Life as a Second Officer at Qantas
 

Hi all,

Just trying to confirm a few things about the options a second officer has for qantas.
1. Is international flying the only way of starting for qantas meaning that you'll be doing it for atleast 3-5 years? Are there domestic routes that a SO can be based on? Is 3-5yrs accurate?
2. What is the typical time away from home for a SO? Are they usually long times apart or can they be smaller with less dadys off in between?

Thanks in advance for any information :ok:

You can work on being away roughly half the time. 8 week/56 day roster, 26-30 days away.

For a mid range seniority S/O (on the -400) that might be something like:

London - 9 days away

12 days off

LA - 5 days away

8 days off

London - 9 days away

8 days off

LA - 5 days away

Or any combination of the above! As a minimum, you get half the days away off when you get back, i.e. 8 day London you get AT LEAST 4 days at home.

A330 guys do mainly 3/4/5 day trips around Asia and the odd LA at the moment. They do more frequent trips but spend roughly the same time away from home overall, but the advantage is the missus and the dog probably remember who you are!

And yes, 5 years is about the average time as S/O for those promoting at the moment. That might drop closer to 3 years if all the talked about promotion goes ahead.

Cheers

Where do I sign up? :{

Perhaps this is a silly question but what the hell, here goes: does every new hire (at least those who've never worked for another airline) start off as a 2nd Officer or is that just for those who are on the larger equipment (greater than 2 pilots)?

FRQ CB

You could be the Chief pilot of Emirates or Cathay (not the naughty one:}) and if you want to join QF take a number at the bottom of the seniority line as an S/O

what kind of work is involved as a second officer ??
just monitor in flight controls ? do you get to log any time.

SO
 

Tuning navaids, carrying the captains bag and the occasional bit of relief Flight Attending!

Thanks for the information, has been helpful. Even though they(SO's) don't do much in way of flying, do they still enjoy it all?

Cheers

It all depends - do you like $$$? Because aside from that, there's not really a great deal of attraction to the S/O job, aside from traveling whilst (realistically) doing very little work, and lazing around at home on your many days off.

I know, I know - it's a dirty job, but someone's got to do it, right...? :ok:

Second Officer motto- Eat 'til your tired and sleep 'til you're hungry. Keg it would be great if you could translate it into Latin!:ok:

cant wait to be a second officer haha..:}

Lol. Well my sig block has the drinking part of it taken care of. 'Now is the time for drinking'. Nunc est bibendum. :ok:

I guess I could try and work out how 'now is the time for eating' goes! :O

Second Officers do absolutely nothing for half the flight....and then sleep for the other half.

so wat are the minimum requirments for SO. ?
same as FO?

Breathe occassionally!

BC :}

Isn't that an oxymoron?

"It's life, Jim, but not as we know it..."

Some people want types in the logbook - others want cash in the bank.

You make your own choices.

I plan on having both , but don't count either more important. Have fun whilst getting there.:ok:

myshoutcaptain

Hmmm.... another oxymoron!

I personally think the S/O system works well in Qantas (although I was only a S/O for 18 months). It gives you a chance to enjoy the lifestyle as a S/O, learn the SOPs and manuals before doing what is really, quite a simple promotion to F/O. I think being a S/O is what you make of it. You can sit back and get lazy or you can get involved, ask questions and learn the operation.