Qantas Recruitment
Current SO here 787 Sydney
we are still operating under Covid ops so things are still changing quite quickly. it’s been a great journey so far, mostly good crew to work with. Admin side is a bit overwhelmed and you will have to self manage yourself to some degree. At the moment divisor is 170 hrs per 56 days so lots of flights up for grabs, hence the recruitment.
to answer your questions:
2) each trip is different with some leaving you more fatigued than others generally heading east during the day time will leave you more jetlagged than flying west at night. The company does provide you with time to recover from his jetlag.
3) at the moment our slips are between 2 to 3 days depending on the pattern usually most guys and girls have plans to get out and see things and even hire cars and get about this will only improve with the lifting of Covid restrictions
4) it can affect your family lifestyle. I just plan and adjust accordingly and my family support me on this
5) Absolutely. I love it. Being of your age. As long as your comfortable with not being PIC you can still have a very fulfilling career, with lots of different opportunities in operations, training, recruitment, safety, human factors, union etc…
go for it!
we are still operating under Covid ops so things are still changing quite quickly. it’s been a great journey so far, mostly good crew to work with. Admin side is a bit overwhelmed and you will have to self manage yourself to some degree. At the moment divisor is 170 hrs per 56 days so lots of flights up for grabs, hence the recruitment.
to answer your questions:
2) each trip is different with some leaving you more fatigued than others generally heading east during the day time will leave you more jetlagged than flying west at night. The company does provide you with time to recover from his jetlag.
3) at the moment our slips are between 2 to 3 days depending on the pattern usually most guys and girls have plans to get out and see things and even hire cars and get about this will only improve with the lifting of Covid restrictions
4) it can affect your family lifestyle. I just plan and adjust accordingly and my family support me on this
5) Absolutely. I love it. Being of your age. As long as your comfortable with not being PIC you can still have a very fulfilling career, with lots of different opportunities in operations, training, recruitment, safety, human factors, union etc…
go for it!
Join Date: Mar 2013
Location: Cloud surfing
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What I'm interested to hear is what's the journey like. For eg are you looking at your watch every 30 mins dreaming that this epic flight would finish?
2) how much does it knock you around both on slips and back home?
3) is there enough time to see things at destination?
4) does it effect home life much with being away for 4 to 6 days at a time?
One advantage of LH is you can commute more easily, so can live several hours drive out of a major city if you choose without having to drive to work every 1 or 2 days
5) is the job interesting? To be honest I don't care much about being pic after all these years and quite happy for someone else to worry about whether there's enough fuel but interested to know if the trips are still interesting enough? I guess it's what you make of it?
As far as interesting? Sometimes, but mostly no. You're there for cruise relief, and as time goes by the altitude at which you're allowed into the control seat gets higher and higher. There's some who have decided that's what they seek in life, but most want 3 and 4 bars eventually.
As far as time away in slip ports? Well some do love it, it suits their personality or lifestyle. Some loathe it.
The good thing is, assuming recruitment and movement levels return to pre Covid norms which they seem they will, is that upgrade time to SH is only a few years even in the most senior SH base so you can come back to that type of flying reasonably soon if you find the LH lifestyle doesn't suit you. Or remain in LH if you choose, it's good to have quite a few options.
How long to upgrade to FO from SO. I realize Captain is unlikely for those of us over 40. However one has to be realistic with regard to finances and retirement and weigh up the options that is best for them and their families?
Retirement age getting extended by 5 years and the shrinking of the mainline route network are seemingly behind us and they had a huge effect.
But…. who knows what new threat is around the corner.
Interesting to see helicopter drivers being included in the latest pre-requisites. Most multi-engine captains will be earning $170K-$200K but working 40+ hrs a week for it. Might be tempting but not sure if too many will have a current IPC (MEA). I wouldn't aspire to command at my age (closer to 50 than 40) but I think I could cope with SO/FO for the rest of my career pretty happily.
Still shows a mainline seniority number is one of the most sought after things in Australian Aviation
I don’t think there is any carrot dangling. I think JQ are short as with tech crew, a number of retirements announced and there will be a lot more soon, Ppl getting the sack and others just leaving. JQ will be short I wonder how many they will actually release.
Any huge change in these numbers (with thanks to Keg) from 2018?
Command
East coast wide body- 740
West coast wide body- 850
Adelaide 737- 1400
Perth 737- 1400
MEL 737- 1300
SYD 737- 1000
BNE 737- 1050
F/O
PER 787- 1500
PER A330- 1650
737
PER, ADL- 2470... essentially next vacancies after you join if you have a bid in.
SYD/ MEL- Next Training year after you join.
BNE- 2150
Bottom seniority as at 31 Jul 18 is 2533. Probably 40ish joiners since then.
East coast wide body- 740
West coast wide body- 850
Adelaide 737- 1400
Perth 737- 1400
MEL 737- 1300
SYD 737- 1000
BNE 737- 1050
F/O
PER 787- 1500
PER A330- 1650
737
PER, ADL- 2470... essentially next vacancies after you join if you have a bid in.
SYD/ MEL- Next Training year after you join.
BNE- 2150
Bottom seniority as at 31 Jul 18 is 2533. Probably 40ish joiners since then.
It also shows that life on the relatively unsupported and undervalued periphery of the operation has knobs on it. Of the dozen or so pilots I know who fly for these peripheral operations, all but one of them have applied and as one of those guys says, he would run from his operation like it was a burning house.
It also shows that life on the relatively unsupported and undervalued periphery of the operation has knobs on it. Of the dozen or so pilots I know who fly for these peripheral operations, all but one of them have applied and as one of those guys says, he would run from his operation like it was a burning house.