Virgin Australia - Wannabes & Recruitment

[futureflier]

Syd base recruitment

Looks like they're now recruiting cabin crew for V Australia and DJ in Sydney! I've applied for both, just waiting to hear some good news!!
Good luck to all applying!

[csellone]

Positive feedback on Acknowledgement of Country PA

I have been doing the new PAs on every flight and the response has been very positive. For 200 yrs the indigenous people of this country have been ignored. They are usually very peaceful and humble by nature and there is nothing more gratifying than seeing someone of Aboriginal descent get off a flight feeling proud and with a big smile on their face. It's got nothing to do with the "sorry business". If it improves people's self esteem, recognises them as part of our community and makes them feel valued then that's a good thing. Compare that to the atrocities happening all over the world in the name of religion. Share the love.

[wirgin blew]

The PA's have been modified slightly and I think BG might get a few more people making them. I will be using the BNE one for the whole network just changing it to the correct city's name. I think that will sound better than trying to pronounce the correct aboriginal name. At least the average person will now know why we are making the PA, that is if they care to listen.

[QF5]

Understanding the T&C's of Cabin Crew work

G'day guys,

I'm not sure if this is the right place to ask a question about pay, but I'm seriously struggling with reading the cabin crew pay and working agreements.

Currently as ground crew I'm averaging 45k per annum, as a casual employee, and many cabin crew are encouraging me to join them as I'd be payed 'much better than on the ground.' Now, I've always wanted to be cabin crew, and the pay isn't the attraction for me, but reading through the most current agreement I could find (2000-2004) it looks like the cabin crew level 1 base salary is about 40k, and, adding (for example) 8 overnights a month for 12 months at $80 per night, the total is still at roughly 47.5k per year. Am I doing my maths right? I'd been lead to believe that our crew were on approx 60k p.a. including all their extras. Can anyone give an actual rough figure of fortnightly pay after tax? I've had one guy tell me it was as high as $2200 after tax.

Again, I'm not too worried, I just don't want to step down and find I can't afford to live, and I don't want to head into my application without an idea of what I'm getting into.

Thanks in advance,

~QF5

[dj_candidate]

QF5 said:

I'm seriously struggling with reading the cabin crew pay and working agreements.

I think it was designed that way - to be a struggle!

I've just printed the bridging document from the FAAA website - pulled out some pay slips - and I'll try and help out if possible....

Here's how the pay breaks down:

CC1 $34961.42(annually) $1344.67(fortnightly)

DTA $ 6435.10(annually) $ 247.50(fortnightly)

Misc $ 119.32(monthly) $ 119.32(fortnightly)

Grooming $ 258.52(monthly) $ 49.63(fortnightly)

TOTAL $45789.00(annually) $1761.12(fornightly)

PAYG withholding* $ 352.00

Nett Take Home Pay $1409.12

(* Taken from ATO calculator with no HECS or SFSS)

There are of course other amounts that get added to your pay (all crew are reminded not to rely on these amounts - or include them when applying for loans!)

Overnight Allowance: $94.00 (tax free)

Cancelled Accommodation: $60(tax free)

Available hours: $23.02(taxable)

Commissions (monthly): $100 ~ $130(taxable)

Whilst pays of $2000+ are certainly achievable (mine have been for the last 4 or so months) they can't be relied on. As you can deduce - to obtain a payment of over $2000 you would need to do 6 overnights in the fortnight or at least 5 hours available for each overnight short of that figure.

Because our overnight allowance isn't taxed it makes it a little difficult to compare an estimated total gross figure with that of ground crew. At a total base wage of ~$45k the tax bracket is 32% which on 100 overnights for the year is an extra $3000 in our pockets.

Hope this helps - but most importantly, I hope as you say,

the $$ aren't the attraction

_______
edited due to formatting - alrighty - seems the forum won't allow multiple 'spaces' to allow me to line things up in columns - but hopefully it makes sense.

[QF5]

Thanks so much, that really helps me!

[white_lotus22]

Brisbane recruitment times ??

Hey sorry to change the subject just hoping all you lovely people could help me out .... does anyone know when brisbane will be recruiting again ... ....... i heard they are pretty full but am really wanting Brisbane ... or how long it will take to transfer from sydney base to bris base


Thanks heaps take care all )

[DJCCGuy]

E-Jet

Hey all,

Does anyone know if E-Jet crew out of BNE are back to getting normal amounts of overnights again??

Cheers,

[KittyBlue]

Overnights for BNE crew have returned to near normal conditions before EJET arrived. All flights are mostly from SYD,CBR to other ports only.

[AUSPOMME]

Virgin Blue Questions

Hi all,Iam currently in U.K flying with Easyjet(since Oct06),thinking of returning back to Melbourne where I live in near future.

Does anyone know if VB do recruitment drives in U.K and do they have an unofficial age policy,if you know what I mean,as Iam 37

What kind of trips would I expect if I was working with them,many night stops?

Any feedback would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks.

[matie14]

JJ, I just got one of those a few days ago. I thought it was a thanks but no thanks email till i read furthur. I guess its a good thing, means that they will probally check your ref's then medical if the ref check is all good. The wait is painful though. I know the heart pumping feeling when ever an email comes in with "Virgin Blue" on it. Good luck though, its great that you have gone so far

[Luckybell]

JJ_Melb,

I have received that email and it is a positive sign as you have meet the Virgin Blue criteria so far and that is great news!! All I can say is they do keep you up to date on the progress of your application so within two weeks you will hear from them, even if it just states 'they are still progressing your application'. It is tough, i understand as im still waiting to hear if i have been successful for Cabin Crew in Sydney. They have contacted my referees so waiting for the go ahead for a medical, if all went well with the reference checks (fingers crossed).

It is hard waiting to hear and you do check you email constantly with the hope of hearing from them but i am keeping my fingers crossed and everything else that it will be worth the wait.

Great news you have made it this far and i hope you hear from them soon. Good luck.

[Juicy-Fruit]

Help with Pays

dj_candidate said:

QF5 said:

Quote:
I'm seriously struggling with reading the cabin crew pay and working agreements.

I think it was designed that way - to be a struggle!

Hi dj_candidate,

I have been Cabin Crew with DJ for over 4 years now and I've always struggled to work out if my pay is correct! On occasion I have noticed that draft payments have been missed on my pays but all the other allowance can be quite confusing. Don't even get me started on my Annual Leave balance!

A Cabin Crew friend of mine recently paid to have her payslips reviewed and they found she had been short paid just over $500 in 12 months. I then also had my payslips checked and was short paid by $244. I was missing a couple of overnight payments and some overtime money. These guys could be helpful to people like me who find the EBA slightly confusing! The company is called Paycheck Investigators.
Their website is:
www.paycheckinvestigators.com

Hope the tip helps,

[wirgin blew]

The next internal move of CC from MEL to SYD happens in the May roster I am lead to believe. This perhaps would allow them to start putting new crew with SYD based crews. Perhaps a SYD school will be starting in the next month or so to tie in with this???

[Gloria]

Hi all, seems I could be in a spot of bother. I attended VRD late Feb, got an email a week ago that said they were still making some difficult decisions!!! That can't be good. They said I would hear within a week, which is tomorrow. Gee what a wait. I really don't know what that means. All I can say is that I have truly prayed, yep said a pray or two to join VB. Good luck to all who are in the mix.

[DJCCGuy]

Jokes on PA

When are these crew who think that jokes & carry on on the PA are acceptable going to wake up and realise it is just ridiculous?

It has been said time & time again, that jokes during the safety demonstration are not allowed, and yet time and time again I am still hearing the same old jokes ... pax just look at us like we're a bunch of idiots and like safety is a joke to us...

I'm sure if I bought a 'Premium Economy' ticket to give Virgin Blue a try rather than QF, I wouldn't want to be hearing childish "...as we are on descent please hand over any rubbish, husbands, diamonds, credit cards & children..."

You don't have to be stupid on the PA to deliver great service and make the flight memorable for the pax...

Am curious to know if other airlines; Jetstar, Tiger etc, have this sought of carry on on the PA's onboard??

[wirgin blew]

DJCCGUY - If the jokes happen after "There is a serious side to the flight..." then a safety/hazard form should be completed. Otherwise it is still encouraged on the appropriate flight/time of the day. I know we do it day in day out and the jokes wear thin on us but some of our customers choose us because of those cheesy jokes. It is still a requirement to include a little flair/joke in the landing PA but with the serious side of that PA due to acknowledgment of country PA I wonder whether or not if that is appropriate.

[transcontinentalcc]

As per the inflight audit checklist, "humour on landing" is no longer mandatory.

[transcontinentalcc]

PS. wirgin_blew... applied for VAus?

[AUSPOMME]

JOKES

Iam CC with Easyjet,and although we do inject an element of humour into the days proceedings will usually stick to box p/a,s for landing,boarding and always safety demo.