The VR (Voluntary Redundancy) process was used by Qantas to quickly reduce the ongoing costs of crews stood down in the early phase of the Covid crisis. It was voluntary and came with a lump sum payment to compensate for a known period of no income. For the older members of the group it was a quick and convenient end to a career which was already close to its conclusion. However, there were many who accepted a VR offer but were not close to mandatory retirement age. Put simply, redundancy does not necessarily mean retirement. The aviation industry always follows a familiar slow decline followed by a sharp recovery which is characterised by a shortage of knowledge and experience. A recall of recently terminated crews willing to return for a short term period to assist in the airline’s recovery would be beneficial, and has already occurred in other markets, especially in the U.S. It would be far quicker and cheaper to requalify an already rated and endorsed crew for use in the short term while the airline rebuilds its numbers.

The pilot problem has been caused by senior management skimping on QFs currency and retraining costs during COVID. Now the training department is far behind.

Example, since late December I cannot receive a reply from allocations when my May/June course will start. The Jan and February course have also been told not to expect Sim training until June and maybe overseas? Perhaps it wasn’t a great idea to move our main sim base out of our main operating base in Sydney?

Followed up by an email from Eszter today that all this training year allocations are being transferred to next year 22/23.

The sh1t show you refer to started well before the redundancies happened but no doubt the icing has been well & truly put on the cake now.
The massive response they got gives an indication as to just how many had had enough of the idiots they had to contend with every day & a 'yes' tick to redundancy didnt even need a second thought.
I still see & hear from guys who are still there & what i hear is exactly what i read here,the sick leave is through the roof,there is silence when problems are highlighted & the workload just piles up.
As somebody pointed out in another thread,there are plenty of people who left that now work in other jobs & realise that there are still employers that appreciate good employees.

😂😂 Coffee all over keyboard - thanks!

Ahhhhhh, you attended the barista course too I see.

Sorry mate 🤣

Domestic rostering is not helping atm.

Lots of low credit days (like operate one sector MEL-SYD, get off, overnight Sydney or single SYD-MEL-SYD, go home).

Inefficient use of crew resources, minimum days off because of low average density, working more days in a row which butts up against 7 day limits, fewer AV days the company can get you on. All of this contributes to crew shortages.

How many QF did we actually lose in terms of redundancies after this covid period? Waa it more than just the 747 crews as sprouted?

Yep, plenty from other Long Haul fleets, including a number of Check and Trainers from the A330 and 787. That’s really hurting now, with a huge backlog of training to get through.

that has also hurt the vacancies. After having careers destroyed by various external factors, really bad decisions and continuous outsourcing over the last 20 odd years, you can now add ‘inability to plan for something they knew was coming’ to QF management’s outstanding list of f&$k ups.

Im sure i saw a statement from QF just a couple of days ago saying they had lost very few pilots.
Guess it shows even more just how out of touch they are with what is actually happening at the coal face.

as someone said earlier on this thread or another, it’s quite satisfying to see the calls for help go unanswered. Trips available everywhere, lots of extra dollars. Nah. I’ll stay home with kids from now on thanks. Divisor plus 0.

About 15% of LH pilots took the Voluntary Redundancy or Early Retirement packages. Now there’s only enough Captains to crew 4 or 5 380s and shortages in all other fleets.

@ blubak and Bootstrap1.

Someone worked out that there was about 5,000 years of engineering experience walked out the door.
Some were champing at the bit trying to get out with a show bag, plenty had had enough of the disingenuous negotiations, "under payment" reviews and constant cutting.

An EBA years out of date, a pay grade system that was utterly broken with nobody left to actually supervise it.

Having spoken to a good number of former colleagues many wish they too could have walked.

I know between syd & mel there were about 260 that went so even if the average length of service was 20 yrs that easily covers the 5000 you mention.
I know of many guys who had 30+ yrs of service so the total loss is certainly very high.
The reasons you mention & the constant disrespect from the hierachy left most who wanted to go with no doubt as to what box to tick.

About 250 pilots took the redundancy package and about 150 that were within 5-10 years of retirement are now pulling big bucks in the US or Europe, the VR was just a cash injection to cover the 2 years, and they are laughing all the way to the bank. These idiots in the street have no fing idea what they are doing.

That one yes but.....

Not sure that’s accurate, haven’t heard anything like that at all, considering most of those carriers are bottom start seniority carriers it seems unlikely and also considering all pilots are now stood up on full divisor pay.

Yeah and now you feel sorry for YOURSELF. NO consideration of the harm you did to the industry and your colleagues, but hey, it's good you woke up but it's far too late. It's screwed.

Dunno about you buddy, but when I have family to look after, I really don’t give much of a toss about the rest of the industry. There are far greater influences involved than just me chasing extra $$’S to support my family.

I think you misunderstood.

The harm to the industry was done by chasing the dollars at any cost… the race to the bottom for conditions…

Air Services as well
 

Perhaps Qantas aren't the only organisation to get "caught out". Air Services are recruiting Air Traffic Controllers.