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

The aviation industry has a difficult road ahead when it comes to sustainability. It’s going to require a relative revolution in technology, with ‘electric planes’ or hydrogen planes, or some form of jet engine that doesn’t require a carbon based fuel. And that is going to require the development of an alternative to jet engines probably.

It’s a big ask. It will take time to develop.

This move to home grown and manufactured SAF is a first step – maybe even a baby step in a very long road of innovation. In the long run, US$200 million won’t even touch the sides.

I’m booked one of those first day flights