And incase you want to start whining over the bad salary or something, I'm not interested in the pay once you finish the course.

Don't sell yourself short... Or the rest of us that ARE interested in the salary.

I've known about a dozen people who've done the Jetstar Cadetship in the past few years.

They were all generally positive about it, although a couple said they thought the Virgin Cadetship was better.

My understanding is that out of the last Jetstar course, nine started, one transferred to Virgin and seven went to London to do their A320 TR.

That's a pretty good pass rate, and while there is a lot of work to do in 18 months it's a relatively fast and reliable path to the airlines.

If I was a young person going thru today I'd do an integrated University-based course on HECS/HELP.

Yep. Precisely what they want to hear at an interview. Should slot nicely in to a left hand seat at J*. :rolleyes:

The known risk of doing a JQ cadetship are:

1. Qantas have excess pilots
2. There is an MOU for the exchange of career opportunities
3. If redundancies occur at Qantas & Jetstar are recruiting, Qantas pilots may fill those slots.
4. Alan Joyce states everything is on the table. JQ may or may not be sold. So the entity you thought you were getting into may not be the same entity you actually work for.

5. Why on earth are JQ running a cadetship when points 1, 2 & 3 above exist.

MC

FFS use your brain lad. Simply putting the key words "pprune jetstar cadetship" into google comes up with 5 existing threads full of info.

You'll care about the salary as soon as you stop living off your parents.

Do a bit of your own research and look up Shiny Jet Syndrome. You have a severe case.

Couldn't agree more with tmpfficsh! Get into GA and experience all it has to offer. The shiny jet job will come in good time! :ok:

I think all you respondents thus far have missed the key word/s here from the OP, ......."in a few years after I leave school"............The kid is 15 & assuming he stays 'till 18 & then those few years in say 6 years time the whole mess we have now in the aviation game could be a lot different. Advice given now may well be useless.

'SammK' best advice I think is stay informed over the next few years, gather info along the way & not just from the few bitter & twisted that find their way here amongst these pages.
Read everything you can on aviation across the globe for we are not insulated won under in fact we are more exposed than ever these days to global changes where aviation is concerned.

Good luck try a bit of Pvt flying when you can along the way to see if it really is for you:ok:



Wmk2

Just as I thought this thread is going nowhere like all the others.
I'm not interested in discussing the GA path, all I wanted is if anyone could tell me if the Cadetship is an alright way to go because it sounds pretty good.

I should've put this in my original post:
I have researched going through GA, Universities and all the rest. I have about 10 possible ways for me to achieve my dream so far,
but only just came across the J* cadetship when I was talking to a FO on a trip to Melbourne.

But thanks peterc005 and Mstr Caution for the input :)

Thanks Wally,
I realise that everything could change in <10 years, but seeing that this cadetship has been going on for a while, I thought it might hold in for a few years, but after looking at 'Mstr cautions' info, maybe not.
But I plan to keep looking for different ways for the next 3 years, until I leave school.

As for the time being, I'm working on an RA-Aus licence in an A22ls, absolutely loving it. :ok:

Thanks

Something Fishy Here
 

For someone who supposedly only joined Pprune yesterday, as a 15 yo, you have an amazing grasp of what goes on! :ugh:

because every other thread on this topic turns into a brawl between the GA and the Jet people.
And incase you want to start whining over the bad salary or something, I'm not interested in the pay once you finish the course.

Sorry... Make that join date today !!

My advice is concentrate on NOW mate, do well at school, try do some flying when you are free, gliding etc etc...because when I was 15 I was doing the same thing. Concentrate on your academics and just try suck in as much life experience (such as social skills) as you can because when you finish high-school there will be 1000 others who are older and smarter than you.

Wind-up alert! :)

I think so Krusty.

But if not, Post # 161 = Post # 1! :E

I don't necessarily think it's a bad way to go. If you don't have a great deal of interest in flying GA and experiencing variety of different flying, it's probably your best bet.

I chose to do the GA path but I have a friend who's done the Jetstar cadetship and it seems to be working out well for him. Salary wise, although I'm not entirely sure of the exact figures in the cadetship you start off on say 55k a year and after 18 months - 2 years you're on the same wage as a direct entry FO; 90K a year?? Compare this to myself having been in GA for 4 years now I'm still on less than the cadetship starting wage. However, I don't have any debts from flight training.

The other plus I see to it is you're employed to fly and that's all you do. There's a lot of jobs in GA that while you might do some flying, involve a great deal of "sh*t kicking" (character building ;) ) which probably wasn't what you had in mind when you decided to become a pilot.

My advice to anyone considering a career in aviation. Throw in an application to any airline cadetship you can. It will give you a massive head start in your career. You will be significantly advantaged over pilots that came through GA. Your seniority number in the company will be the key here. Also, the more jet time you have under your belt the better and more abundant the opportunities are for you when looking for work elsewhere. You might not have the "real" flying experience or have much of a character in the cockpit but who cares you've just saved yourself up to 10 years of your life getting to where you are now! I've been in the game for 7 years now with over 1000 hours in command of turboprop RPT and I can't even get a sniff from an airline like Jetstar. I only wish these cadetships existed when I was training! It's a golden opportunity so I say go for it or you'll forever be at the end of the queue...

Those poor suckers who have the misfortune to sit on your left or right every day at work.

Gee I wonder why, and you're advocating cadetships?

You know these cadeships are looking more attractive after every day I spend in GA.

Not only do you get more money and better lifestyle but you won't have to deal with all this bullcrap in GA.

Look at it his way. You do your 18 months and then you are on the same wage that direct entry gets. You get to live in a major city and enjoy the lifestyle.

There is an ad on AFAP for a C208 pilot. You need 2000 hours, 500 IFR and 200 on type! Two thousand hours to fly a god damn single engine aircraft but wait there is a possibility that you might get a chance to fly their clapped out piston twins. But that's only for the right candidate. Bet the pricks won't pay a cent above award either and you have to live in some backwater sh*thole after spending 3-4 years trying to get 2000 hours.

Living the dream.

Yeah, but spend 4 years in GA and you can be earning more than these cadets are as an FO at J*, whether that's in high paid GA jobs, or for another other A320 operator here in Aus.

I have asked this before without response. Is this anywhere in the actual EBA or AWA or whatever contract that these cadets are employed under? When the scam/scheme started there was no provision for a cadet to earn the equivalent FO pay until they held an ATPL. ATPL requires a certain amount of command time and unless it was logged before entering, the only way to do this would be via ICUS. Very much an "out of the goodness of their hearts" gift from Jetstar.

Unless this is black and white in the contract then do it, otherwise I would be very wary. Don't simply believe what you have been told by flying schools or interview prep companies.

I don't advocate cadetships myself, but I know of someone who did the Jetstar cadetship and the pay situation was as Damien1989 described, pretty ordinary pay for the first 18 months or so (but still better than GA), then onto normal FO wage, regardless of holding an ATPL or not (but of course they would have their ATPL subjects). Regardless, I see cadetships in the future as just a big a stream if not bigger for airline entry as direct entry from GA and the military.

So what are these wages that Jetstar are paying? And what is your take home pay by the time you take out the repayments for the massive cost of doing the cadetship?

I'd like to compare them to GA wages myself.

I somehow think that GA would probably have you being better off than a Jetstar cadetship.

morno

Deadcut,

I know many people who started on the van sub 500 hours so don't take the ad the wrong way. This guy is trying to start RPT ops in his vans and needs people with high time on the van to get CASA approval (ASEPTA). But your right he won't pay a cent above award and can be somewhat difficult to work for hence the ad on AFAP almost every other week for drivers.

There are people flying jets who shouldn't be flying kites but that's the industry so like it or lump it.

mornoCome now Morno, you're introducing some facts and reality, you'll spoil a good story. :ok:

MERGED: Jetstar Pilot Cadet Program
 

Pilotchute

So you need 2k for a van while cadets with 250 hours fly a airliner?

27/09,
Just as I suspected, :E.

Until someone can prove to me with facts and numbers that you really are better off as a Jetstar Cadet, then I will continue to believe you are much better off in GA.

Deadcut,
Perhaps those hours to fly a van are excessive, but let's keep in mind that the 250hr cadet is going to be sitting with a 5,000hr+ Captain.

morno

Spent 2 years Instructing in Australia, before moving to Botswana to fly for 2 years. After that I flew in PNG for 10 months.

The experience has been amazing, but I am no closer to getting into the airlines, I am broke and the only jobs I can get are flying in some back country town with no social life and terrible pay.


To those aspiring pilots, go for the cadet programs.

Thanks everyone,
it seems that from all the replies if you get into GA, you will be stuck in GA.
Although I do want experience in regional flying etc. but cadetships look too good to be true.
I got myself into a J* a320 cockpit a few months ago and met a 24 year old guy that did this cadetship, and he said it was fantastic and that it was great fun.
Some are complaining about the pay, zero to hero in 18 months, what do you expect?

MERGED: Jetstar Pilot Cadet Program
 

Does anyone know what the ratio of direct entry vs cadets is anyway? Seems to me that line of progression is closed to the GA pilots.

Makes sense doesn't it. Paying pilots 40k less the first year or two. 100 first officers=400k savings. Why wouldn't they do it.

Currently JQ7 is running with two program intakes a year. Jetstar have only committed to 10. So not sure if Jetstar cadet programs will be around when this 15yo is old enough.

GA vs Cadetship
 

It's a bit hard to recommend one way or the other unless you have done both!

Very incorrect.

I've gone through GA, plus done a few other things along the way. Have had a ball, gained some valuable experience, seen the countryside, met many lifelong friends (including my wife), and now I'm off to the airlines. The social life in these 'back country towns' is perfectly fine if you're not a bore who doesn't mind socializing with others in a non-nightclub environment.

Everyone who I went through GA with is either in the airlines, or in some other sector of the industry that is of their choosing.

morno

With those math skills deadcut, perhaps there are other reasons why you aren't in an airline. 40k less and '100 effos' is a bit more than 400k.

Also never heard a 15 year old ever use the term 'zero to hero'. Fishy. Sounds like someone having a stir to cure boredom or pushing a barrow.

j3

Since mid December 2012 give or take

Direct entry 48

Cadets 34

Ted

MERGED: Jetstar Pilot Cadet Program
 

Ha! J3 you are right. Although I wouldn't mind the plane doing all the calculating for me since I can't do it.

My bad but even better! Imagine what the KPI bonus from 4 mil savings will be!

Very fishy indeed J3.

Fortunately, our friend SammK is not getting many bites!

That aside, there have been some good points put forward.

My bad but even better!


God save me, North American Coloured language taking over, this is just lazy undesirable language that has no association with the English Language.

Pick one. :E

Just stirring, you always roll into threads and put people in their place Morno!

G'day all,

Just wondering if anyone has any ideas or thoughts on the future of the Jetstar Cadet Program at Swinbourne University considering the changes that have been announced by Alan Joyce today?

Dawn, don't worry. The cadet scheme is a profitable revenue source for a Jetstar, they won't get rid of it. Cadets are good customers.