Jetstar to employ foreign pilots

[Gareth U]

Originally Posted by Brenden S

The whole reason why they need people for cabin crew from O/S is that they bond you something like 10k for the training on a salary of 20k a year with no overnights. Perhaps our local Jetstar cabin boys can enlighten what I have been told is true or not?

While I do not work for Jetstar, I can put some truth to what you were told.

Recruitment is all through Team Jetstar now, who pay less than cabin crew employed under the Jetstar (and what was the Impulse) EBA.

Salary is closer to $30k and they receive an amount ($11?) per block hour, similar to the way flight attendants are paid in the US. The basic salary for crew on the old EBA is well over $40k, without the block hour allowance. Team Jetstar crew do not have access to Meal Break Not Taken penalty and they work longer hours. I believe their staff travel benefits are not on par.

Team Jetstar crew (and all crew employed in the last 2.5 years - even before Team Jetstar) are bonded, as you say. They also must provide their own accommodation if their ground school is not in their home base.

As for overnights I believe that Team Jetstar crew work both domestic and international and therefore have overnights. Even old JQ domestic crew get the occasional overnight.

MAM has also started bonding crew, I am told. Airnorth also bonded flight attendants in the past.

Sadly, when you have people willing to accept these conditions they will continue. Airlines want their cabin crew to leave after a short time to keep things 'fresh'. It is called environmental conditioning. Aer Lingus got in a lot of trouble over it a few years ago.

I am totally sorry for the tread drift. Just wanted to answer the question with some clarity.

Back to pilots. I think that the current 'shortage' is partly due to the above. There comes a time when people stop accepting less than what they are worth. The airlines will reap what the sow.

[Brenden S]

Thanks for the correct info. Bit hard sometimes with what your told in the west. A lot of Pilots,and flight attendants here ie Skippers, National Jet, Network are bonding people for 2-3 years for the training.

[Michael Morrison]

I don't see the issue.... Australians work for other airlines overseas, why cant foreigners come to Australia to work?

I'm sure with all the downturn in the states - just look at AA's 12% fleet reduction, there will be plenty of experienced pilots out on the market.

[Grant Smith]

Originally Posted by Michael Morrison

I don't see the issue.... Australians work for other airlines overseas, why cant foreigners come to Australia to work?

Exactly Michael, as long as the foreign pilots are suitably trained and qualified (enough of the Garuda pilot bashing already ) there shouldn't be a problem..

[Rhys Xanthis]

Originally Posted by Grant Smith

(enough of the Garuda pilot bashing already )

One shall never tire of such things!

[Brendan Lawrence]

Originally Posted by Gareth U

While I do not work for Jetstar, I can put some truth to what you were told.

...Salary is closer to $30k and they receive an amount ($11?) per block hour, similar to the way flight attendants are paid in the US. The basic salary for crew on the old EBA is well over $40k, without the block hour allowance.

...I believe their staff travel benefits are not on par.

Referring back to my post Gareth, Team Jetstar cabin crew base salary is $34k, flying allowance of $11.70 per block hour which equates to roughly $11-12k on top of the base each year.

Base salary for "old EBA" crew is not well over $40k... It is around about $38-39k... What puts it ABOVE $40k is allowances earnt from occasional overnights and LIVE day allowances (penalty rates for working on home call-out days).

The main difference between Jetstar and Team Jetstar crew is not really much in OVERALL pay, but moreso flexibility of working hours and conditions. Our daily duty hour limitations are 2 hours longer than old EBA crew (15 hours with delays instead of 13). Maximum duty hours for a calendar-month roster period is 140 for Jetstar and 164 for Team Jetstar.

And staff travel IS on par with Jetstar crew. We fill out the same staff travel beneficiaries form as JQ crew and have access to the same Qantas staff travel website. I will become eligible for this in 14 days when I reach 6 months since my commencement date.

[Gareth U]

Originally Posted by Brendan Lawrence

Base salary for "old EBA" crew is not well over $40k...

And staff travel IS on par with Jetstar crew.

G'day Brendan...

I think you will find that the base salary for crew employed under the old EBA is more than $40k. It is only Year 1 crew who sit at just under that amount... And of course there will soon be no more Year 1 crew under that contract. The payscale is for three years and is increased each year under the EBA. Team Jetstar agreement does not increase in that fashion. So I stand by my comment.

The Team Jetstar base salary has increased from what was initially released. That is good news.

I am glad Team Jetstar crew secured better staff travel than what was initially offered. Well done.

Anyway, back to pilots...

[D Chan]

Originally Posted by Montague S

take a look CX and their MO, they'll train you as a relief pilot but you'll never get to land or take the damn plane off the ground...pretty essential part of being a pilot yet they won't teach you how to do it.

Well after they come out of the cadet program (if you were referring to that) they start off as S/O. Of course S/Os are trained for landing or takeoff but during normal flights as you well know they'd be there to relief the Capt / F/O to extend crew hours during cruise. If the F/O or Captain is incapacitated they can takeover for landing or whatever.


btw Don't forget Qantaslink also has a cadet program, it's not only REX:
http://qantaslink.bfound.net/det-con...&CoId=189&rq=1


There will always be plenty of pilots in Australia but with pilot recruitment the focus is really on the quality and suitability of the candidate instead of how many there are out there.

Originally Posted by Greg McDonald

Wouldn't it be great if the governments of the day were to recognise the issues with pilot training costs in this country and actually try to fix the situation

It is a great idea but at the end of the day taxpayers may end up paying for individuals to join airlines. However that's sort of similar to HECS so I guess it is fair. But I do think it really should be the airlines' responsibility to recruit pilots and to ensure they get good pilots to meet their needs.

Originally Posted by Greg McDonald

Out of curiosity, is it as expensive to train overseas as it is here?

I think CX used to train their cadets in Scotland and then they moved to South Australia.

[Gerry S]

Not enough pilots? Yea right... the correct version of the statement is: "There aren't enough who wanna be paid peanuts"... same problem everywhere!

Out of curiosity, is it as expensive to train overseas as it is here?

It's way cheaper there than where I am!

enough of the Garuda pilot bashing already

Want a "recommended" and a "not recommended list" of Garuda pilots? *grin* Just Kidding.

Gerry

[Chris Tully]

Brendan L, Gareth used to work for JQ befor moving across to QF. This was well before your time in the company so he is pretty qualified to comment on previous pat scales.