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.

allow me to correct you:*

Plenty of Bush bashers with stacks of regional time and more logbooks stamps than Australia post join Qf. Crew from all walks of life.;)

If you had the choice of A330/A380 or 747 what would you guys choose? Are there any particular advantages or disadvantages with each type?

Well no one would know much about the A380 as yet... its not even in service.

You don't get a choice so don't even go down that road or you'll send yourself insane. :ok:

There are advantages to one fleet over the other in terms of pay and lifestyle but they will affect each person differently so it's hard to say. 744 get's more pay than A330 crew. A380 S/Os will probably get about the same as the 744 drivers....possibly a bit more if they're doing lots of MEL-LAX and SYD-LAX. A330 crew get shorter trips closer to an Aussie time zone so less jet lag and you see the family a bit more often than the 744 crews who spend up to 14 days away from home.

Thanks for the info guys:ok:

I recently got offered a job (stoked!) and the lovely recruiting ladies asked for my aircraft preference either a380, a330 or b747, although they did say it didn't guarentee anything. Its a tough choice....not that I'm complaining!

In that case. 747. It will have the most interesting destinations once the 380 takes up the boring trunk ones. Good luck!

Hi all,

can anyone tell me the current pay for SO approx annually ???

Cheers

Do QF provide the SO's with command endorsement training or co-pilot training. Is there a difference, or maybe just in the final sim ride ?? or maybe CASA just issues them differently ? What do the SO's end up with on there license ?

M

Mr Cat, it depends on aircraft type.

1st Year after having completed training: $80K.
2nd year: $100K
3rd year: $120-150K depending on aircraft type.

The variance between the 744/A380 and the A330 could be as much as $20-30K on those figures. Try a search of the forums for Qantas rates or similar and you should find some decent info. I know that I've put the numbers up a few times.

Marpoo, co-pilot endorsement and co-pilot instrument rating from memory. Is there a difference in training and checking requirements? Yep. Standard higher for the command rating, ability to land, amount of training given, etc.

Qantas Pay rates remuneration
 

OK, I've hardened up the numbers a bit. These numbers aren't calendar year or FY, they're based upon time after checking out as a S/O.

Year 1: Pay rate 64.14/ hour. 744 S/Os will do about 1100 credit hours and average about 120 extra hours of overtime per annum. Add in simulators and ground training and you're looking at 1250 credit hours per annum. $80K Allowances are on top of that (About $15-20K but don't forget that you'll expend some/most/all of that when you're away depending on your eating/ drinking/ sight seeing/ vice habits. Company super is also on top of that although you'll lose some with your own (compulsory) super contribution I think.

A330 S/Os may do a bit less overtime- perhaps about 1/3 to a half- so do the maths on 1150 credit hours to be conservative. Drop (say) $6K.

Year 2: Pay rate for first half of the second year is $68 across all three types. Pay rate for second half of second year is $85 for 744 and $80 for A330- I didn't realise they were so close! :eek:

Year 3: 744 $89. A330 $85.

A380 pay rates not yet decided but I'd bet that they won't be more than the 744 given that it appears that there is growing support (supposedly) for fleet pay. What this means for S/O pay into the future I don't know.

Hope that assists. Hopefully it'll be a bit more 'searchable' also! :ok:

How often is the A330 operating to LAX and what is the routing.

akl-lax. not sure on frequency, maybe 3x a week?

A330 AKL-LAX is now daily.
Life as an SO is exactly that......YOU HAVE A LIFE outside of work!!!

Come on in.....the waters warm!


:O

Are international pilots allowed to bring back 2 bottles of duty free alcohol from every trip, or is there some kind of annual limit? (just working out how best to support my habit)

Every trip! Enjoy.....but not to excess! :ok:

Sweet! Now that has convinced me that I should become a long haul pilot!!

I heard that a very experienced pilot close to a command on a 767 in Europe decided to come home to OZ and got into QF as second officer. With now several years seniority as S/O he can choose not to fly and stay on reserve and still earn a very comfortable "sit down" pay like the welfare dependant indiginous ones in Arnhem Land. Now that's what I call a good life style.

Brown Cow tells us he recently got "offered" a job by Qantas!

I think he means he passed all the interviews and was "selected" for a job with Qantas!

Am I correct, so far BC...if not please correct me.

BC now wants to know how much duty free grog he can bring back into Oz following an o/s roster, to support his habit, as he tells us!

Now I presume BC hasn't yet commenced with Qantas...but he can correct me there also if I am wrong!

Could I suggest two things Brown Cow, to assist you with your future career, which I hope will be successful...

1. Have a think about your attitude, which sure doesn't impress me!

2. Make yourself known to Keg, who I suspect would also be suitably unimpressed, and learn from and model yourself on him! :=

Methinks he's just having a laugh. :ok:

After all, isn't a keg something that holds a lot of beer? :ok:

Sounds all in line to me!