JQ 320 Credit Hours
 

Just running the numbers on the JQ contract as I'm looking at applying.

If anyone has any info on what an average month looks like in terms of credit hours on the A320 for the various bases (specifically Melbourne) I'd love to know.

Cheers

JQ love assigning everyone 74.9 hours and minimum days off. It seems to be the sole metric By which they roster.
But, By the time you throw in a few standbys (always called out) and an AV day, maybe a day off payment cause you want extra $$ and minus sick day or 2 because your roster is unsustainable or you got nothing you bid for you provide end up with 80ish. Peak periods can easily be rostered in the high 80s and end up in the high 90s.

Its base specific, but YMML base F/O's probably very close to what clearice has aptly written coming out of the Summer Peak.
Usually drops off for March then picks up around Easter time again, but that's March this year so would be a slower decline back to 75-80 hours with 3-4 standby days come April. Apparently the crew numbers are correct, at least for this week, so day off payments seem to be drying up for the time being compared to the last 6 months.

In Sydney base average 90+ don’t forget the drive and then bus to get to sign on 20 minutes early because some expect that for some reason. Throw in some ATC delays, ground delays or general JQ delays you can also look forward to 11+ hr days don’t mind the peak hr drive home because you’re back at 05:10 to do it all over again. If you get a leisurely base like ADL or anything other than ML even newly opening PH be a sweet ass gig

luckily the crews you work with are mostly awesome and have a great day out otherwise it wouldn’t be sustainable.

Glad I'm not the only one mystified by that :ugh:

But you're 100% right. Get a 320 FO gig In ADL PER or Cairns, get off the 320 and take a 787 FO spot or hold out for a command in the aforementioned bases and you got a good life ahead of you. The 320 in Sydney and Melbourne is truely awful these days.

Anyone complaining you're not there before sign on, tell em gto

Really appreciate the honesty here and the info is very, very helpful.

On a similar theme I have another couple of questions:

- How many overnights would you do on average each roster?
- What sort of allowances would you take home annually or monthly/weekly?

Is that a symptom of being so short of crew in a post COVID world pilot shortage or was this the case beforehand?

I get to the airport about 25 mins before because I genuinely enjoy getting my coffee etc and getting to the crew room in a leisurely time but by no means do I expect the FO I’m flying with to be there that early. On time is good, however… constantly being 5 mins late with no apology gets my back up

JQ always run lean of peak with crew but, it definitely seems worse at the moment. I just think they are trying to do too much flying with too little investment in everything.
Lots of people are worn out. But you just self manage as best you can.
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Allows for a lot of time to spend in the great outdoors, hunting, shooting etc.

For some it did!

​​​​​​​Funny bugga

I have the FWA 2019 EBA & can see the base pay rate. Can anyone give me a ballpark figure of what a 320 FO is taking home a month?

Ther is your first mistake. Always work on base pay and that’s what you earn. Anything else is just cream which is variable month to month.

Following are post tax figures.

Level 1 FO - Base pay - $7,744.83 / From July $8,166.38 / Typical month (no OT) - $9,400 / Busy month (15 hrs OT, 1 short WDO) - $11,876
Level 2 FO - Base pay - $8,337.00 / From July $8,845.69 / Typical month (no OT) - $10,125 / Busy month (15 hrs OT, 1 short WDO) - $12,658
Level 3 FO - Base pay - $8,924.25 / From July $9,525.01 / Typical month (no OT) - $10,860 / Busy month (15 hrs OT, 1 short WDO) - $13,404

787 Level 3 FO - Base pay - $10,004.08 / From July $10,759.44 / Typical (no OT) - $12,500 / Busy month (15 hrs OT, 1 long WDO) - $14,700

If you do overtime, or WDO's, the skys the limit. A few level 1/2 FO's have hit 200k for the year. But they work hard for it.

How do OOL and BNE bases compare to ADL and MEL / SYD?

Would SYD/MEL base typically be busy months considering the amount of flying?

Super helpful!