heres some more info from an actual mam casual....
im in the process of leaving, bcos after almost 2 years, i cant be bothered anymore with the unreliability of the work/hours. i was NEVER told we could do less than 10hrs per fortnite by anyone. yes, we were told it was casual, but the reality of actually working a casual job that still requires 12days per month and then trying to possibly fit in a second job to supplement your hours is really fairly difficult unless you have a job where you work for yourself. going to work 3 or 4 days a week to do 4.5 hour syd returns (0515 sign ons) started to become very tiresome. and personally i dont agree with making yourself AV without a paid av span and waiting around for hours to maybe get work- yeah sometimes you will get work, but how many hours of free home reserve does Qantas gain by casuals doing this???
i wouldnt agree that the work has always balanced out from month to month for me. i agree that some months have been great, and yes perhaps people like greek angel & bizzi boi are happy to accept the lows & highs simply bcos they love flying that much-but everyones different- and maybe my priorities have changed in the last 2yrs too. i dont want to always be guessing how much money i might have anymore. when i started flying with MAM the hours were much better, and i was told by a 'long time mam'er' that they were doing good hours consistantly.
i wish everyone luck that is applying/being accepted....just bcos its not for me anymore doesnt mean its not for others. you'll make some great friends, you'll have fun times onboard with workmates, and when the hours are there you'll make some good money- but just to re-iterate what a few others have said, think wisely before leaving well paid secure jobs- however if you've got nothing to lose then you've got no problems.
i wish i didnt feel the need to leave, but i dont want another 12mths of 'some month are fine- others are woeful'. i dont feel like i was ever lied too in the recruitment process, i acknowledge that we are casual, yes i agreed to a job that has 12 mandatory days- but as stated above, the reality of actually living under these conditions is different once your doing it day to day- after 20mths it just doesnt make me personally happy. so rather than stick around and just going thru the motions of a job that doesnt make me happy anymore im leaving - just like i would do in any other job!