Qantas Domestic - Wannabes & Recruitment

[casualnomore]

I joined this forum for one reason. To post this letter to finally say goodby to flying with Qantas. I wrote it for all those planning to go to MAM. Its very sad to see the conditions erode for Flight Attendants with every EBA. But as long as 30,000 people per year keep applying the airlines have no reason to make conditions any better. Anyway this is my bit and I hope it helps some of you out who wondering what its like to work as a mam.

So you want to be a flight Attendant for Qantas!

The following is my perspective of what it is like to be a Domestic flight attendant flying for Maurice Alexander Management (MAM) for the client company Qantas.
Many Qantas travellers would be unaware that a good proportion of the Domestic flight attendants working for the flying Kangaroo aren’t in fact Qantas employees.
They were recruited by and hired under contractual basis for MAM employment for Qantas airways. The writer is one of these contractors and now that I have chosen to take up employment with another airline I would like to share my experience of what it has been like for the last 5 years.
I do this because at present Qantas is going through a round of Volunteer Redundancies whilst at the same time hiring hundreds of Casual flight attendants. Let’s call it the out with the old and too expensive and in with the new and cheap strategy.
So what’s it like to be a MAM flight attendant?
Essentially your job description is exactly the same as a full time employee. (Full time being the original full time agreement and not Qantas Domestic. )
You will start and finish at the same time. You will work together alongside the full time employees. Your working conditions with regards to maximum working hours and minimum rests are governed identically. To the general public you couldn’t tell a casual from a full timer. They do exactly the same job.
So what’s the difference I hear you ask? The first thing to point out is that you don’t actually work for Qantas. This means that after a certain period of time of working you will not be offered a full time position. I have been working alongside fellow casuals that have been casual for over 8 years. Eight years and no opportunity for career progression. How do you think they will feel when they hit 10 years and don’t get any form of congratulatory mention let alone long service leave? It’s humiliating and depressing for the worker involved. Feel like a number? Well as a casual you are!
As mentioned MAM are currently seeking casual flight attendants for Qantas. The ad states the following:
What we can offer
As an employee of MAM Aviation we can offer you:
·A career representing an iconic Australian brand – Qantas Airways
·A dynamic environment with a fantastic team
·A flexible working environment & travel benefits



Let’s break these bullet points up.

·A career representing an iconic Australian brand – Qantas Airways
Sure there is no arguing that Qantas is an iconic Australian brand. How long it will be Australian for is arguable. Most astonishing is that word “career”. For those of you who are thinking of taking up one of these positions let me assure you of one thing. Being a mam casual is NOT a career. Who are they kidding? Call me crazy but I would assume a career would be permanent with at least 4-6 weeks paid holidays each year. In my last 5 years I have had one holiday and I’m by no means unique. These days for someone to go even 4 weeks without pay is as absurd as a leprechaun running an airline. Catching what I’m pitching?
To me a career indicates opportunity to progress. With a career it should be easy to obtain a home loan. You should feel that what you are doing is at your best interest long term and that your making a difference. Out of the 16 crew I initially trained with there is only 1 left. This person has indicated that they will also be moving on in the near future. So I ask. How can anyone have a career with that level of turnover?
·A dynamic environment with a fantastic team
To throw a positive light on this job it is that you will work with some amazing people. Every now and again you come across some tossers who make the job more difficult than it needs be. The beauty of course is that unlike an office you’re not stuck with that person on a day to day basis. If you’re the type of person who gets a kick out of putting a smile on some ones face or simply knowing that you’ve just made someone’s day. You will love this part of the job!
As a casual it is wise to learn to switch off to certain galley talk. Unknowingly full timers will talk about things that will just make you want to be at the other end of the aircraft. These are usually the benefits they are getting that you are not entitled to. Most notably these are: holidays, bonuses, staff travel, penalty rates, IPDs days where they have been called out on a day off and make big $$, and bidding. I also try to switch off when its group certificate time and salaries are discussed. This is because as a casual you will make allot less than a full timer.

·A flexible working environment & travel benefits
This could be the biggest joke of all. If you like being at work and whilst not at work you enjoy staying at home this is the job for you. As a casual you will on the last day of each month get a roster consisting of 20 duties. You will have no input into which duties you do nor the days you work apart from the 3 days you can request for each month. These 3 days must be consecutive. A term you will learn to hate is AV SPAN. An AV SPAN is a day where you are on call at home for a period of 12 hours but only get paid for 4. These days they make up around 80-90 percent of your roster. You may think oh that’s not so bad for doing nothing. Trust me you will soon change your tune. AV SPAN is like being on home detention. You’re basically waiting to receive a shift a full timer has called in sick for. These are usually two leg short days that don’t pay well and are the busiest. As a casual you will need to get used to doing the undesirable flying. Expect to do the afternoon SYD or MEL return mostly and if you do get an overnight it will be PER doing the red eye home. Speaking for BNE base. Other basis will vary.
So here is the kicker and it happens allot! A common AV SPAN is from 03:00 to 15:00. Crewing can call you from 01:00 till 13:00. So when crewing calls you at 13:00 you are legal to do a 9 hour shift. If that shift starts at 15:00 you could finish at midnight.
This happens all the time and whist the pay is good you soon get tired of being available to the company for over 20 hours. No wonder they are hiring more casuals. What a bargain!
I don’t know if it’s worth mentioning but you should expect to work every birthday, Easter, Christmas and new years. If you do get one of these days off make sure you buy a lotto ticket also.
And now for travel benefits. After all your a flight attendant. All flight attendants get great travel benefits don t they? WRONG
Up until last year we received zero travel benefits. It took voting one EBA down to get a form of staff travel that is more pathetic than a metro Shane Warne. Staff travel consists of two concessional tickets for you and one nominated partner per year. Concession is only available on Qantas flights excluding Jet Star, Qantas Link and code share flights.
And here is what you have to do:

4. Access to the Rebate Travel Benefit
4.1 You must complete a Rebate travel application (on a MAM Travel Form) and either fax it to the MAM office on 03 9370 9063 or email it to [email protected].
4.2 Payment for rebate travel tickets must be by credit card. A fuel levy component cost may be added to the cost of all (Domestic and International) rebate travel tickets issued. This fuel levy cost may be changed at any time without notice. Should the travel not take place a credit will be made to the card originally used to book the ticket.
NOTE
If your credit payment is declined your entitlement to rebate travel will be withdrawn for a period of three months.
4.3 MAM office will fax your application document to Sydney Qantas staff travel office.
4.4 Qantas staff-travel office will email a return reference Number for domestic and/or international e-ticket to the employee directly.
4.5 Applications for travel must be submitted in accordance with;
(a) For Domestic travel:
(i) 7 days notice is required.
(ii) An e-ticket will be issued to the employee.
(b) For International travel:
(i) 10 days notice is required.
(ii) An e-ticket will be issued to the employee.
4.6 Qantas Staff Travel Office is open to assist you with your travel enquiries from:
 Monday to Friday – 0830 — 1645 hours
 Weekends and Public Holidays 0800 — 1600 (for same day or next day travel ONLY)
 Contact telephone number 03 9658 5920
Note: Charges apply for some services such as fare quotes or requests for replacement documents. Please seek advice regarding current charges from MAM Administration.
Got all that!
....and by which time the flights you have been looking for have been filled up!
But don’t worry because if you’re smart you realize that with your priority being so low (75) you won’t bother with it to start with. You’d have a better chance getting on the next NASA flight to the moon.
So there you have it. Make of it what you will and I hope my ranting will give someone out there a better idea of what they’re getting into. I understand that companies need to make money. But at the risk of pissing off all your staff so they can award themselves bigger bonuses. I don’t think so. If that’s the spirit of Australia I’ll stick to beer thanks!