Merged: Qantaslink Traineeship/Cadetship/General Employment
"if you are successful you will be employed by QANTASLINK" was quoted by Texan Pilot.
As it stands today Qantaslink is still just a trading name for several separate business'. Any pilot commencing employment receives a letter from "Qantaslink.......Sunstate/Eastern.
If any pilot were employed by Qantaslink as a company no one would have to resign to transfer between separate AOC bases, ie Brisbane to Melbourne.
One poor fellow just did 2 years on the SSA seniority and has had to resign and join the bottom of the EAA seniority list to move to Melbourne. A real pity.
Being referred to as "Old and Crusty" by some cabin crew, I have been here a while and long enough to have a balanced opinion. I have to say its a great job, definately not Eastern or Sunstate anymore, but thats OK. You won't retire rich in this job, but you will have half days at home, the odd reserve day and be around enough to plan for your retirement in other ways................IF you are smart with your money. I work hard sometimes but no where near that of my friends outside of aviation who regularly do 12 hour days in the office job they have.
Many should remember that this is not about flying planes, its about what flying planes can do for your life so you don't have to fly planes. Don't get me wrong, I like my job, and I adopt a professional attitude everytime I strap myself to the plane, but its just a job, and it provides money to do other things that I would rather be doing.
If you join soon, please just enjoy the job. I have and many many others have since day 1.
Capt Stoobing. ( Does anyone remember the love boat anymore? )
As it stands today Qantaslink is still just a trading name for several separate business'. Any pilot commencing employment receives a letter from "Qantaslink.......Sunstate/Eastern.
If any pilot were employed by Qantaslink as a company no one would have to resign to transfer between separate AOC bases, ie Brisbane to Melbourne.
One poor fellow just did 2 years on the SSA seniority and has had to resign and join the bottom of the EAA seniority list to move to Melbourne. A real pity.
Being referred to as "Old and Crusty" by some cabin crew, I have been here a while and long enough to have a balanced opinion. I have to say its a great job, definately not Eastern or Sunstate anymore, but thats OK. You won't retire rich in this job, but you will have half days at home, the odd reserve day and be around enough to plan for your retirement in other ways................IF you are smart with your money. I work hard sometimes but no where near that of my friends outside of aviation who regularly do 12 hour days in the office job they have.
Many should remember that this is not about flying planes, its about what flying planes can do for your life so you don't have to fly planes. Don't get me wrong, I like my job, and I adopt a professional attitude everytime I strap myself to the plane, but its just a job, and it provides money to do other things that I would rather be doing.
If you join soon, please just enjoy the job. I have and many many others have since day 1.
Capt Stoobing. ( Does anyone remember the love boat anymore? )
Join Date: Jun 2001
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Capt. Stoobing. Your daughter was quite cute back in the 70's 
Long time, no talk matey. You don't return my calls any more....
Somebody of your experience and capability is wasted over there, Stoob. You would have so much potential at the place where so many of your colleagues are leaving Qlink to go to. Even in Brisneyland
Qlink was a great job, but the last Eastern EBA was the killer for me. It gave me no time with my family and lots of single days off (useless).
It's a single man's/aerosexual's job now. I work to live, not live to work. So I left. No regrets, apart from missing my former work colleagues (such as yourself).
Capt. Stoobing old and crusty? What are you, Stoob? 30? Must be the cadets calling you that, Shaggs
The rest of you enquiring about recruiting: I did it for 8 years till 2008. For the last couple of years it was for Qlink as a group, and even Jetstar. Unless it has changed, we were recruiting for both Eastern and Sunstate, with successful candidates being offered positions in whichever airline needed crew at the time.
For the aerosexuals among you wondering about the HCAOC - EAA and Sunnies went to that for the -300 back in the early millennium. Greater than 36 seats. The whole fleet is covered by this, regardless of whether it's a -200 or -400. End of story. If you don't have the requirements for a command under that AOC, best you get out into the big wide world and get "some air under your arse" until you do.
The world doesn't owe you a living
Stoob, I have 16 days off in the next roster. 12 days are long weekends (4 of). I never got more than 1 weekend (2 days off) at Qlink. All-over, this is a far more family-friendly job.
We need at least 100 new pilots this year..... Could you be one of them, Stoob?
Long time, no talk matey. You don't return my calls any more....
Somebody of your experience and capability is wasted over there, Stoob. You would have so much potential at the place where so many of your colleagues are leaving Qlink to go to. Even in Brisneyland
Qlink was a great job, but the last Eastern EBA was the killer for me. It gave me no time with my family and lots of single days off (useless).
It's a single man's/aerosexual's job now. I work to live, not live to work. So I left. No regrets, apart from missing my former work colleagues (such as yourself).
Capt. Stoobing old and crusty? What are you, Stoob? 30? Must be the cadets calling you that, Shaggs
The rest of you enquiring about recruiting: I did it for 8 years till 2008. For the last couple of years it was for Qlink as a group, and even Jetstar. Unless it has changed, we were recruiting for both Eastern and Sunstate, with successful candidates being offered positions in whichever airline needed crew at the time.
For the aerosexuals among you wondering about the HCAOC - EAA and Sunnies went to that for the -300 back in the early millennium. Greater than 36 seats. The whole fleet is covered by this, regardless of whether it's a -200 or -400. End of story. If you don't have the requirements for a command under that AOC, best you get out into the big wide world and get "some air under your arse" until you do.
The world doesn't owe you a living
Stoob, I have 16 days off in the next roster. 12 days are long weekends (4 of). I never got more than 1 weekend (2 days off) at Qlink. All-over, this is a far more family-friendly job.
We need at least 100 new pilots this year..... Could you be one of them, Stoob?
Jarse was a bastard when he was recruiting... and that PC-7 sim... holy crap!!! 
Glad you enjoy the new job Jarse
Glad you enjoy the new job Jarse
Last edited by Horatio Leafblower; 4th Mar 2010 at 23:44.
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This is a section of an article in the Cairns post today
Cairns Airport security 'lax'- Local Cairns News | cairns.com.au
" The points Mr Henning made about Cairns included:
Access to the general aviation area was "dead easy".
While there were security patrols, armed guards were required in specific areas.
The Dash 8, a commonly-used aircraft, was "critically vulnerable" because it could not be locked, had a weak point in its cockpit door and was easy to fly.
Airport staff were not trained in security awareness, were unable to identify security risks or knew how to deal with a security problem.
Security checks on people who had access to the tarmac, particularly construction workers, were not stringent and there were lax procedures over security identification tags.
"The Dash 8 is like driving a Hyundai car. You start it up and it’s easy to fly, just like driving a car," Mr Henning said."
Maybe someone should let our training department know, we can bin the cyclic program and get some late model excels instead.
Hyundai "JET LIKE SPEED" lol hopefully a confidence booster to all the guys applying that thought it may have been challenging, I worked bloody hard to get here and spent a truckload of dosh myself and all along I should have just bought a car.
Another gem from a journo with NFI.
Cairns Airport security 'lax'- Local Cairns News | cairns.com.au
" The points Mr Henning made about Cairns included:
Access to the general aviation area was "dead easy".
While there were security patrols, armed guards were required in specific areas.
The Dash 8, a commonly-used aircraft, was "critically vulnerable" because it could not be locked, had a weak point in its cockpit door and was easy to fly.
Airport staff were not trained in security awareness, were unable to identify security risks or knew how to deal with a security problem.
Security checks on people who had access to the tarmac, particularly construction workers, were not stringent and there were lax procedures over security identification tags.
"The Dash 8 is like driving a Hyundai car. You start it up and it’s easy to fly, just like driving a car," Mr Henning said."
Maybe someone should let our training department know, we can bin the cyclic program and get some late model excels instead.
Hyundai "JET LIKE SPEED" lol hopefully a confidence booster to all the guys applying that thought it may have been challenging, I worked bloody hard to get here and spent a truckload of dosh myself and all along I should have just bought a car.
Another gem from a journo with NFI.
Ha love it!!!! I also love the bit about security. Given the fact that we have had to apply for asic encoding, I get picked up from security on my can of deodorant, and every door I go through I often have to explain my reasoning for being airside.....ironic isnt it!
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Hullo Horatio,
I don't think I was a bastard per se. My attitude was that the candidate had the job, until such time as he/she flew his way out of it in the SIMEX. I always tried to give a bit of training to those having difficulty, in order to get them over the line, but time sometimes precluded that.
"Is that you in there, Horatio?"
From memory you finessed the box to a suitable standard. You may have been "Fat Bastarded" on the day, however. Quite a few candidates fell foul of him in the interview (perplexingly). If you weren't multi-degreed then it was tough for candidates to get through the interview side of it. To fly a Dash for Christ sake
The best thing they did was get rid of him. He's now the problem of a somewhat more westerly based company....
The new job is fantastic. Thanx for asking. Much more time at home with the family is the way to go!
The security review at CS is a laugh. IMO it is sensationalised to cover people with vested interests. The flight deck door is locked on the Dash on an overnight. All have hardened doors, as required by legislation. So how could somebody pinch one? To start one would require specific knowledge of switching and lever positions, and is NOT like a Hyundai, as the writer claims. He probably has never sat in one, let alone flown one.
As for placing a b-o-m-b on board (you can't say bomb on an aeroplane) (in the cabin at least), the cabin crew do a full security check on first flight of the day. The Captain checks the baggage compartments.
Finally, why would anyone be bothered flying an aeroplane into a building in Cairns, for goodness sake?
I don't think I was a bastard per se. My attitude was that the candidate had the job, until such time as he/she flew his way out of it in the SIMEX. I always tried to give a bit of training to those having difficulty, in order to get them over the line, but time sometimes precluded that.
"Is that you in there, Horatio?"
From memory you finessed the box to a suitable standard. You may have been "Fat Bastarded" on the day, however. Quite a few candidates fell foul of him in the interview (perplexingly). If you weren't multi-degreed then it was tough for candidates to get through the interview side of it. To fly a Dash for Christ sake
The best thing they did was get rid of him. He's now the problem of a somewhat more westerly based company....
The new job is fantastic. Thanx for asking. Much more time at home with the family is the way to go!
The security review at CS is a laugh. IMO it is sensationalised to cover people with vested interests. The flight deck door is locked on the Dash on an overnight. All have hardened doors, as required by legislation. So how could somebody pinch one? To start one would require specific knowledge of switching and lever positions, and is NOT like a Hyundai, as the writer claims. He probably has never sat in one, let alone flown one.
As for placing a b-o-m-b on board (you can't say bomb on an aeroplane) (in the cabin at least), the cabin crew do a full security check on first flight of the day. The Captain checks the baggage compartments.
Finally, why would anyone be bothered flying an aeroplane into a building in Cairns, for goodness sake?
Last edited by Hugh Jarse; 6th Mar 2010 at 02:56.
From memory you finessed the box to a suitable standard.
Last edited by Horatio Leafblower; 9th Mar 2010 at 08:47. Reason: blather.
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I am getting the feeling that Qantaslink isn't the way to go if you have a young family and want a family friendly lifestyle. Though maybe that is aviation in general and not just Qlink?
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AllInGoodTime
I haven't read all the posts, so I'm not sure which ones have lead you to that conclusion. I can say from personal experience that Qantaslink is great for someone with a young family and looking for a lifestyle job to suit. I work roughly 11-12 days in each 28 day roster. Perfect for someone with 2 young kids. A third of those days would be 4 hour duties, even better. I spend far more time with my kids than any other dad I know, just the way I like it.
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lifestyle
If you want a 9-5 job, then go for it. Traffic each way and every weekend off.
If you want to fly , you may/will probably have to work some non- standard hours and on public holidays and weekends.
No-one is forcing you to fly RPT. The choice is yours.
You may well get to see a lot more of your family on an airline roster.
I remember being one of the few fathers dropping off and picking up my children from pre-school and primary school, and maybe the occasional Christmas gift opening in the afternoon or non-alcoholic bubbly.
We have a roster request book where you can, within limits, be off when you need to for special events.
What is your definition of a family friendly lifestyle, and are you prepared to compromise?
Cheers
If you want to fly , you may/will probably have to work some non- standard hours and on public holidays and weekends.
No-one is forcing you to fly RPT. The choice is yours.
You may well get to see a lot more of your family on an airline roster.
I remember being one of the few fathers dropping off and picking up my children from pre-school and primary school, and maybe the occasional Christmas gift opening in the afternoon or non-alcoholic bubbly.
We have a roster request book where you can, within limits, be off when you need to for special events.
What is your definition of a family friendly lifestyle, and are you prepared to compromise?
Cheers
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Just completed the stage 2, got all the english completed and just over half the maths..anyone else get a little over half way and get through...starting to 2nd guess my performance..cheers
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Red777,
That sounds pretty normal mate.
When I completed the numerical reasoning test - I only managed to complete the first question before rolling in the foetal position and crying whilst calling out for my mother - and i passed!!!!
That sounds pretty normal mate.
When I completed the numerical reasoning test - I only managed to complete the first question before rolling in the foetal position and crying whilst calling out for my mother - and i passed!!!!