Katie it depends which airline you work for.
I am ex-Qantas long haul. I was on maternity leave when they offered voluntary redundancy payouts this year, so I took it and ran. Fantastic job but after 13 years and a baby it was time to say goodbye.
In long haul you are only allowed to fly a total of 16 weeks during your pregnancy ( in short haul I think it is 28 weeks ). It gets tricky as you might count it from week 1 of the pregnancy or if you have been on leave and are already say 8 weeks when you come back you can then fly a further 16 weeks. Confusing I know.
You are not guaranteed a job on the ground when they stop you flying. If there isn't one available you have to take the maternity leave from 16 weeks. I was lucky and managed to get a job in the office from 12 weeks and worked until 34 weeks. You get 12 months unpaid maternity leave after which you have to come back to flying. You can extend with long service leave and annual leave, and if you don't have any you can apply for nonpaid leave with a doctors certificate. Mind you the way things change in QF this could be all different by now from last year.
Yes you can choose to put your name down for part time or short haul but the list is long and you would have to have your name down years ago just to get a look-in. Talk about long term planning.
I hope this helps you.
