the sh*t just flow naturally ?
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Re: NZ job market and pay?

Postby muppet » Sun Sep 9 2012, 04:11

Re internship, same old story eh, people spreading nonsense based on assumption rather than fact. Do you guys even speak to these people before you make comments like these? in fact do you even engage your brain? Or does the sh*t just flow naturally ?


Oh ouchy indeed. 'Great' post temporary. Did you work hard on putting that together? I was just inferring from what I read and from what I have heard from trusted sources 'within the industry'. Care to elucidate on your scathing comeback? If that was Part 1, then I am certainly keen to hear the next installment.
temporary
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Re: NZ job market and pay?

Postby temporary » Sun Sep 9 2012, 10:09

I'll take 'that' as a 'no', 'no', and 'yes'. I was 'talking' about 'Water Hammers' original 'comment', not 'yours'. Not 'everything' 'is about you'.

Just because you guys haven't bothered to look up the rules doesn't make what they're doing dodgy. I've spoken to HFT about the internship and it makes perfect sense to me, nothing dodgy about it. The CAR parts will answer your questions about IFR training on a flight plan in an aircraft that requires 2 qualified pilots.

JNR, there ARE jobs here, but you need to be free to work anywhere in nz, and generally pay won't be as good as aussie. As with any job in any industry within NZ.
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Re: NZ job market and pay?

Postby JNR » Mon Sep 10 2012, 09:43

Thanks everyone for the info. Will look into it and go from there.

Cheers,

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