Yeah, why make shorthaul more attractive when you can make longhaul less attractive :rolleyes:

As I recall it, the old contract had a limitation on seniority which allowed QF to assign "the most junior qualified pilot" to a promotion if there were insufficient bids from other pilots. I can't imagine that this regime would have given that away. I think there were some costs to QF in the event that this clause was enforced. In my day it was never an issue coz all slots were bid for with few gaps in the seniority.

Stop whinging. In the mid 80's pilots joining TAA found that, due to the Air Queensland integration, instead of going onto the DC-9 or F-27 in MEL or BNE, they were sent to Longreach to fly Cessna 310's on the Air QLD aeromed contract!

People voted yes for it… muppets

Ah yes, here’s Aussieflyboy with his ill informed ‘expertise’ as usual.

Can a 737 Fo not bid for a so position?

There is a one time only downbid provision in the award, but I believe that it is subject to company approval. That includes bidding down to the same rank on a junior aircraft, ie 787 to A330

In the US, this is standard practice. You bid according to QOL. Even 10 years ago you would have delta pilots with 20 plus years bidding FO cause it was almost the same money with high seniority.

This is one of the main reasons pilots at Qantas don’t bid for a “promotion”. The SH contract is horrible. Worse than the regionals in the USA. On top of that, the carrot to a window seat that Qantas based people going to the 737 is no longer. The pilots being recruited by Qantas have plenty of experience so there’s no incentive to take a cut in conditions just so you can take off and land.

The SH contract needs serious adjustments to change this imo.

It’s a shed load of money to fly an aeroplane for a living. If you don’t like it, do something else. It’s not that difficult!

Have another read of 20.1.1

But they must have voted for it right?

A pilot from my previous employer joined QF and was still in the jump seat six years later despite opportunities to bid for a window seat. Another one, ex strike so a lot older, went from J41 captain to S/O with Air New Zealand. At his age a command would be out of the question, even the right seat would have been unlikely.

The terms for those in the front seats doing the work need some major improvements to make the multi sector days and responsibilities worth while. An S/O job seems quite attractive with a decent lifestyle, reasonable wages and not being on the hook when something goes wrong.

I’d seriously consider right seat long haul with a legacy airline instead of being left seat on a narrow body if the pay was the same.

A C310, lovely old classic, in command I assume. Just for interest what were TAA paying their 310 driver.

That's my career plan, move from Shorthaul Captain after 20 years to an SO position at one of the big carriers to spend the last 15 years of my career staring out the window on what is still a pretty good wage. All reliant of course on getting in, if not then into a ground role.

Flight Sanding Order released about a month ago advertising up to 60 737 FO positions in 4 of the 5 bases (Adelaide looks almost certain to eventually close through attrition) Results out today and only 30 were allocated.

What is the current progression times at Qantas Mainline?
SO to window seat and Command on 737?

SO to FO 737 - pretty much straight away in most bases.

LH FO about 6 years for the most junior 330. As the A350 begins to arrive this will probably decrease.

Command is just shy of 20 in most bases, I would expect that to decrease soon (there was no recruitment from 09-16 so in a couple of years 2016 starts will be eligible for commands).

How do they select who to offer 737 Fo spots to prior to day 1 or is it everyone?

Everyone on hold got offered it recently. Preference was given to already rated pilots, however I don't think this would be set in stone.

Looks like they didn't get enough take up the offer.

​​​​​​ essentially seniority so if it's offered day one, you're the most junior but if you accept you'd get it. Inform recruiting that you will accept and you may spend less time on the hold file - I am not certain, and I doubt, if thats a guarantee but you could ask about that. Practically speaking it's a lock right now.
Note that it's pretty much Sydney and Melbourne.
Bris seems to have enough, adl base is dead and Perth, was the junior window seat base forever now seems to be static and issues with subsidiaries... not sure where that's going.

Don't say you'll do it and change your mind, simples.