30-40 Virgin Blue Cabin Crew Quit each month ?
 

Hi all,

Have just read in another thread on this forum that 30-40 virgin blue crew quit each month due to over rostering ?

Is it really true that virgin blue have so many staff resign ? I have heard this rumour several times myself but chose to ignore it as maliscious gossip - can someone enlighten me as to if this is really true ?

A friend of mine has also just been accepted as cabin crew for virgin blue but was told he would not be going through his ground school till possibly Jan 2004. I find this hard to believe as they are always holding ground schools and I find it hard to believe that they would keep recruiting weekly if the backlog of groundschools is right through to Jan 2004. This friend of mine however has a habit of " stretching " the truth so maybe he wasn't even hired at all ??

I definatly have to agree with you Skywalker, that 30 to 40 Fa's quitting per month does seem like a lot.

I can't imagine tht rostering is so bad that it results in such a high turnover of staff.

It would be most interesting to find out the truth.

Ran into a friend of mine recently who was a F/A with AN and is now a Cabin Supervisor? with DJ. She said that morale over there was 'so low it's no longer funny'. Primarily due to unrealistic scheduling of crew and pax who are constantly whingeing about the lack of onboard amenities ie no inflight entertainment and user pays catering.

On top of that, the last round of recruitment by QF mainline saw every man and his dog from DJ lining up for a go. Got to say something, doesn't it?:hmm:

Virgin morale
 

It looks like the honeymoon period is over with a number of staff seeing through their rose tinted glasses.

Virgin currently has someone looking into what is going on and why so many staff are being run into the ground.

Virgin is just one of those airlines which will not suffer with a high turnover for there are many other young hopefuls to fill the gaps.

I can't say I have ever heard of a person who has flown with them to not have a complaint. Everything from not being asked to stow away a bag and instead the cabin crew without a word just kicking the bag under the seat to culturally unaware staff showing little respect to Asian guests.

You reap what you sow.
(I'm blonde for a good reason)


:D

Experience levels
 

Surely having a huge line up of hopefuls and a turnover of staff affects safety levels in the cabin. I thought the primary role of a flight attendant was safety. I know I would prefer someone with experience in preference to an inexperienced "sunny" personality looking after my family.:suspect:

So!
 

You reap what you sew? Or, You reap what you sow?

Lolol :O

Sorry, bb747 - like I can talk!! :8

WHO would be happy when all you EVER do is sign on for a 4 day trip? The FA's are away for 6 months of the year! It is just pathetic, really. Personally, I think the company is a pack of sharks for this low, low tactic. Then, they wonder why the FA's have EXCESSIVE sick leave! Of course the FA's are going to try and stablise their personal lives some how! DUUUHHH.

VB, you lot need to get your $hit together and start showing some basic and simple respect towards your staff and appreciate that to be happy and stable within your work enviornment your home life needs to be the same!! Common sense really. But the obvious question is: Does VB really care? Come on VB Crewing - get creative and make your already hard working FA's life a tad easier with shorter trips and a personal life! Personally, I think that things at VB will get worse before things get better, due to a lack of interest on the company's behalf. Slow learners!!

Another ex AN mate of mine just got the nod from DJ. Totally the opposite of the stereotypical 19yo pneumatic blonde Gold Coast metre maid that most have come to associate with DJ cabin crew.

Try late 30's, married and follicly challenged. He was almost as surprised as I that he got in and actually told them so. Their response I hear you ask?

Got them a bit concerned with the number of calls DJ supposedly field on a weekly basis from concerned prospective punters regarding their safety culture etc. Tits and arse are great to look at but you want to know they're going to step up to the plate when your arse is on the line:ooh:

Seems as though the travelling public like their cabin crew a touch older, a little more 'mature' and therefore a little less likely to go to pieces when the sh*t hits the proverbial.

Ah well, they've had a longer honeymoon period than most startup companies, regardless of industry, a dream run and an unprecedented leg up courtesy of Air NZ and now it's time to roll up the sleeves and go to the coal face. Let's see who's still standing at shift change:ok:

What is the approximate average age of DJ's cabin crew?

The way people talk about them, you would think they were running recruitment days down at 'Your Local Day Care Centre'.

However, I've got to stand up for the younger generation (i.e mid twenties and below) and say that age might build up experience, but that experience is only useful if you've got the intelligence to actually learn from it.

I think it's: You rip what you sew.

I think the average age is 12, but their mighty tall for their age.

I agree with everyones posts here, and I have to say it makes very interesting reading.
I am certainly not a fan of Virgin Blue, but aren't their roster patterns within their EBA?? How long have they been operating now, nearly 3 years? If the crew are unhappy with the work they signed up for they should be negotiating better conditions in their award instead of quitting. But maybe this is what Virgin Blue want. Run them to the ground and replace them when required!!
30-40 crew quitting per month seems a bit extreme, but who knows, all my friends who worked there have left also. One described her experience there as "being stuck with a pack of b***ches, who complained non stop and seniority and rank prevailed". They probably dont have a seniority system and thats good but if you are "new" they made you know it!!

Stop quitting and negotate better conditions, otherwise nothing will change. It's all up to the crew. It takes time and quitting doesn't solve the problem. We have fantastic conditions here in Australia, thanks to past crew negotiating better working conditions for us. Be pro active and do something about it instead of complaining. However, saying that, what did you expect the life a flight attendant to be like?? Home every night?? Doesn't happen!! This is a job that entails travel and you knew that it would take you away from your home. Being a flight attendant isn't just a job, it's a complete lifestyle change.

Bells are ringing..
 

Hi guys,
Yes have to say that alot of what has been mentiond so far is what I've also heard from a few ex AN people who work for DJ.
I was one of those lucky people who rocked along to one of their interview assessment sessions about two weeks ago in Melbourne.I also had heard that they are recruiting in droves -b/c ...u ..gusessed it they are loosing crew by the truckload.

I have a friend who did get through - is waiting on his medical. He's wrapped to be at that stage ..If he gets thru I hope for his sake that things wont be too crazy..and he gets to have some life after VB.

Wingletts:hmm:

I think we often make an assumption that age and maturity don't go hand in hand.
I began my flying career 2 weeks before my 20th birthday after completing my degree at uni.
I was an only child and had lived away at uni and at boarding school prior to that.
I was extremely mature and independent for my age.

Part of the problem with recruiting people with little life experience, means they are unaware of the impact extended periods of time away from home will have on them, and how important their conditions of employment are as opposed to their wages.

Conditions first. Wages later!

Spending 16 nights away is great for a few months before your holidays to get some extra cash together.
However the stress it places on your personal life (if you can manage one) and the people you love, is more often not worth the money.
We often use the reasoning, we are in this job as a lifestyle choice. Well what lifestyle is that exactly(?) when you are too exhausted to enjoy it and there is noone in your life to share it with.

Can't see the huge turnover of staff at Virgin being of benefit to them. The costs associated with retraining and even uniforms would be enormous.
Surely they would be better off looking after both the physical and mental health of their staff instead of burning them out?

Your not far off the mark Cabin Secure, My kid has worked as an
F/A for Virgin Blue since the 4th aircraft, he and his fiancee whom
is also a F/A for DJ had a look at this thread last night when they
were over for dinner last night. Going through nearly 3yrs of their
rosters, the average nights away come up at 11.3 with the highest in one month being 14 and the lowest at 8.

Between the 2 of them they have taken only 7 days sick leave,
but tell me there are others with up to 40-50 days being there
less than 18mths! why these people are still employed by DJ is
beyond them , their opinion is that a lot slipped through
the recruiting net when it was obvious they were not cut for the
job.

Also about half the ex Ansett they took on could not handle the
30 min turns and having to clean the aircraft, many of the young ones they hired have worked out fine, but many more are as described by Cabin Secure in the quote above, the word at the
moment is that from here on in a lot more Mature candidates
will be getting the nod who have actually done a days work in
their lives.

My take on all this is to read the job description, if you have a
girlfriend, boyfriend, wife or husband- can they handle you being away about 11 nights each month? or to put it another way do
they trust you while being away 11 nights a month? if you have
any doubts here you should not be applying to DJ, as I was told
last night this being the biggest problem that happens and thus the amount of days off pretending to be sick. apparently as of
4pm yesterday 66 have called in sick for today(Sat), tonight being
the big 3rd birthday party, people will be keen to see who has
miraculous recoverys and now able to attend.

To sum up, IMHO the ideal person to work for DJ would be aged
between 22-35 having proved a previous work record, shift work
being an advantage, prepared to work and play hard for the
A$48,000 plus in the hand after tax, enjoy the perks such as travel within the Virgin network for not only the person concerned
but 4 others nominated as well, if you don't think this is a good
deal- it's simple, don't apply.

just my 2 cents

:ok:

gee wizz alpha bravo charlie you are the ex an wiz kid!! gone are the good old days at AN of capped o/nights and min rest !! AAAHH but at least we were a tight little family who loved our airline!!

who you flying for now ??


:{ :{ :{

I totally agree with you go-dj. If you can't handle the heat get out of the kitchen!!!

I have been with Virgin for just over one year now-- and yes I am tired and I have a little case of the flu. But that is my own fault ---I haven't had a holiday in over 3 years!!!

Yes we do work a little harder than your average Aussie airline (longer days, cleaning on turn arounds) but if I was to try a week in the real world I would be begging to come back. All our condidtions are well within the EBA!!!!

I LOVE WORKING FOR VIRGIN BLUE-- and I am not the only one!!

Unfortunatly we do have a few too many princesses who believe that the company owes them a living. The sooner they are gone the better!!! And I don't mind working a couple of extra shifts to cover thier departures!!

Anyway I am about to fall off my soapbox....

be good everybody

love SMILE:E

Not Just VB but GB too
 

Hi guys...its not just an aussie problem with VB..... here in the UK at GB its exactly the same....20/30 people have been resigning every month for the last year if not more......

Rostering/Scheduling these days is all on computers and based on our flight limitations rather than on ethical decision making...we are just numbers in a system...its not that we can't hack it but physically the job can get very demanding after a while...especially when you have to do a few long flights one after each other with minumum rest.......tiredness catches up....

But as i've said in another post....which applies here aswell ...there are so many thousands of applicants just waiting for a position that management don't give a toss about us...they just want bums on seats i.e money and crew to dish out meals i.e slave workers.......cause we earn less than a Tesco's Supermarket Clerk.....how can that be? you say....well its true.....

Gee whiz fizzy piss?, or is that wizz fizz? I dunno! I believe that in HR circles they refer to it as 'organisational fit' and, yes, we DID love our little airline didn't we and, no, the days of capped overnights are not necessarily over and FYI, minimum rest is a CASA requirement not a company policy, regardless of airline.

Organisational fit -

AN/QF - full service carriers
DJ - value based carrier

Not inherently better or worse in either just a vastly different culture and if you've 'grown up' in one you are going to face challenges changing your mindset to adapt to the other. Hey, not my personal cuppa but each to their own and good luck to any ex AN crew who get the nod. Beats a lot of other things people did for a crust in between beers.

:ok:

Att: Qantas Crew
 

See guys how good we have it !!!!!
I'll never complain again, great conditions and money.
I'am happy

Just an observation.....
 

WOOOHHAA!!! Guys, guys......

Firstly, I am not yet in the industry (on several shortlists however, so have been keeping an eye on things), and am NOT backing any team in this post BUT.......

Everytime a post about DJ is placed on this forum, people are ready to attack at the first available opportunity.

From the limited information that people within DJ tell me, of late, many f/a's seem to be heading to other o/s airlines for a change and the opportunity to fly long haul (considering they could be waiting quite a while for that opportunity here in Oz.

As many have already stated, if you can't handle it, then move on (which seems to be the case with some Virgin f/a's - many whom seem to be ex-AN and clearly had great conditions - well, those days are unfortunately over and if people want to fly and can't make the cut with QF - who seem to be the closest in culture to AN - then this is the current reality).

Quite honestly, conditions are seemingly pretty good for all here in Australia considering that people can fly with basically no qualifications - and before people start typing away, yes it is an important job with lives in hands - point taken. However, there are people in professions who have studied for 3-4 years (ie. nurses and teachers) who earn much the same money as f/a's - so the money aint bad!

It is also an interesting point to note that service complaints are equally loud when people in the general community talk about QF - people in glass houses.......!

Finally, (yes, almost finished!) DJ is still a relatively new player and are obviously still getting things right (gee...how is the morale at other carriers currently after MANY more years in the business..??). Give em a chance they are now obviously trying to hire some more people with an increased amount of real world experience- just as QF are trying to hire a different type of person with a little bit of LIFE and ENTHUSIASM about them. At least they are still offering those who make it a PERMANENT FULL-TIME POSITION.......just an outsiders point of view........

:ok: