Well, well - Here's a turnup for the books...

[Dave Homewood]

From
home.nzcity.co.nz/news/default.asp?id=51071

RNZAF targets RAF redundancies

Britain's RAF puts thousands of its staff out of work; RNZAF hopes to lure some of them to New Zealand

25 May 2005

A defence recruitment team is heading to Britain this week to try to capitalise on the restructuring of the RAF.

The changes will leave thousands of people out of a job, and the RNZAF hopes to lure some of them to New Zealand.

Group Captain Peter Port says the team will spend the next month interviewing applicants for 80 positions.

More than eleven hundred have applied.

Peter Port says they are looking particularly for people with skills in avionics, fire and air security and engineering and supply.

The first recruits should be in New Zealand by August

[Bruce]

Hmmmm, you spend your RAF career working on Tornadoes, Jaguars, Nimrods Harriers etc, and the RNZAF wants to tempt you to NZ where you get to work on.... Airtrainers, King Airs and 40 year old herks.... I can see that appealing.
On top of that your Lions Rugby team gets marched over..... ;D

[Dave Homewood]

Well, we might get back some of the pilots we sent there in 1999. Maybe...

I wonder how successful this will be. Mind you, the RNZAF has often recruited skilled labour from the RAF in the past, right back to the NZPAF days. I recall one or two ex-RAF types in the RNZAF when I was in. For some it was a way to continue in the service - they'd do their 20 years or so in the RAF, be pensioned off, and then join the RNZAF and start again. I remember one engineer who had been a F/Sgt or W/O in the RAF and was when I knew him a Cpl in the RNZAF. I think it is as much, if not more, the country that attracts them rather than just the job.