FIFO is not for everyone; there are so many issues with this lifestyle that make it unsuitable for many people. If you don’t like the desert; if you crave the creature comforts of city living; if you can’t stand the long hours; flying or camp then you’re going to be in for a hard time. Having said that it can make for an incredibly rewarding experience and I’ve certainly enjoyed many of the benefits that have come with FIFO’ing.
If you’re not familiar with the term, FIFO is an acronym for Fly-in-Fly-Out and essentially means that you’ll fly to your place of work, stay for a period of time and fly home at the end of your swing, which can range from a few days to a few weeks.
Hands on with the gear
The major benefit for an engineer like me has been working directly with equipment. All of my knowledge in fault finding, commissioning and design work that I have gained over the years have been from first hand experiences. Being part of the maintenance team what I design is what I get to see built and what I have to maintain… …and sometimes complain about. I love how direct the feedback for the quality of my work is – if it’s not working well then there’s no prize for guessing who’s responsible!
The company provides
These are the benefits that everyone talks about, allowances. Normally FIFO employees are compensated fairly substantially over their city working peers for the inconvenience of working away as well as for the extra hours required by the company. My shifts are 12 hours long but it’s not uncommon for supervisor roles to have 12.5 or 13 hour shifts. The other thing that comes with the allowances is free food, accommodation and transport once you’re on site. This has helped me save thousands over the years that I’ve had this working arrangement.
I also love the fact that I wear a company issued uniform to work every day. That means zero wasted energy doing ironing or choosing what to wear. Wearing a uniform also saves bulk money on work related clothing expenses.
Valuing time
For me, learning to value time has been the most important lesson of all. The long hours and large amount of commuting that this FIFO lifestyle has required me to do has made me really appreciate my spare time. Whether it be doing a good gym session in under 30 mins, stretching, chatting to my wife or using my abundant airplane time to further my knowledge; FIFO has created an environment that has encouraged me to learn how to utilize my precious spare time effectively.
So if you are doing/have done FIFO I’d like to hear about some of the things that you do to use your time more efficiently, please share in the comments below
Engineer your freedom