REX: Denies Daily Telegraph headline that it is using overseas pilots on new domestic capital city routes

In a statement to the Australian Stock Exchange, and by a press release yesterday, REX denied a 6 day old Daily Telegraph report that it intends to employ overseas pilots.

‘All pilots and flight attendants employed for Rex’s new Domestic Operation are former employees from Virgin, Tiger and Qantas, all of whom were made redundant or who resigned of their own volition to join Rex. Rex is not seeking to employ foreign pilots for its domestic operations, nor is it entitled to do so under the conditions of a Labour Agreement (LA) entered into with the Commonwealth in 2019.’

Media Release, REX

Rex goes on to point out that it only recruits pilots in Australia, and that unlike Qantas and Virgin Australia, it has invested in pilot training academies in the regional centres of Wagga Wagga and Ballarat, as well as providing a cadet program for young Australians seeking a career in aviation.

Rex will begin its domestic services with 6 ex-Virgin Australia Boeing 737-800NGs in March 2021.

2PAXfly Takeout

This is another timely reminder to wear your seatbelt when seated. Holding you close to your seat will protect you from the sort of injuries sustained on this flight, when unsecured passengers flew to the ceiling of the aircraft, and then came crashing down once the ‘drop’ ceased.

The hope will be that this is an anomaly – a ‘freak accident’ in casual parlance. If it is a systemic error either mechanical or electronic, then this is a larger concern for the airlines that fly Boeing Dreamliner 787 aircraft. Let’s hope it isn’t. If it is, it will pile on the woes to Boeing’s existing stack.

I’m booked one of those first day flights