Two more workdays to go and we’re off on holiday. I’ve been
looking forward to a break immensely, but the last few weeks leading up to it
have rushed by and I still have much more to do than can be crammed into two
days, especially with one of those days at least half-filled with flying. It’s
about par for the course I suppose and no different from most other people who
combine two or more jobs into one.
Over the last few months we’ve had a lot of personnel issues
that have very seriously disrupted our Twin Otter crew scheduling. We knew that
two pilots, one captain and one FO were leaving, but another has left
permanently, one is away long term due to family health issues and with only a
vague return date, one has not been trained due to family health issues and
other factors and yet another has had to be taken off the training that was in
process.
The consequence is that when we thought we had enough crew
to fly three aircraft we are struggling to fly two. Even though I only fly a
couple of days each week, my departure won’t help either. At least one aircraft
is away for its avionics upgrade, but scheduling the remaining pilots is quite
a challenge, especially as we try to avoid pilots being away from home for too
long or too frequently.
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As part of the job pilots have to expect to be away from
home regularly. Airline pilots are usually away at least 50% of their time;
corporate pilots can be away longer and may not have the benefit of a schedule,
being at the beck and call of the company senior management.
In comparison MAF pilots have life fairly cushy as we’re
rarely away more than two nights a week, and much less than that at some bases.
However, in the context of a developing country where security can be an issue,
nights may be noisy and disturbed, getting basic supplies can be a challenge
and so on, time away can add to the stress level for some people very
considerably.
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I spent two nights in
Goroka this week, helping to support the programme there as one of the pilots
was on holiday. It’s been a long time since I’ve flown in the area, which I know well from when we were based there in the early 2000s, so it was really nice to return to communities I haven’t seen in a long time. The weather was unusually good – we’ve had a lot of cloud and rain recently – which made it all the more enjoyable.
In some Eastern Highlands communities the older women often
wear ‘cloaks’ made out of beaten out tree bark called tapa cloth. I’ve not seen them worn anywhere else in the country,
though tree bark cloth is certainly used elsewhere.
I have great fun with
my camera at the remote communities. The children love showing off and posing.
Once they break the ice, the adults cautiously show interest in having their
photo taken, followed by hoots of laughter and cheers when they see their face
on the screen afterwards.
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Next Sunday, Easter Sunday, we’ll be in New Zealand.
Happy Easter.
See you soon!
