Pushback747....career progression, unfortunately, is officially not into Qantas mainline anymore now since the Short Haul EBA 7 Varied was voted up. Career progression will however be into the "New Entity" that the company will soon establish and sadly, there will be no bidding and the pay scale will be pretty much the same as existing pay for regional airlines....ie. low. My advice for anyone....if you join EAA or Sunstate....do it because you want to fly regionally and want to be home more often....don't do it because you may think it is a 'back door' into Qantas. If you want to work for 'Qantas'...then you should apply direct to QCCA or the "New Entity" to be established in Jan 2009.
At the moment, there is a recruitment freeze across the whole of the Qantas Group...so it is unlikely that EAA will be recruiting until this ban has been lifted. Expect early next year.
As for the previous posters who asked whether or not EAA will look unfavourable upon you because you have flown before....rest assured, this is far from the case. They have recruited people from Ansett International and Domestic, Emirates, Gulf Air, and Virgin. It is not where you've come from that really matters...what they want to know is if you are capable of managing a cabin; whether you are being realistic about the low pay and long hours, and whether; whether you have your head screwed on and am mature in dealing with customers etc.
How do I know all this??.....I used to fly for EAA and now work for Qantas Domestic. Cherish your time at EAA...it gives you very important cabin management and leadership skills and it makes an efficient worker out of you.....qualities that are highly regarded should you ever want to be a CSM. A lot of CSM in Qantas Domestic used to fly for the regionals. Knowing that you are ex-regional, management already knows you have what it takes to be a CSM.
Qantas will be recruiting for CSM positions 18 months AFTER they establish the "New Entity"....my advice to anyone who already works for EAA....you should go for it....you could walk straight into wearing the platinum tie/scarf.....you've got what it takes to be a CSM!
