Wirraway
5th Feb 2004, 23:43
Fri "The Australian"
Pilots and crew flock to Jetstar site
By Steve Creedy
February 06, 2004
INDUSTRY observers may have doubts about Qantas's low-cost offshoot Jetstar, but it seems more than 20,000 people have other ideas.
The airline's website has been inundated with applications from across the world since it set up in December as pilots, cabin crew and engineers clamour to get on board. The 20,000-plus applicants include 1100 pilots - 200 with Airbus A320 command experience - 2255 cabin crew and 1434 engineers.
Another 15,000 people want jobs in other roles, according to chief executive Alan Joyce.
Mr Joyce said the response was totally unexpected.
"It's a big number isn't it?" the executive said.
"I think we were particularly surprised by the number of pilots and, indeed, the number of cabin crew and engineers who applied for it - those skilled work forces. "We knew there were people that would be interested, but ... Australians have applied from some really high quality airlines around the world,
"So we're very, very pleased with the quality of the people as well as the number."
Jetstar executives now face the problem of sorting through the applications.
Jetstar takes off in May with about 600 workers - many are now Impulse employees.
The airline will initially use Impulse Boeing 717s but intends to bring in 23 Airbus A320s over the next two years.
Many operational jobs depend on aircraft deliveries.
"This year, by the time we get to August, we will have three additional A320s flying," Mr Joyce said. "With an A320 you need approximately four to five sets of pilots, so that's eight to 10 pilots per aircraft."
Mr Joyce said the strong response, particularly from workers on other airlines, showed that airline professionals believed the start-up was a sound proposition.
Jetstar will announce its fare and route structure later this month, after the Qantas half-year results on February 19.
Mr Joyce said everything was on track for the airline's first flight in May.
It was working with the Civil Aviation Safety Authority to modify the Impulse air operators certificate to accept the new aircraft type. It also had agreements with ground handling, pilot and cabin crew unions and was hiring its own customer service staff in Sydney, Brisbane and Melbourne.
"It's all ready to go," he said. "It's just the commercial side: getting the website up and running and making sure we have the fare structure in place with the network.
"They're the next big items to get out of the way."
The Jetstar announcement came as the Qantas share price jumped yesterday in anticipation of a strong half-yearly result, despite the effects of the SARS crisis.
Macquarie Equities analysts Ian Myles and Paul Huxford are tipping an after-tax profit of $303 million, down 15 per cent on last year's first-half earnings of $353 million.
They said this would be "a great outcome" in view of SARS and a reduction in domestic market share.
Macquarie is maintaining its strong outperform rating on the stock with a $4 price target. Qantas shares closed yesterday at $3.54, up 5 cents.
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Pilots and crew flock to Jetstar site
By Steve Creedy
February 06, 2004
INDUSTRY observers may have doubts about Qantas's low-cost offshoot Jetstar, but it seems more than 20,000 people have other ideas.
The airline's website has been inundated with applications from across the world since it set up in December as pilots, cabin crew and engineers clamour to get on board. The 20,000-plus applicants include 1100 pilots - 200 with Airbus A320 command experience - 2255 cabin crew and 1434 engineers.
Another 15,000 people want jobs in other roles, according to chief executive Alan Joyce.
Mr Joyce said the response was totally unexpected.
"It's a big number isn't it?" the executive said.
"I think we were particularly surprised by the number of pilots and, indeed, the number of cabin crew and engineers who applied for it - those skilled work forces. "We knew there were people that would be interested, but ... Australians have applied from some really high quality airlines around the world,
"So we're very, very pleased with the quality of the people as well as the number."
Jetstar executives now face the problem of sorting through the applications.
Jetstar takes off in May with about 600 workers - many are now Impulse employees.
The airline will initially use Impulse Boeing 717s but intends to bring in 23 Airbus A320s over the next two years.
Many operational jobs depend on aircraft deliveries.
"This year, by the time we get to August, we will have three additional A320s flying," Mr Joyce said. "With an A320 you need approximately four to five sets of pilots, so that's eight to 10 pilots per aircraft."
Mr Joyce said the strong response, particularly from workers on other airlines, showed that airline professionals believed the start-up was a sound proposition.
Jetstar will announce its fare and route structure later this month, after the Qantas half-year results on February 19.
Mr Joyce said everything was on track for the airline's first flight in May.
It was working with the Civil Aviation Safety Authority to modify the Impulse air operators certificate to accept the new aircraft type. It also had agreements with ground handling, pilot and cabin crew unions and was hiring its own customer service staff in Sydney, Brisbane and Melbourne.
"It's all ready to go," he said. "It's just the commercial side: getting the website up and running and making sure we have the fare structure in place with the network.
"They're the next big items to get out of the way."
The Jetstar announcement came as the Qantas share price jumped yesterday in anticipation of a strong half-yearly result, despite the effects of the SARS crisis.
Macquarie Equities analysts Ian Myles and Paul Huxford are tipping an after-tax profit of $303 million, down 15 per cent on last year's first-half earnings of $353 million.
They said this would be "a great outcome" in view of SARS and a reduction in domestic market share.
Macquarie is maintaining its strong outperform rating on the stock with a $4 price target. Qantas shares closed yesterday at $3.54, up 5 cents.
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