Virgin Australia - Wannabes & Recruitment

[gigs]

hi wirgin blue and friends,thanks for all the info. wirgin, the 15000 dollars is based on current figures of 4.93 per hr day allowance tax free. i think the pay you guys are getting at v/blue sounds great and all staff are the same that is no mams contracts a,b and, c full time ,part time,ex long haul, new ex long haul minus band payments and ,ex australian airlines. at v/blue all staff sound like they get good money and are the same, equal...at times in qf you are now working as hard or dare i say harder for much less pay and conditions as the person on the other end of the trolley and, therefore my interest in a new company with an even playing field i am also not the only one csms and other staff have also expressed interest. cheers gigs

[DJCCGuy]

All V Australia Cabin Crew will be based out of SYD at the startup. All on individual contracts. Bit of a shame, but hopefully as they grow they will base crew outta BNE etc.

[Gloria]

I am curious as to how many crew V Aus will require for start up & are VB short haul likely to apply in their droves for the jobs? Any word on crew complement for the 777's. It is said only SYD base to start with, will this put alot of VB crew off applying? Merry Christmas to all.

[SocialFlyer]

V Australia

Hi Guys,

All Virgin Blue staff received an email update about V Australia today.

V Australia is starting the recruitment process in February with final interviews taking place in May. The recruitment process will include pre screening, telephone interview, assessment centre and final panel. Training will commence in August and flying in November. The email advised that the base will be out of Sydney and they are planning to recruit 280 Cabin Crew for the start up. From the 280 Cabin Crew approx 35% will be internal transfers from VB, and the remainder will be hired externally. This is due to the inability for Virgin Blue to lose too many staff for the initial start up of V Australia, hence the need to balance internal and external hires. All current VB staff who move to V Australia will "TRANSFER" over with all their entitlements and service recognised, however leave will not be available for most likely 1 year, hence they are recommending staff who make the move need to take leave prior to training.

As far as the crew compliment goes it was announced that they would have 10 Cabin Crew, 1 Cabin Crew Leader, 1 Cabin Crew Manager (I think the term is correct) so 12 in total.

Thats pretty much everything that was in our internal e-mail and its public knowledge now. It did not mention anything about contracts or pay so I cant comment on any of that. With regards to VB crew wanting to apply you get mixed reactions online, many of the crew are not interested due to family commitments etc, lots are not interested in making the move to Sydney so this has turned them off, and others are not interested in long haul flying (14 hours can be tough). On the other hand there are those who are ready to pack up and leave in a flash, love the idea of working on a 777 and international. Myself I would want to know more about the conditions before making any decision, on balance i think they will have no problem getting 150 internal transfers, out of 1450 current crew that is an achievable number. Also keep in mind there are a number of crew currently working in training, management, operations etc who may also apply internally so the competition may be tough.

Hope this helps all of you who are considering applying.. Good Luck to all internals and externals you have just as much chance as internal crew.

Cheers
SocialFlyer

[sinala1]

Just to clarify, its 1 x Flight Manager, 1 x Cabin Leader, and 11 x Cabin Crew to be used on the B773ER - so 13 in total - and 35% of the initial 280 needed to launch makes about 98 transfers from VB across to V Oz.

Cheers!

[DJCCGuy]

I haven't had a chance to check my work emails yet, but do we know anything about the selection criteria for internal transfers? Surely we wont have to go through assesment centre etc...

And did it mention / or anyone know anything about the possibility of commuting?

Cheers!

[runway 25]

From memory the email stated it was performance based?? What ever that means, so I am sure they will bring out the old sick leave folder to start with.... (that old chestnut).

The email said that initialy phone interview then manager feedback, and yeah the possiblility of an assessment centre.. probably depending on how many apply to transfer I guess. If there is a large number of applicants I am sure they will do as much as possible to cull numbers.

Nothing was mentioned about commuting, but the rumor mill said 7 weeks training in SYD, after that I am sure there is no reason why you couldnt commute. I am sure there are many more asking the same question!

I guess this is the first real bit of info so I am sure there is more to come.
Interesting times ahead!

[DJCCGuy]

Jan Rosters

How did we all go with our Jan rosters with the new bidding system? Did we all get what we wanted as promised?

I haven't had a chance to check my roster yet as I haven't been into work, and for some reason they can't get their act together and allow us to check that sought of stuff from home!

[sinala1]

Originally Posted by DJCCGuy

How did we all go with our Jan rosters with the new bidding system? Did we all get what we wanted as promised?

Nope... unfortunately an email came out a day or two prior to the roster publication stating that they were unable to get Kronos in place in time for the January roster build, and subsequently Feburary's roster will/should be the first to be built using the Kronos optimizer.

[DJCCGuy]

Oh of course! hehe.

[Sara Fanta]

Hi Guys!

I went to a VBRD Nov 28 07, and so have have progressed to being put on a waiting list for a training placement. The lovely recruitment girl, told me could be 6 months. Is that normally the case?

She also said that because things were winding up for the year, she would continue checking my references, but when there was a placement would be in touch.

Now here is where it all got complicated...

She called one referee, no problems...as expected...

Then called reference no 2, and well, this is some one i have worked with for many many years a very dear colleague to me. Usually amazingly professional...I dont know WHAT she was thinking, she emailed me a copy of the email ref form after she had completed all but one or two q's....in the answer boxes...she wrote "you can answer this one babe???????"

I didnt recieve this email, so blissfully unaware I continued with excitement talking about how great my nw job will be.....

Then I got a call....from my colleague..."oh dear Sar, I am SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO SORRY.....I sent u an email for some assistance....but I ACCIDENTALLY emailed VB recruit the one i fowrded to you..." at first I was like why does that matter...then she explained what she had written, and that VB recruitment had called her and said her ref was no longer acceptable.

I was devastated, but I knew my friend didnt mean to, she thought she was "helping" I just wish she had have just completed it properly. I have had my chance to sell myself as an asset to VB, and so far so good...all she hadto do was be open and honest.

Any way, we are fine, I assured her not to worry herself and that all will be ok. She is feeling horrible.

NOW, is this salvageable, or will my unprofession ref, affect my app from progressing.

I got her call email last Friday 6pm, and althought recruitment had left for the day.(possibly for 2 weeks???) I left a msg on my recruitment officer voicemail explaining that recieved word my ref had not fulfilled her obligation, and that I was both embarassed and upset that my judgement had been wrong about her. I assured he that I would have another apropriate ref for her asap and apologised.

I then got home 10 pm and sent her an email with contact details of a new reference...

Now I must wait to see if recruitment are in office today or not until after xmas......GOD......I hope they dont discard my app........


Sorry the for lengthy post...needed to vent!

[matie14]

HELP

Hi Guys, Im new to all this.

I have recently decided to leave the exciting office 9 to 5 role, and head back into hospitality, and do what i have always wanted to do, cabin crew.
So, I have gone and got my RSA, my first aid and renewed my passport. I have applied for every airline i can, that includes MAM. But what are the differences between a Jetstar role, a Qantas role and a Virgin role? I know that Jetstar are employing now, but I dont hear too many good things. I know a lot of Qantas staff who love their jobs, but bi#$h and moan about Qantas. The people I know that work for Virgin love it, and cant say a bad thing... except why is there no base in Sydney.
So. What do you think? Should I just got with Jetstar, wait for the Qantas long haul, or hold out for Virgin blue/ V Aus? I live in Sydney, what would be a likley waiting time for me to blow off the office 9 to 5 role and start in the new syd base for virgin blue/ v aus?

[sharz87]

Hey guys!
Just a few quick questions..Firstly does anyone have any ideas of roughly how many melbourne based cc need to be recuited this year due to V Australia and the new aircrafts? If it isn't a great amount i am tempted to try my luck and apply for the sydney base move up there if required.. and maybe eventually transfer to melbourne! So my second question.. how hard is it to transfer base within virgin blue.. and how long would you generally have to wait?
much thanks!

[Chris21]

Atlantic Exchange No. 6 I think..

Hi guys

Not sure where to put this, did not want to start a new thread or over take the VS strike thread but...

It must almost be that time of year again when applications open for the Virgin Atlantic Exchange program. Having recently flown with the "penthouse" girls and a number of crew that have done it in the past I am really keen to apply.

I have a million and 65 questions, and without sounding like all the other posts about pay and conditions but now that DJ crew are not allowed to work in upper class what realistically would the monthly salary be? for those that have done it in the past did you seriously come back with massive debt? would say 10K and a credit card be enough to live in London just outside zone one and have a life?

Would be really keen to hear from crew that have done the exchange and their experiences good and bad.

[exmax]

Virgin Blue cabin crew recruitment SYD

Hi all,

I've been invited to attend the recruitment day later this month and was wondering (I suppose from existing DJ cabin crew), how you think the SYD base will affect the network in terms of duty hours, pay and things like that being shared around the bases.

Thanks,
Exmax

[737opsguy]

V Australia, when they start up, will most likely operate out of Sydney. It is the largest population base and the biggest market. Thus it would be logical for the crew base for V Australia to be in Sydney.

The airline is apparently starting with 3 aircraft in 2008 and assuming say 14 or so crew on any flight and 6-7 crews per aircraft, thats 3 x 14 x 6 = 252 crew. If these numbers are even close, that's a lot of new cabin crew opportunities for Cabin Crew coming up in 2008 (most likely Sydney).

[Gpik]

Hi Chris, Im currently on the exchange here in Oz. Based in MEL though. The Penthouse girls are my good buddies....they are all mental!

To answer your question, going on basic salary alone a Cabin Crew member will earn £850/£900 a month. You will then get allowances dependant on your trip NYC varies $160/$180 dollars for a nightstop. SFO $340 for two nights. Id say on avergae £1150 if you dont spend your allowances downroute.

All I will say is that VAA is amazing fun, the crew are fantastic and up for a good time. The destinations are out of this world....imagine a roster...5 nights in Cape Town, Nightstop New York, two nights in LA, nightstop Miami. Love it!

If you have anymore questions PM me!

Cheers!

[I Just Want To Fly]

Hi chris,

Yes it is No 6

I'm over here in the Uk flying for VS. I'm an Aussie, but not on the exchange - although every single person asks me "Are you on the exchange?"

Anyway, from discussions with current DJ exchange crew at VS, it is actually a pretty big comitment. Our salaries are fairly low over here, and the cost of living is much higher. But the trips are usually pretty awesome, as are most of the crew.

There are a few issues:
You are not eligible for staff travel in the first 6 months.
You no longer get promoted to Senior after 6 months.
No support is provided in setting up your life, so be prepared!
Accommodation, Transport, NI numbers (like a Tax file number), bank accounts etc etc... Just be prepared.

But lots of crew really enjoy it, one I flew with a few months ago was on exchange 4, and loved it so much, he stayed!

Just try and save up as much cash as you can, so that you can have a little more spending money than just your allowances.

Good luck with you're application!

[sam.lk7]

any virgin blue CC on this thread?

can someone tell me if DJ assess colour vision in there medicals?

thanks - i am VERY VERY anxious to find out!

SLK

[Cart_tart]

I did a VB CC medical a few weeks ago and they tested me for colour blindness.