American/European Citizens Flying for Qantas?
 

Hi all,

This will be my first post on this forum, and I just wanted to ask - I currently hold dual citizenship with the U.S. and Europe and I was wondering if Qantas offers citizenship/visas for those who want to be pilots with them? I think Qantas is a great airline but I’m not sure if you definitely can’t be one if you’re not a native Australian. Maybe with the pilot shortage right now Qantas is looking to hand out visas? Any information would be very helpful. Thanks.

Quantas does not seem to be suffering from the pilot shortage yet. Due in part to different age restrictions there, the seniority list is very stagnant. The RAAF is way short and hiring Americans with relevant experience, but that’s a different matter. To the best of my knowledge Quantas does require Australian citizenship. If you are a Brit that’s pretty easy, otherwise not so much.

Ah ok, thanks for the reply. When you say “If you are a Brit that’s pretty easy, otherwise not so much.” does that mean it’s possible to gain Australian citizenship with British citizenship?

This is a copy and paste directly from the Qantas recruitment web page.

Residency
Australian citizen or Hold Australian Permanent Residency Status
Hold a current passport with unrestricted access to all Qantas ports of call with at least 12 months validity
Australian Birth Certificate, or
Valid Australian passport, or
Overseas passport with Australian Permanent Residency visa

UK citizens like everybody else have to apply for a visa to live and work in Australia. Probably the only exception is New Zealand.

BTW, it's QANTAS not quantas. Queensland and Northern Territory Aerial Services.

If you want to live and work in Australia, check out REX. A small Australian regional airline. They have been known to sponsor working visas for pilots. Might be good stepping stone to permanent residency in Australia.

Thanks for the reply! Definitely useful info

Guys and gals from OZ are still playing the expat pilot field, not many opportunities in OZ and even less in Qantas, Many of their pilots are taking the option to go to Jetstar Japan so I doubt that there will be opportunities for expat pilots there.
If you have your heart set on living in OZ, your best bet will be to get a commuting gig in SE Asia.